Westerhof and Berkhout break free
24. Aug. 2009 Time 22:35:50 by: Sailing Intelligence
Competitors at the 470 World Championships were blessed with another day of unbeatable weather off Rungsted, north of Copenhagen, Denmark. Blazing sunshine plus a stable southeasterly breeze that started at 8 knots and ended up closer to 20, allowed the race organisers at the Royal Danish Yacht Club to cash in on the conditions, holding three races for the five fleets, rather the scheduled two.
After five races a discard has come into play. Two teams remain tied at the top of the Men’s Division where the Netherland’s Sven and Calle Coster and Croats Šime Fantela and Igor Marenić are on seven points, having both discarded eighth places.
Fantela and Marenić, who usually sail out of Zadar, won the first two races today in the Men’s pink group, the first narrowly ahead of Israel’s Gidi Kliger and Udi Gal, the second in front of New Zealand’s Geoffrey Woolley and Mark Overington.
“It was really good, we are really satisfied,” said Fantela. “Conditions were specific in the first race because of the strong current, so everyone was trying to start at the committee boat and tack towards shore. We made two good starts and were on the right side and it was a fight between five boats with the rest a long way behind.” On the final race they went the wrong way up the first beat, rounding the top mark 14th, but managed to claw their way back up to sixth.
“The venue is great,” continued Fantela, a former Optimist World Champion, who this year won the 470 Europeans. “We have been here for 20 days and there hasn’t been a day without wind. It is not so cold - it is really good. And the organisation is great. The guys with our trolleys, the people in the tent are working really good and the GPS system is great. In Croatia they know the results sooner than us and after the race we can check our race on the tracker on the internet.” - Read more
24. Aug. 2009 Time 22:35:50 by: Sailing Intelligence
Competitors at the 470 World Championships were blessed with another day of unbeatable weather off Rungsted, north of Copenhagen, Denmark. Blazing sunshine plus a stable southeasterly breeze that started at 8 knots and ended up closer to 20, allowed the race organisers at the Royal Danish Yacht Club to cash in on the conditions, holding three races for the five fleets, rather the scheduled two.
After five races a discard has come into play. Two teams remain tied at the top of the Men’s Division where the Netherland’s Sven and Calle Coster and Croats Šime Fantela and Igor Marenić are on seven points, having both discarded eighth places.
Fantela and Marenić, who usually sail out of Zadar, won the first two races today in the Men’s pink group, the first narrowly ahead of Israel’s Gidi Kliger and Udi Gal, the second in front of New Zealand’s Geoffrey Woolley and Mark Overington.
“It was really good, we are really satisfied,” said Fantela. “Conditions were specific in the first race because of the strong current, so everyone was trying to start at the committee boat and tack towards shore. We made two good starts and were on the right side and it was a fight between five boats with the rest a long way behind.” On the final race they went the wrong way up the first beat, rounding the top mark 14th, but managed to claw their way back up to sixth.
“The venue is great,” continued Fantela, a former Optimist World Champion, who this year won the 470 Europeans. “We have been here for 20 days and there hasn’t been a day without wind. It is not so cold - it is really good. And the organisation is great. The guys with our trolleys, the people in the tent are working really good and the GPS system is great. In Croatia they know the results sooner than us and after the race we can check our race on the tracker on the internet.” - Read more
