Top seeds face off at ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyères

Hyères, France (April 23, 2014) – Gold fleet racing got underway at ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyères with tense competition across ten Olympic and two Paralympic events.

With a full complement of races completed thus far the leader boards are shaping up nicely with fine margins between the world’s top sailing talents.

After a short morning postponement the 765 entrants were greeted with an increasing 13-17 knot westerly breeze as well as a smooth sea state. Racing kicked off shortly after 12:00 local time.

Racing commences at 11:00 local time on Thursday 24 April. Racing concludes on April 25 for Paralympic events and April 26 for Olympic events.

Results: http://www.sailing.org/worldcup/regattas/hyeres_2014.php

49er
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) climbed back into the gold medal spot in the 49er and are followed by Ireland’s Ryan Seaton and Matthew Mcgovern who pulled into contention.

The Irish pair finished a disappointing 35th at ISAF Sailing World Cup Mallorca but impressed in the gold fleet with a discarded tenth and two thirds. After racing Seaton said, “It’s the second regatta for us this year and we’re just getting back into it.

“It was a pretty solid day. We really wanted to get good starts and try to be consistent and it turned out to be quite a good day. It was very tricky with the fleet really close and the racing’s really good. Everybody’s trying to get prepared in the build-up to the Santander Worlds and the fleets getting more competitive.”

Burling and Tuke set the pace on the third day of racing and are 11 points clear of the Irish. “Gold fleet racing’s always the best, all the top guys in one fleet,” commented Tuke. “For us it could have been better but all in all not a bad day. We mucked up the last one. We went through qualification better than we did in Palma which was one of our goals so we were really excited coming into the day.

“Gold fleet racing is where it’s all at. It’s where the points are up for grabs and you want to get the least you can. It’s still all to play for.”

Overnight leaders Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign (GBR) were consistent in their results but unfortunately they weren’t the steady string of results they’d have expected. A 14th in Race 7 was followed up with two further 14th places. They fall to third, a point ahead of Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski (NZL).

49erFX
Brazil’s Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze displayed astute consistency in the 21-boat 49erFX gold fleet to move back into the leading position they lost overnight.

Grael and Kunze recorded a 5-3-8 score line and hold a two point advantage over Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth (GBR) who had the lead coming into the third day.

After racing Grael said, “Today we had a tough day, the wind picked up a lot in the second race and then in the third there was a big drop. We were kind of always in the wrong gear but it was still a good day for us. It’s always good to get top tens, we had very good recoveries and we’re happy.”

Dobson and Ainsworth picked up a scoring penalty in Race 7 which they discard. They hit back with a ninth and a fifth and Ainsworth admitted they had a bit of an up and down day, “Today was a little bit frustrating for us. We were second in the first race but we were OCS so we can’t count that. Luckily we haven’t had a high score yet but we nailed that today but we had two consistent races in the second and third.

“We weren’t quite as on pace as yesterday. We felt like we had an edge yesterday and that made things a little bit tricky today.”

2013 49erFX World Champions Alex Maloney and Molly Meech (NZL) recorded their first race victory of the week and move up into third overall. The Kiwis rounded the first mark of the final race of the day in second overall. They edged out Denmark’s Maiken and Anne-Julie Foght Schütt on the downwind and held on to take the bullet by ten seconds.

On the race victory Maloney commented, “It was really nice conditions, a little more breeze than expected and it was nice to stretch out again. It’s always nice to get a bullet and it helps with confidence, it was a solid day and we’re looking forward to the next three days.”

The day’s remaining race victories went to Kate Macgregor and Katrina Best (GBR), who are eighth overall, and Tamara Echegoyen and Berta Betanzos (ESP) who are a place behind the Brits.

Men’s 470
The first gold fleet Men’s 470 bullets were picked up by Joonas and Niklas Lindgren (FIN) and Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS).

Belcher and Ryan lead the pack whilst the Finnish team are fifth overall and chasing hard.

Having notched up two bullets the day prior the Lindgren brothers made it three in a row by taking the Race 6 honours and the Joonas is relishing the time in the French Riviera, “It’s going well and the boat is going quite fast, we’ve still got four races to go so we can’t celebrate too early.

“The podium is our goal. That’s something we desire the most as Palma didn’t end so well as I got sick at the end and that took us down so now it’s time to try again.

“Medium winds are our best and as long as it stays medium we should be at the top.”

Belcher and Ryan started the day slow with an 11th but hit back with a 22 second victory in the last race of the day. Ryan explained the day’s two races, “Today was pretty tricky, it was quite light winds and no one really knew what was going to happen. We were pretty fortunate that the breeze came in just as we were starting.

“The first upwind was really tight and we stuck with the French which didn’t turn out to be on the right side of the course so it was a pretty tough race. We gained a little bit at the end. It’s not a keeper but we bounced back.

“We were little bit more confident in our strategy with the experience gained from the previous race. We played it a bit better and stuck to our guns. In the end we came away with a win. The standard’s pretty high and with two more days we’ll see what happens.”

The points amongst the top six are tight with nine points splitting the bunch. Occupying second overall is Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis (GRE) whilst home favourites Sofian Bouvet and Jeremie Mion (FRA) are third.

Women’s 470
Great Britain’s Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre shone in the French sunshine and breeze picking up a pair of bullets.

The Britons had Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie (NZL) for company as they edged them out by 11 seconds in both races. Weguelin and McIntyre pull to within two points of the leading Kiwis after six races.

“It was a lovely day’s racing,” commented McIntyre. “It was quite difficult to start with, getting in the groove because it was building really quickly and every time it went up we were like ‘oh god it’s a bit different, let’s sort ourselves out’ but it was a lovely day.

“We kept it simple and it was one of those days that when you’re in the lead you can cover the fleet and you’re away.”

Weguelin added, “It was nice that the boat’s going fast and it’s good to be back on the water. To see that we’re a similar speed to the fleet is nice.”

Overnight leaders Anne Haeger and Briana Provancha (USA) fall to third overall following a fifth and a sixth but they are 18 points clear of Camille Lecointre and Helene Defrance (FRA) in third.

“Today was a completely different day from the first two days of the regatta and we sailed well for how poorly we got off the starting line,” explained Provancha. “We had some great comebacks both races and were pleased with our speed around the course. It is always nice to have some wheels and that helped us a ton today. We have a later start time tomorrow and the forecast looks much lighter for the last two days of the finals series.”

Finn
Pieter Jan Postma (NED) blitzed the 59-boat Finn fleet taking both of the day’s race victories. With devastatingly strong form Postma has opened up an 18 point ahead going into the fourth day.

Postma took the initiative from the off in both races and was at the front of pack from start to finish. The Dutch sailor has a strong advantage over Caleb Paine (USA) in second and Thomas Le Breton (FRA) who is a point off the American.

Nacra 17
The current top three teams in the Nacra 17 in Hyères all took medals at ISAF Sailing World Cup Mallorca. However the positions have changed with bronze medallists Darren Bundock and Nina Curtis (AUS) leading the way.

Bundock and Curtis opened their day with a fourth and a third but an 18th, which they discard, is the only disappointment of an otherwise impressive string of top four results.

Mallorca gold medallists Billy Besson and Marie Riou had the lead coming into the day and whilst they were consistent with a 3-8-2, it nonetheless sees them slip to second.

Italy’s Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri were the recipients of silver in Mallorca and are on track for another World Cup medal in Hyères. The Italians doubled up with two race wins and a fifth to progress up the leader board nicely. They are eight points off the leading Australians with plenty of race action remaining.

Laser
Tom Burton (AUS) continues his exceptional race form in the Laser and leads on 19-points. Andy Maloney (NZL) took the opening bullet in the Laser and backed it up with a third and is two points behind Burton.

The day’s second bullet went to Thomas Saunders (NZL) who is down in 16th place.

Laser Radial
It’s a familiar picture in the Laser Radial with Evi Van Acker (BEL) and Marit Bouwmeester (NED) battling it like old times.

A second and a third apiece ensures Van Acker leads on nine points with Bouwmeester on 11 points.

Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR) holds on to third overall following a ninth and a fifth.

The day’s race victories went to Ashley Stoddart (AUS) in sixth overall and Annalise Murphy (IRL) who climbs up three to 12th.

Men’s RS:X
It’s a Polish 1-2 with Piotr Myszka and Pawel Tarnowski leading the charge. Whilst the experienced Myszka runs away with the lead it’s the youngster Tarnowski who is the surprise package.

In the youth ranks Tarnowski was a formidable force as he became Techno 293 Under 17 World Champion in 2008. RS:X Youth World Championship titles followed in 2011 and 2012 and amongst a strong fleet of racers Tarnowski is shining.

The same can be said for Kiran Badloe (NED) who is third overall. Badloe competed against Tarnowski in the youth division and the pair are fighting hard to mix it up amongst Olympic and World Champions. After racing a delighted Badloe saw his name on the leader board and duly sent his Twitter and Instagram followers with the following update, “Had a nice day on the second race day. Even climbed to the 3rd place! 3 more days to go!! # worldcup…”

Six further fleet races and the Medal Race are to follow in the Men’s RS:X and despite Myszka leading by 14 points there’s still plenty of time for the chasing pack to reduce the deficit.

Women’s RS:X
China’s Jiahui Wu took a pair of race wins a fifth to open up a 13 point lead in the Women’s RS:X. The Chinese racer has been strong from the start and only a 14th blemishes a healthy looking score card.

Moana Delle (GER) is second overall whilst Poland’s Maja Dziarsnowska is three points behind the German.

2.4mR
Heiko Kroeger (GER) had another exceptional day on the water in the 16-boat 2.4mR fleet and leads Damien Seguin (FRA) by three points.

The German has only finished out of the top two in one occasion across the six race series, a fourth which he discards. On the third day of racing he notched up a second and a 17 second victory over Megan Pascoe (GBR).

Seguin on the other hand had his worst day on the water and picked up a seventh and a fourth. Megan Pascoe (GBR) drew into contention with a bullet and a second with ten points separating herself in third and Helena Lucas (GBR) in fourth.

Sonar
Five points separate the top four in the Sonar fleet but John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Stephen Thomas (GBR) hold the lead.

The Britons are two points clear of Bruno Jourdren, Nicolas Vimont Vicary and Eric Flageul (FRA).

Norway’s Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Per Eugen Kristiansen and Marie Solberg blitzed the day taking double bullets.

A nine second victory in Race 5 and a 32 second victory in Race 6 brings them up to third overall whilst Colin Harrison, John Harris and Russell Boaden (AUS) are fourth overall, a point behind.

Results: http://www.sailing.org/worldcup/regattas/hyeres_2014.php

Source: ISAF media

Background: The ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres (Apr 19-26) in Hyeres, France is the fifth and final stop on the 2013-14 ISAF Sailing World Cup. The season has been to Qingdao, China (Oct 12-19); Melbourne, Australia (Dec. 1-8); Miami, USA (Jan 25-Feb 1); Palma, Spain (Mar. 29-Apr 5); and will conclude in Hyeres, France. The ISAF Sailing World Cup is open to the sailing classes (equipment) chosen for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Competitions. – http://www.sailing.org/worldcup/home.php