North America struggling at ISAF Sailing World Cup Mallorca

Palma de Mallorca, Spain (April 1, 2014) – The qualification series at Trofeo Princesa Sofia – ISAF Sailing World Cup Mallorca concluded today with sailors gearing up for a tough three days of final series racing. For the 1,130 sailors from 55 nations, the second day of racing meant do or die as the places for the final series of racing were decided.

Racing got off to a late start in the afternoon with a light morning breeze ensuring Palma Bay resembled a shiny pane of glass. A moderate 5 knot breeze picked up to 10 knots that saw the light wind specialists continue their strong early form. Racing in the one Paralympic and ten Olympic events concluded at 19:30.

This event marks the start of the European event circuit, and the bulk of the North American contingent is struggling to find championship form. Among the 10 Olympic events and 1 Paralympic event, here are the only athletes near the top of their events:

Women’s 470: 8th Anne Haeger/ Briana Provancha (USA)
Finn: 7th Greg Douglas (CAN)
Laser: 14th Robert Davis (CAN)
Laser Radial: 9th Isabella Bertold (CAN)

Nacra 17
Franck Cammas and Sophie de Turckheim (FRA) held on to their lead in the Nacra 17 with a steady race day.

After five races the French pair have a two point lead over compatriots Billy Besson and Marie Riou and Great Britain’s Ben Saxton and Hannah Diamond who are tied on 11 points.

On his day Cammas said, “We weren’t sailing as well as yesterday in terms of speed but in the end we finished sixth and second so not so bad. It was very tricky because there were lots of shifts and we waited a long time for enough wind to race. In the end it was two good races on the trapeze.”

With stronger breeze forecast for the remainder of the week Cammas and de Turckheim made the most of their favoured conditions early on and with gold fleet racing starting on Wednesday things will only get tougher, “We are for sure very happy to lead. We are better in the light wind and I think tomorrow and the next days will be different so I think it’s good to take more points now. The game will be completely different with the breeze coming in from the west later this week.

“What is interesting in this class is that the level of many sailors is very high and the fight is always interesting and exciting for us. We will see in the different conditions how Billy Besson and [Darren] Bundock get on because they know the Nacra very well and we have to improve in these conditions.

“We trained a lot in the winter and hopefully we’ve improved because last year we were very bad.”

The French team has a wonderful pool of multihull talent to choose from. Despite only four Santander 2014 ISAF Worlds spots available and one Rio 2016 Olympic Games position Cammas sees the strength and relationships within the team as a valuable asset, “We need everybody together to keep improving. It’s very comfortable to have the best Nacra 17 sailors around us when we train and I hope we continue like that as long as possible before the Olympic Games.”

Yellow fleet race wins were taken by Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders (NZL) and Besson and Riou. ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami victors Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri (ITA) and compatriots Federica Salvà and Francesco Bianchi picked up the blue fleet bullets.

Laser Radial
One race in the split 96-boat Laser Radial fleet sees Marit Bouwmeester (NED) head into gold fleet racing two points clear of Great Britain’s Chloe Martin.

Bouwmeester finished second in the yellow fleet whilst Martin took a third in the blue fleet as the top two spots remain unchanged.

“It was a nice day even though it was quite a long day on the water because we got a good race in and now we can do gold fleet racing,” said Bouwmeester. “There are so many girls here and the racing is really good. It should be a fun three days in the gold fleet which will be nice.”

Despite setting the early pace Bouwmeester isn’t getting carried away, “I’m just trying to sail as best as I can, learn as much as I can and then if I win I would like that but if not then there has to be more work done.”

The days race wins went to Daphne van der Vaart (NED) in the blue fleet and Anne Marie Rindom (DEN) in the yellow fleet.

Laser
There is very little separating the leading Laser racers with ten points splitting the top 12 positions.

Robert Scheidt (BRA) and Emil Cedergardh (SWE) are at the front of the pack, tied on 14 points and overnight leader Ashley Brunning (AUS) is a point off.

With the top Laser sailors making the gold fleet Brunning is looking forward to getting stuck in, “The final series is where you make or break. With six races it’s going to be much more interesting because the points will go up and down a lot. It’s one of those things where you’ve got to perform. You set a precedent in the qualifying series but the final series is where it gets going.”

Men’s RS:X
French sailors occupy three spots in the top seven of the Men’s RS:X with the event acting as their qualification regatta for the Aquece Rio – International Sailing Regatta 2014, a Rio 2016 Test Event.

Pierre Le Coq, first overall and Louis Giard, sitting in third, are the leading French sailors with ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami victor Byron Kokkalanis sandwiched in between the two.

“They all look in great shape and they are doing very good,” commented Kokkalanis on the French racers. “They have a strong team and their performance is very impressive. It was pretty good day for me with a third place and a second. I managed to stay in the top three and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Kokkalanis was impressive in Miami and has brought that form into Mallorca as he gears up for a big year, “I’m feeling very good. I did some good training with my team mates. We’re not fully on it yet, we still have a long way to go to the Worlds in Santander in September.”

Le Coq and Kokkalanis are tied on ten points with the Frenchman leading overall by nature of count back. Giard is a point behind with overnight leader Chunzhuang Liu (CHN) dropping to third.

Women’s RS:X
China’s Peina Chen has the advantage in the Women’s RS:X fleet and is a point clear of France’s Charline Picon.

In three Women’s RS:X races in the day Chen and Picon took a race win apiece to put a short margin in between themselves and World #1 Bryony Shaw (GBR) in third.

The day’s other race win went to Moana Della (GER) who is seventh overall.

49erFX
Despite discarding a 15th Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA) extended their 49erFX lead to five points after five races in the 50-boat fleet.

The World #1 duo came out strong on the second day of racing to pick up their third consecutive second place finish. However a 15th in the proceeding race blighted what’s been a steady start from the Brazilians.

They lead ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami gold medallists Sarah Steyaert and Julie Bossard (FRA) who picked up a bullet and a seventh.

Denmark’s Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen and Singapore’s Griselda King and Sara Li Ching Tan have been the most consistent racers after two days of racing. Neither team count a score outside the top nine places which could prove invaluable towards the latter stages of the week. The Danes are fifth on 16 points and the Singaporeans tenth on 19 points.

49er
Three points separate the top four in the 49er fleet after a further three races in the blue and yellow fleets.

Diego Botin and Pablo Turrado (ESP) were unable to match their opening days score line yet held onto their lead following a race win, a discarded 23rd and a 12th. The French duo are tied with World #1 Stevie Morrison and Chris Grube (GBR) with David Evans and Ed Powys (GBR) just a point behind.

2013 World Champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) were a model of consistency on the second day as they notched up three consecutive second place finishes. They move from the middle of the pack to fourth overall.

After six races in the qualification series the sailors’ minds will now turn to the final series on the third day of racing in Mallorca.

Finn
Thomas Le Breton (FRA) continued his good form in the Finn to open up a nine point gap over Tapio Nirkko (FIN) at the top of the leader board.

The French sailor took two bullets from three Finn races, dominating proceedings. A sixth on the opening race of the day is the only score outside the top two the Frenchman holds as the fleet head into the final series.

Nirkko took the day’s opening race win but was unable to match Le Breton’s consistency. Estonia’s Deniss Karpak is tied on 14 points with Nirkko in third.

Men’s 470
Finland’s Joonas and Niklas Lindgren sneaked into the lead in the Men’s 470 as the overnight leading trio had mixed days on the water.

Sofian Bouvet and Jeremie Mion (FRA), Lucas Calabrese and Juan de la Fuente (ARG) and Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergstrom (SWE) all entered the second day tied on four points apiece. All three teams counted scores outside the top ten allowing the Finnish duo to slide through into the lead as they slipped back.

Luke Patience and Elliot Willis (GBR) are just one point behind the Lindgren’s and do not count any scores outside the top six, a valuable asset to hold going into the final series.

Women’s 470
Camille Lecointre and Helene Defrance (FRA) held on to their Women’s 470 lead with a discarded 21st and a third.

Fernanda Oliveira and Ana Luiza Barbachan (BRA) picked up an eighth and a fourth to move into second. A fourth and a fifth from 2013 female ISAF Rolex World Sailors of the Year Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie (NZL) pushes them up to third.

2.4mR
Helena Lucas (GBR) continued her excellent start in the 2.4mR by amassing two further race wins in the 16-boat fleet.

Lucas, the London 2012 Paralympic gold medallist, picked up where she left off from the opening day and made it four out of four to open up a four point lead over compatriot Megan Pascoe.

Racing resumes on Wednesday and continues through to Saturday 5 April.

Results: http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/en/default/laregata/vertodoslosresultados

Source: Event media

Background: The ISAF Sailing World Cup Mallorca (Mar. 29-Apr 5) is the fourth stop on the five event 2013-14 ISAF Sailing World Cup. The season has been to Qingdao, China (Oct 12-19); Melbourne, Australia (Dec. 1-8); and Miami (Jan 25-Feb 1); and will continue on after Palma, Spain to conclude in Hyeres, France (Apr. 19-26). 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