| TORBOLE, ITALY-(6-7-2004) Athens bound British sailors Chris Draper and Olympic silver medallist Simon Hiscocks made a good start to their quest for a medal at the 49er European Championships, their last major regatta before the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
The championships, which got underway today (6 July) on Lake Garda, Italy have attracted a total of 92 boats including many of the worlds top 49er skiff sailors. For many of the teams this will be their last chance to test their skills and equipment before the Athens Olympic Games next month.
The first day got underway in 20 knots of breeze which gave the fleet a good shake up and allowed three races to be sailed. Draper and Hiscocks, who won a silver medal at the Europeans last year and more recently a silver medal at the 2004 world championships, made a good start to the event. Posting three results in the top four, including one race win, they are currently lying fifth at this early stage. Just behind them are fellow RYA team GBR sailors Alister Richardson and crew Alex Tobutt and Stevie Morrison sailing with Ben Rhodes.
The overall leaders after day one are Thomas Johanson and Jukka Pirainen of Finland who won all three of their races. They lead by a small one point margin from Chris Nicholson and Gary Boyd of Australia.
The fleet has one more day of qualifying races before the final series takes place from the 8-10 July.
Daily updates and results will be issued on the new RYA Athens 2004 website www.gbrsailing.org.uk. A final press release will be issued on the last day of the championships – 10 July.
Results (including top 50 GBR boats)
1, Thomas Johanson/Jukka Pirainen, FIN (1,1,1) 3 pts
2, Chris Nicholson/Gary Boyd, AUS (1,1,2) 4 pts
3, Michael Hestbek/Dennis Andersen, DEN (1,1,3) 5 pts
GBR
5, Chris Draper/Simon Hiscocks (2,4,1) 7 pts
6, Alister Richardson/Alex Tobutt (5,1,2) 8 pts
7, Stevie Morrison/Ben Rhodes (3,2,4) 9 pts
20, James McIntosh/Philip Kennard (2,9,8) 19 pts
23, Richard Bone/Christopher Rodway (7,10,5) 22 pts
32, John Pink/Alex Hopson (9,6,10) 25 pts
34, Ben McGrane/Jonathan Clegg (14,7,6) 27 pts
39, David Evans/Richard Peacock (13,7,11) 31 pts
44, Mark Dell/Paul Dell (12,12,11) 35 pts
46, Roger Gilbert/Adam Brushett (12,10,15) 37 pts
48, John Wilson/James Barker (8,14,16) 38 pts
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