Paralympic medals decided at Garda Trentino Olympic week

Trentino, Italy (May 10, 2014) – Tomorrow sees the end of the Garda Trentino Olympic Week with the Medal Races disputed by the top 10 in each individual class.

On the fourth day at Garda Trentino Olympic Week, one day from the end of the first EUROSAF Chmpions Sailing Cup, the competitors enjoyed the same ingredients as the rest of the week with the wind oscillating between 10 and 20 Kts, and even stronger in the last races. With loads of breakages, capsizes and retirements due to the tough conditions.

Great satisfaction for this first stage of qualification races from all the Clubs taking part in the Vela Garda Trentino, who have contributed to the grass roots organization: Fraglia Vela Riva, Lega Navale Italiana, Circolo Vela Arco, Circolo Surf Torbole e Fraglia Vela Malcesine who have all been involved in providing 5 separate courses to satisfy the demands of the ever more professional athletes and coaches coming from almost 50 nations and 5 continents. This group of Sailing Clubs worked really well together by coordinating, committees, International Juries and on the water and on shore volunteers. This is a show of significant force and dedication for the sake of Olympic sport.

Tomorrow will be the conclusion of the regatta with the ‘Medal Races’, the end game for the first 10 sailors of every class: great anticipation for the 49er and the 49erFX events which are going to challenge in three race finals as are the Nacra 17’s as opposed to just one race for all the other classes. The 49ers are going to race on a course limited by a line of buoys so as not to be missed from the streaming of the race that can be watched from all over the world, bringing the reputation of Lake Garda and Olympic Sailing to the 5 continents.

Nacra 17, 3races today, 9 races in total Location Fraglia vela Malcesine.

Speed, dexterity, preparation and affinity all these attributes make this mixed catamaran more and more fascinating. At the Fraglia Vela Malcesine less intense wind but definitely exciting , interesting and demanding sailing with 15 knots of wind Just as they had a couple of days ago. They ran three races again today and to make them a little longer they made the boats complete three rounds of the course. Still on top form today Bissaro – Sicouri had two firsts and a second and are emphatically in the lead with a stratospheric 24 point advantage over the French Vaireaux – Audinet,

2.4 – Sonar – Skud 18, 2 races today out of a total 6 races – Location: Fraglia Vela Malcesine

The first medals of the 2014 Garda Trentino Olympic Week 2014 were awarded today at the Fraglia Vela Malcesine: in the paralympic classes the Italians dominated the Sonar finals with the three hander captained by Cristiano D’Agaro (Triestina Sailing Club) who after 3 days of steady sailing landed two good victories which were enough to lengthen their lead and to win by 5 points over the German Kern team. The Dutch Barend easily won in the 2.4 class after winning 8 out of 9 races. Silver went to Antonio Squizzato who out-performed the German Bodler. The Skud 18 classification was as predicted a victory for the English Rickam-Birrell team and silver went to Italians Gualandris-Zanetti with Dutch Voorback-Van Essenveld in bronze position.

RS:X M/F, 3 races today, 12 races in total Location Circolo Surf Torbole

At the Circolo Surf Torbole the classification remains unchanged for thre RSX men’s. Out of the medal race are Oman and Slovenia. It was another amazing day for Marcantonio Baglione who with grit and determination has been seeking to claw his way back into the reckoning. After a first and a third today he started the last race really badly but one by one he passed his adversaries and at the end crossed the line in first place.It was a great show of character after a difficult start to the regatta. Tomorrows medal race counts for double points, the Croat Mratovic is in the lead with a 6 point advantage over the Italian Camboni and one point behind him is the Thai Boonsawad. In the women’s event victory for Flavia Tartaglini, 13 points behind is the Japanese Sunaga third is the Italian Veronica Fanciulli who has been steadily improving.

470 M/F, 2 races today out of a total 6 races – location: Fraglia Vela Riva.

The situation before Protests have been heard.

The Croatian Olympic team Fantela-Marenic didn’t make any mistakes today and with a first and second place they arrived at the medal race with a 3 point lead over Germans Fernandez-Szymanshi. The Italian team Desiderato-Trani gave ground with a sixth place and an OCS and slid into third place 5 points behind the leaders. Tomorrow they will be racing for podium places. There is a real battle going on between fourth, fifth and sixth places with three teams within 2 points of each other of which Capurro-Puppo are hanging on to fourth position.

In the women’s racing, the Polish Skrzypulec-Pogon are still leading with a first and a third today giving them a 2 point lead over Roberta Caputo (European champion and world 420 in 2009) and Alice- Sinno who are in second place thanks to a good day (2,2).

49er and 49er FX, 3 races today out of a total 12 races. Location: Fraglia Vela Riva.

The situation before Protests have been heard.

Exciting stuff on the race course with the men’s 49er leaders Plazzi-Molineris breaking their mast during the first race, in which they stumbled with an OCS. After a quick return to shore to change the carbon mast they were able to participate in the third race in which they came fourth. In the lead are the French D’Ortoli-Delpech. The 49ers will be fighting out the medal races with three short races.

Among the women, the New Zealanders Maloney-Meech have stayed in the lead, followed by the Germans Meyer-Stoffers and then the Danish Hansen-Salskov. Martine Grael and her crew Kahena Kunze had some problems with the strong wind despite their sailing heritage: after a 12th place and an 11th they capsized and didn’t cross the finish line. 8 different nationalities will be competing in the Medal Race.

Laser Standard and Radial, 2 races today, 9 races in total. 4 Gold/Silver- Location Circolo Vela Arco

Nothing new to report in the Laser Standard fleet with Robert Scheidt leaving absolutely no chance to his rivals. Eight nations are represented in the medal race the gaps in the points being quite considerable.

A decisive lead in the Laser Radial for the Irish sailor Murphy who is in command with a 16 point advantage over the Italian Silvia Zennaro who has a four point lead over the Dane Rindom.

Report by event media.

RESULTS: http://www.velagardatrentino.com/idPm/2023/ncName/ResultsO2014LaserSt/news.aspx
DAY 4 PHOTO GALLERY: https://plus.google.com/photos/109963424347830349974/albums/6011835979947953377
VIDEO DAY 4 YOU TUBE: http://youtu.be/nNOpsJVoOmA

Background: The second year of the EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup promotes four major European regattas, extending the European summer season for Olympic and Paralympic sailors beyond the ISAF Sailing World Cup regattas. The 2014 schedule is Lake Garda, Italy (May 7-11); Medemblik, The Netherlands (May 20-24); Weymouth & Portland, United Kingdom (June 2-6); and Kiel, Germany (June 21-25). – www.championssailingcup.org