Buckingham on podium in Medemblik

Medemblik, Netherlands (May 26, 2017) – An exciting Friday saw the last of the races of the Delta Lloyd Regatta before the medal races are sailed for the Olympic caliber competition. The wind was a bit tricky in the morning, but Laser and 470 were able to start their races as scheduled, giving them some time before the medal races to prepare.

Protests in Lasers
Preparing for Laser, sailors Cyprian Pavlos Kontides and Elliot Hanson (Great Britain) talk of protesting. Kontides: “Hanson was match racing me, as expected. But he made a few penalties, so I had to protest against him.” Both were disqualified but Hanson was still leading the fleet with 8 points ahead of American Charlie Buckingham. Thomas Saunders (New Zealand) had a bad day, and after starting in fourth place, he ended the day in eleventh place to miss out on the Medal Race. Hanson and Buckingham finished the Medal Race in 6th and 5th respectively to remain in the 1-2 positions, with a win by Matthew Wearn (AUS) giving him the bronze.

Thrilling finals in 470
The favourites going into the 470 medal race are the Russians Pavel Sozykin and Denis Gribanov. They will secure gold if they end up in second place. Dutchies Afrodite Kyranakou and Anneloes van Veen are going into the medals in second place, and a podium finish is in sight if they keep their concentration in the medal races. Even a golden medal is possible, but this all depends of the results of the Russians.

Medal races 49erFX will guarantee some close racing
In the 49erFX is the Croatian team with Enia Nincevic and Peiar Cupac leading. They’ll compete in the medal races against three Dutch teams, three British teams, Germans, Americans and French sailors. “It’s gonna be tough, it’s top ten boats with really close racing,” said Nincevic. The preparation of the British Hannah Mills and Alain Sign didn’t go as planned, as their trapeze broke down during the last race. Sign: “It was a bit disappointing to have some gear problems, but we’re happy to be in the medal race.” Americans Stephanie Roble and Maggie Shea posted a 20-OCS-3 but they held in 8th place going into the Medal Race.

Excited for the new RS:X format
The RS:X started 4 hours after their planned races. We’ll find the top 12 windsurfers from the week at the starting line tomorrow, starting with 0 points. The RS:X class will race with a new format: the top 12 after the fleet races will start in the quarter-final, six of them will go through to the semi-final and finally four windsurfers will battle for the podium places. Olympic champion van Rijsselberghe looks ahead: “A lot of things can happen on the last day. It’s do or die. It will be quite interesting to see what’s gonna happen.”

Laser Radial and 49er are finishing their last races during the finals of the 470 and Laser. Full schedule of medal races can be found here.

The 33rd edition of the Delta Lloyd Regatta continues daily through to Saturday, May 27.

Event details – Results – Facebook

Source: DLR