Enoshima Olympic Week 2005

by Aiko Saito/ISAF/Sail-World on 21 Oct 2005 The ISAF Grade 2 Enoshima Olympic Week got underway at Enoshima Yacht Harbour, Kangawa, Japan today with racing in seven of the Olympic events.

Competitors are battling in the men and women’s 470, the Laser and Laser Radial, the RS:X men and women and the 49er. Men and women are racing in the same fleet with their overall scores to be separated at the end of the week.

Typhoon number 20 passed off the Kanto area early yesterday, and there was a good ten to 15 knot northeast breeze through the day. The RS:X’s were first away, with three men and two women competing. Motokazu Kenjo had the best of the men’s competition, winning both races, whilst Yasuko Kosuge was the better of the two women competitors.

The biggest fleet amongst the Olympic events was the 470, the event in which Japan’s Kazuto Seki and Kenjiro Todorki secured bronze in Athens. After two races today, the women’s team of Ai Kondo and Naoko Kamata lead overall after a fifth and a second place. In tricky wind conditions they sailed flawlessly against the top men’s teams who are led by Masaaki Taniguschi and Ryohei Yoshimi ahead of Olympic bronze medallist Seki and his crew Yanagawa Syouchi.

Australia’s Mathew Belcher and Nick Behrens won the opening race, but were caught by the fixed fishing during the second race, and dropped to 16th, caused them to fall down to sixth overall.

The Lasers raced just one tightly fought battle, with the top four close throughout. Yoichi Iijimia finally won out, whilst in the Laser Radial Ayumi Ishikawa took the bullet.

The 49ers had two races today, with Kenjiro Torodoki and Kida winning both of them.

The foreign competitors enjoyed the beautiful sunset of Enoshima when they finished racing today. The 470 class features one Australian and two Thai teams, there was a competitor from both Indonesia and Thailand in the Laser, a Thai lady for the Laser Radial and a Danish team in the 49er fleet.

A total of eleven races are scheduled in each fleet with the final racing day Sunday 23 October.