470 World Championship at La Rochelle, France - Day 3
by Louissa Smith 8 Aug 2013 01:34 PDT
5-10 August 2013
Leaderboard shuffle on day 1 of the finals
Some major changes in a shuffle of the leaderboard top 10, with a tricky day of racing delivering contrasting results for teams, as the wind shifted and the pressure continually changed. An incredibly hard to read race course, with inconsistency in results keeping the scoreline close with only a few points between teams on this first day of finals. Mat Belcher/Will Ryan (AUS) briefly lost the lead to Great Britain's Luke Patience/Joe Glanfield after the day's opening race. The same story for Camille Lecointre/Mathilde Geron (FRA) in the 470 women, with Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie stepping up to the front after the first race, but by the end of the day, the scoreboard ended where it started with the Australians and French on top.
The 117 teams in the 470 men fleet, are split into equal 39 boat fleet sizes of gold, silver and bronze, with the women split into two fleets of 27 and 26.
470 Men
Olympic silver medallists Luke Patience/Joe Glanfield briefly knocked Australia's Mat Belcher/Will Ryan off the top spot after claiming the race win in the day's opening race, but not for long with the Australians bouncing back with a second place to reclaim their pole position.
The British pair followed up with a 14th in race 2 to end the first day of the final stage in 4th overall.
"It's gone quite well. We're in a decent position at this stage. It's been difficult – the wind has been pretty hard and difficult to read and there have been a lot of place changes," said Glanfield. "We've just got to try and keep improving really – we've got to learn from the mistakes we've made and see if we can sail a bit better each day."
The two have achieved major successes in former partnerships, with Patience a two-time World Champion silver medallist in 2011 and 2009, and Glanfield a three time World Champion medallist, claiming silver in 2005 and 2001, and bronze in 2004.
Despite their independent pedigrees, a new combination takes time to come together, as Glanfield explained, "This is our first World Championships together so I don't feel a huge amount of pressure. We've got an expectation of where we want to come. We've worked hard up until this World Championships. We don't think about the result too much, we just keep concentrating and try to sail better than the day before, learning what we can. But we're here to try and get the best result we can."
New Zealand's Paul Snow-Hansen/Daniel Willcox claimed the win in the second race of the day and moved up one leaderboard position to second overall. After nailing the start and heading to the right hand side of the track, the pair took a perfect layline to the mark and safely held the lead from the windward mark onwards.
"The wind out there was pretty hard work and a lot of top teams ended up at the back of the fleet at some stage," said Snow-Hansen. "The wind didn't have an obvious trend to it and you had to take your chances. It worked for us in the second race and we were really happy to hold of the Aussies and they sailed really well. We are just concentrating on ourselves and it is still early in the regatta, so we don't really know where the competition will come from. But there are a few teams who really struggled today more than us. After our 14th, we had to put our best foot forwards," he concluded.
In third overall and on equal points with the Kiwis are the recently crowned 470 European Champions, Sofian Bouvet/Jeremie Mion from France. The pair made their names in the 470 Junior fleet, winning back to back victories in the Junior Worlds and Junior Europeans in both 2009 and 2010. Today a 9, 5 scoreline was enough to push them up into third.
The day was really tough with teams pushing out inconsistent results as they struggled to get a grip with the unpredictable race track. Amongst the most consistent pairs were Spain's Onan Barreiros/Juan Curbelo who moved up 10 places to 6th on the leaderboard after a 5,3 scoreline.
"I am really, really happy," smiled Barreiros. "I have a new crew, Juan. Two months ago Juan had an accident with a bicycle and we virtually stopped sailing, but now I am really happy not for the results, but for Juan. The injury was a big problem for us, as we are in the selection process for funding for 2014, but now if we are in the top 8 then for the moment I am happy."
Turkey's 2012 Olympian, brothers Deniz and Ates Cinar lead the silver fleet, with Great Britain's Tom Kinver/Ben Palmer in charge at the front of the bronze fleet. Both race wins in the bronze fleet went to Ridgely Balladares/Rommel Chavez from the Philippines.
470 Men after Day 3: (top ten)
1. Mat Belcher/Will Ryan (AUS) – 10 pts
2. Paul Snow-Hansen/Daniel Willcox (NZL) – 18 pts
3. Sofian Bouvet/Jeremie Mion (FRA) – 18 pts
4. Luke Patience/Joe Glanfield (GBR) – 20 pts
5. Pierre Leboucher/Nicolas Le Berre (FRA) – 23 pts
6. Onan Barreiros/Juan Curbelo (ESP) – 24 pts
7. Lucas Calabrese/Juan de la Fuente (ARG) – 30 pts
8. Nicholas Rogers/Elliot Willis (GBR) – 37 pts
9. David Bargehr/Lukas Mahr (AUT) – 38 pts
10. Anton Dahlberg/Fredrik Bergstrom (SWE) – 43 pts
470 Women
Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie (NZL) got themselves back into the top spot after the first race of the finals stage today, ousting Camille Lecointre/Mathilde Geron (FRA) back to second on the leaderboard.
But an awkard error after racing today forced the Race Committee to award them a 5 point discretionary penalty, as the team explained, "Unfortunately for us we made the totally rookie error of not signing off in the time period at the end of the day so have had five points added to our score-line. We have no excuses for it, just simply forgot, a seriously frustrating mistake to make." A penalty score and 18th place in the second race has dropped them to 6th overall.
After today's two races, Lecointre/Geron remain at the top with China's 2012 Olympic team of Xiaoli Wang/Xufeng Huang 2 points behind in second and Slovenia's Tina Mrak/Veronika Macarol another two points behind in third.
From a leaderboard position of 15th at the start of the day to third at the end, was a result a bit ahead of today's plan for Slovenia's Tina Mrak/Veronika Macarol. "We did two good starts and then just sailed fast," commented Mrak. "We were in front at the first mark, so it made the racing easier. We are very happy with today's results."
Mrak represented Slovenia at the Olympics, but has now paired up with new crew Macarol. The pair competed together around 4 years ago and finished in bronze medal position at the 2008 470 Junior Europeans.
China is proving dominant in the fleet, with two teams in the top four and just one point behind the Slovenians are Xiaomei Xu/Chunyan Yu.
The two Brazilian teams, Fernanda Oliveira/Ana Barbachan and Renata Decnop/Isabel Swan were neck and neck in 9th and 10th respectively going into the first day of finals, but all change by the end of the day as Oliveira/Barbachan push up to 5th, with Decnop/Oliveira dropping out of the top ten to 13th.
At the 2008 Olympics, Oliveira/Swan won Olympic bronze, before moving on to separate partnerships and campaigning against each other for the one Brazilian slot for the 2012 Olympics, which was awarded to Oliveira/Barbachan. Decnop comes from a match racing background and hooked up with Swan earlier this year.
Swan commented, "This is our first World Championship together. To compete at this level requires perfection both physically and mentally, with both as important as the other." Both of them are soldiers in the Brazilian Navy, so intense physical training is nothing new.
Evaluating the competition in the fleet, Swan continued, "The French and New Zealanders are currently among the most successful on the 470 circuit. But I can say that our real challenge comes from ourselves, as we are still growing as a team."
470 Women after Day 3: (top ten)
1. Camille Lecointre/Mathilde Geron (FRA) – 16 pts
2. Xiaoli Wang/Xufeng Huang (CHN) – 18 pts
3. Tina Mrak/Veronika Macarol (SLO) – 20 pts
4. Xiaomei Xu/Chunyan Yu (CHN) – 21 pts
5. Fernanda Oliveira/Ana Barbachan (BRA) – 28 pts
6. Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie (NZL) – 28 pts
7. Annika Bochmann/Elisabeth Panuschka (GER) – 29 pts
8. Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark (GBR) – 33 pts
9. Afrodite Kyranakou/Anneloes van Veen (NED) – 33 pts
10. Lara Vadlau/Jola Ogar (AUT) – 36 pts
A busy day of racing on Thursday 8 August, with three races for each fleet and racing scheduled to start at 1300 hours. The 470 Men and Women gold fleets are on course area bravo, and all other fleets on course area alpha. The forecast is for stronger winds.
worlds.470.org
Championship Format
The Championship format splits the 470 Men into three fleets and the Women in two, to race the qualification stage of 5 races over two days, with one discard. After the qualifying stage, the 470 Men teams will be split into gold, silver and bronze fleets, based on their position on the leaderboard, and carry forward (C/F) their leaderboard position into the finals stage of 7 races over three race days. A second discard will be allowed during the finals stage, but not the C/F score. Scoring is 0 points for 1st, 2 points for 2nd and so on during the qualification and finals stage. The top 8 in each fleet will then proceed to the medal stage on Saturday 10 August for a single Medal Race with a double points score, where 1st equals 2 points, 2nd equals 4 points and so on.
About the 470 Class 50th Anniversary Celebrations
From 29 July to 10 August, there will be back to back racing in La Rochelle to celebrate the past, current and future generations of 470 sailors and sailing. Organized in collaboration between the International 470 Class Association, Société des Régates Rochelaises, AS470 France and the Federation Francaise de Voile get ready for two weeks of thrilling racing, a concourse d'elegance of some of the earliest built 470s, the launch of the 470 Great Book, Legends' Trophy, 50 Year Cup, Gala Dinner and much more - wrapping up on 10 August with the Closing Ceremony for the 2013 470 World Championships.
Belcher and Ryan extend their lead at 470 World Championship (from Craig Heydon, Yachting Australia)
Australia's Mathew Belcher and Will Ryan have opened up an eight point lead on the first day of finals racing at the 2013 470 World Championship in La Rochelle, France.
Belcher and Ryan started the finals series two points ahead of second place with the Australian pair finishing eight and second in the day's two races to lead over their Kiwi and French opponents.
"Today went well for us," said Belcher. "We were pretty happy to come away with two good scores on the first day of the finals.
"It's been a difficult place to race, with quite a bit of current and shifty winds and most top teams found it difficult to be consistent," he said. "You could notice the tension in the fleet with all the top guys together and highly motivated to get a good start. We didn't start the best today but fought hard to get the results we did. Another day down and looking forward to tomorrow's three races."
Ryan said that the pair was pleased to come away with two good results on the opening day of finals racing in tricky conditions.
"It was a tricky day with a lot of current and very unstable winds," said Ryan. "It built to 14 knots for the start of race two but dropped away to six by the end.
"It's certainly good to be racing all the top boats now but it was tough racing and we were fortunate to be able to come away with two good results when it would have been quite easy to have a bad one," he said. "The margin for error at times is pretty small."
Matthew and Robert Crawford have moved up from their overnight 39th to be 27th following a pair of 19ths on Wednesday.
Fellow Australians Alexander and Patrick Conway are just behind in 33rd following a 37th and 25th, with Scott Cotton and Tom Potter in 81st.
In the women's fleet Elise Rechichi and Sarah Cook ended their first day of World Championship finals racing in 17th position with the new pairing recording a 24th and a 12th.
"It was a tough day at the office for everyone today with very shifty, difficult, conditions for the two races," said Cook. "We finished with a 12th and a 24th but hopefully the 24 will be our drop for the finals series. The pressure is on for the next five races with three scheduled tomorrow and stronger winds forecast."
Jacqueline Gurr and Amelia Catt are currently in 26th position after a 25th and a 20th, with Sasha and Jaime Ryan 36th overall and Lucy Shephard and Aurora Paterson 43rd.
Chop, tide and tangles for the NZL Sailing Team on day three (from Jodie Bakewell-White, Yachting New Zealand)
Finals rounds got underway today at the 2013 470 World Championships with the La Rochelle venue testing sailors with more challenging conditions on day three of the six day long regatta.
Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox are now in 2nd place in the Men's fleet; Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie are lying 6th in Women's. Racing was in 8-14 knots of unstable breeze with strong tidal currents and a choppy sea.
An incident soon after the start in today's opening race had the potential to de-rail Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox but they fought back to produce an acceptable result, then went on to win race two and are now in 2nd place overall.
Coach Hamish Willcox describes the day; "It was a tough day in the office for all, but especially race one for Paul and Dan. They were looking great off the line and while tacking to the very favoured right side they infringed the Aussie team and did a two turn penalty."
"Amazingly Paul and Dan managed to come from 30 meters back and dead last into 19th (from 38 boats) at top mark then grind their up to 14th at finish".
"In race two the boys nailed to race committee boat and got to the right first, they choose a great lay line from well out and led around mark one."
Snow-Hansen (Wakatere Boating Club) and Willcox (Murrays Bay Sailing Club) went on to take out the second race of the day and are now on 18 points, with the French pair of Bouvet and Mion also on 18 points in 3rd position. Australia's Mat Belcher and will Ryan continue to hold the lead on 10 points after the first day of gold fleet racing.
In the Women's fleet Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie are now lying 6th overall, their day also not going without incident. From today they count a 6th and an 18th; the Olympic champions describe what happened;
"We managed to get off the line in the first race in a decent place and lead the fleet around the course from start to finish. In the second race we had the start and first beat pretty sorted sitting near the front of the fleet but got a bit tangled up in boats on the second beat and fell back through the fleet."
"Unfortunately for us we made the totally rookie error of not signing off in the time period at the end of the day so have had five points added to our score-line. We have no excuses for it, just simply forgot, a seriously frustrating mistake to make."
After the tricky day challenged many of the top placed sailors some positions have changed and the points have closed up around the top of the women's leader-board. France's Lecointre and Geron retain the top spot however on 16 points, with China in 2nd and Slovenia in 3rd. Aleh and Powrie sitting in 6th have 28 points equal to the Brazilian crew in 5th.