Dragon Gold Cup - Leading pack is beginning to show

by Diana Bogaards on 11 Sep 2014 The leading pack is beginning to show after four races at the Dragon Gold Cup in the Dutch city of Medemblik. With two more races to go it already is a valid championship, with defending champion Markus Wieser leading so far. Despite the mild wind of the last days, the event is on schedule. Up to the closing day on Friday there are six races scheduled. In total 86 Dragons are participating in this unique event that annually takes place in another country.

Wieser, who sails for the United Arab Emirates, is no longer as unapproachable as Monday after two races. The first and second race of the event he sailed two first places which immediately made a huge gap between him and the other participants. But because of a 25th and a fifth place in today's races he let the competition come much closer. Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen is now provisionally second with only five points behind, Yevgen Braslavets is in third place with 11 points difference with Wieser. The best Dutch sailor is Pieter Heerema in tenth place.

During the Dragon Gold Cup the contestants sail, according to tradition, daily one long race, six in total, which all will count for the final classification. Today, Wednesday, it was great sailing weather with twelve knots of wind. In contrast to yesterday, when the race had to be aborted because of calm. Thereby today the participants sailed a resail of yesterday and in addition the planned race, making it a long day for everyone.

The resail began with a black flag, the same as at yesterday’s start. Which led to a number of disqualifications, because several boats started too early. Because there is no discard in this event, a bfd (black flag disqualification) weighs heavily in the overall standings. According to the Chairman of the Dutch Dragon Class, Huib Bannier, at this event there generally is very sporty sailing: 'That is also the Mission in the Dragon Gold Cup. Because all 86 boats start at the same time, there is a large starting line. That makes it particularly difficult for the Committee to see who is over the line too early. After a general recall normally a black flag follows. Anyone who then starts too early will be disqualified.'

Also in the evening there is plenty to do for the sailors. There is a hustle and bustle on the quay at the Oosterhaven, where all the Dragons are docked. Bannier: 'Last night we had the traditional Gold Cup dinner. We served an Indonesian meal, which of course is the Dutch pride, and which was widely appreciated. Afterwards there was live music until late hours.

Preliminary results 

No	Sailno	Name	Scores	1	2	3	4
1	UAE 7	Markus Wieser, Pugachev Sergey, Leonchuk Georgii	32,0	1	1	25	5
2	GBR 775	Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen, Hamish McKay, Andrew Norden	37,0	3	9	8	17
3	UAE 8	Braslavets Yevgen, Sidorov Igor, Timokhov Sergiy	43,0	14	22	5	2
4	GBR 785	Lawrie Smith, Tim Tavinor, Joost Houweling	46,0	5	23	3	15
5	RUS 27	Anatoly Loginov, Vadim Statsenko, Alexander Shalagin	47,0	31	10	2	4
6	SUI 311	Diego Cayolla, Martin Westerdahl, Bernardo Freitas	53,0	16	15	10	12
7	DEN 410	Jens Christensen, Kim Andersen, Erik Hansen	54,0	6	5	30	13
8	GER 1140	Marcus Brennecke, Vincent Hoesch, Marc Pickel	55,0	17	24	4	10
9	SWE 358	Hans Liljeblad, Johan Hedberg, John Magnusson	56,0	9	2	31	14
10	NED 412	Pieter Heerema, Theis Palm, Claus Olesen	56,0	10	32	11	3
11	DEN 138	Lars Hendriksen, Frithjof Kleen, Pedro Andrade	57,0	38	4	14	1
12	SUI 313	Dirk Oldenburg, Paul McKenzie, Dominik Zycki	58,0	4	28	7	19
13	GER 1150	Michael Schmidt, Malte Philipp, Mario Wagner	63,0	27	8	20	8
14	GBR 758	Klaus Diederichs, Andy Beadsworth, Jamie Lea	64,0	23	3	6	32
15	GBR 761	Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, Mark Hart, Nick Hartshorn	69,0	11	29	1	28
16	DEN 266	Frank Berg, Kasper Harsberg, Jesper Baungaard	78,0	24	27	16	11
17	GBR 789	James McHugh, Simon Fry, Chris Larson	80,0	7	6	12	55
18	UAE 20	Hendrik Witzmann, Michael Hestbaeck, Markus Koy	85,0	19	11	22	33
19	GER 1125	Stephan Link, Frank Butzmann, Michael Lipp	91,0	32	18	32	9
20	GER 1121	Reemt Reemtsma, Petra Reemtsma, Lorenz Jensen	93,0	2	52	19	20

For full results, click here Event website