D-One Gold Cup Day 3- Slingsby speeds into first

by Elena Giolai on 31 Jul 2011

D-One Gold Cup 2011 Elena Giolai/Fraglia Vela Riva

The third day's racing at the 2011 D-One Gold Cup in Fraglia Vela Riva del Garda has resulted in the second edition being declared a great success. With only one day remaining, the fleet will go into the final day knowing that there will be double points at stake.

The excellent winds, medium to strong, created the conditions for a great competition between super champions Slingsby, Thompson, Scott and Casale. It has been a hotly-contested dual between the top two in the leader's board (the two laserists Slingsby and Thompson, who on Monday will turn their attention exclusively to the Olympics), and between third and fourth place Scott and Casale (both on Finns). Casale, who hasn't set foot on a craft for fifteen years, immediately felt at ease on the D-One. Luca Devoti created this craft, and many are of the opinion, that it would be an ideal single boat to be entered in the Olympics, since it is more spectacular than the Laser and Finn, and just as technical.

With one day to go it's still all to play for for a medal place. Slingsby of Australia and Thompson of Great Britain have been vying for first place since the start of the event, but after today's two races and after six legs altogether, it's the Australian who takes the lead two points ahead of Thompson. Italian Andrea Casale managed to overtake Giles Scott to take third place by just one point. Klakovic of Croatia, who arrived one day late, finished in the top group after a fourth and a third in today's races.

The grand final will probably start on Sunday at 9 A.M. (with northerly winds), to allow the champions to finish in time for the Olympic test events in Weymouth on Monday.

Results after six races:

No	Numero	Nome	Punti	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	AUS 108	SLINGSBY TOM, Maschio, GOSFORD S.C.	6,0	(3)	1	1	2	1	1
2	GBR 115	THOMPSON NICK, Maschio, ROYAL LYMINGTON Y.C.	8,0	1	(2)	2	1	2	2
3	ITA 6	CASALE ANDREA, Maschio, YACHT CLUB ITALIANO	17,0	(4)	3	3	4	3	4
4	GBR 104	SCOTT GILES, Maschio, WPNSA	18,0	2	4	4	3	(5)	5
5	GBR 105	CUMBLEY CHARLIE, Maschio, TEIGN CORINTHIAN Y.C.	29,0	5	(10)	5	6	7	6
6	CZE 1	MAIER MICHAEL, Maschio, YER	38,0	6	5	(18)	11	6	10
7	GBR 15	HOWARD MATT, Maschio, LOSSC	38,0	7	6	6	10	(14)	9
8	ITA 107	TOCCOLI FABIO, Maschio, C.V.TORBOLE	47,0	10	8	12	8	9	(14)
9	ITA 112	POGGI GIORGIO, Maschio, SVGDF	51,0	(dnf)	7	19	7	10	8
10	CRO 109	KLAKOVIC GASPIC IVAN, Maschio, YC LABUD	59,0	(dnc)	dnc	10	5	4	3