Frustrating day at the Princess Sofia Trophy

by RYA on 12 Apr 2006 Uncharacteristically cloudy and changeable conditions in the Bay of Palma gave rise to a frustrating day for most sailors at the Princess Sofia Trophy Tuesday.

Racing took place in just two of the ten Olympic classes – the Yngling and 49ers plus the 420 and the Europe – as race officers felt, in most cases, that the wind was too unstable to set a course. As soon as racing had been abandoned for the day, however, the clouds cleared and the wind filled to perfect racing conditions.

Skandia Team GBR’s 49er sailors put on a good show in their one and only race of the day to secure five boats in the top third and through to the gold fleet tomorrow. With a third place from today’s race, Olympic bronze medallists Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks remain the top British boat in fourth overall, with fellow performance squad sailors Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes posting a bullet today to sit just two points behind their teammates in fifth.

Thanks to their second from today’s race, Paul Campbell James and Mark Asquith have been boosted back into the top ten, while a solid showing from development squad sailors Dave Evans-Rick Peacock and Ian Martin-Ben McGrane – both finishing sixth in their respective flights today – earned them places in the gold fleet.

Sarah Ayton and her team of Sarah Webb and Victoria Rawlinson remain firmly in contention in the Yngling class. The Skandia Team GBR trio lost their overnight lead by the narrowest of margins to American World Champion Sally Barkow’s team following today’s two races, and are now poised expectantly in second place on nine points, to Barkow’s eight, in just their second major regatta together.

Annie Lush and Lucy Macgregor, helmed by Greek 470 Olympic champion Sophia Bekatorou, pushed up to sixth place today while development squad sailors Gemma Farrell, Rachel Larman and Rachel Howe – competing in their first international regatta as a new team – are knocking at the door of Friday’s final medal race, currently in 12th place.

All of Skandia Team GBR’s Laser and Laser Radial sailors made the cut into their respective gold fleets. Laura Baldwin’s is the top British boat in the Radial fleet, currently in seventh ahead of Lizzie Vickers in eighth, while European Champion Paul Goodison sits in second in the Laser fleet, ten points clear of his nearest rival.

In the RS:X windsurf classes, the Brits will once again be the ones to watch as Lucy Horwood and Athens bronze medallist Nick Dempsey currently lead the respective women’s and men’s fleets. Ed Wright remains in second in the Finn class, on equal points with third placed Canadian Christopher Cook, while 12th placed Rob Wilson and Mark Bulkeley are best placed to fly the British flag in the Tornado class when racing resumes.

Four British boats will race in the men’s 470 gold fleet, including defending champions Nic Asher and Elliot Willis, while women’s 470 sailors Christina Bassadone-Saskia Clark and Pippa Wilson-Sheena Craig are still firmly on course for the all-important double points scoring final medal race on Friday.

Latest results after Tuesday racing:

49er
1 UKR 1 Rodion Luka/Georgii Leonchuk 8pts 1 2 4 1 3 1
2 ITA 3 Pietro Sibello/Gianfranco Sibello 9 OCS 1 1 3 2 2
3 ESP 99 Iker Martinez/Xabi Fernandez 14 1 4 4 3 2 DNF
4 GBR 2 Chris Draper/Simon Hiscocks 15 4 8 5 2 1 3
5 GBR 5 Stieve Morrison/Ben Rhodes 17 16 10 3 2 1 1
Other GBR
9 GBR 955 Paul Campbell James/Mark Asquith 24 5 1 8 8 15 2
14 GBR 672 Dave Evans/Rick Peacock 27 10 1 6 4 14 6
17 GBR 17 Ian Martin/Ben Mcgrane 30 14 2 8 5 9 6
37 GBR 9 John Pink/Alex Hopson 54 OCS 15 4 6 12 17

Yngling:
1 USA 337 Sally Barkow/Carrie Howe/Debbie Capozzi 8pts 4 1 2 OCS 1
2 GBR 12 Sarah Ayton/Victoria Rawlinson/Sarah Webb 9 3 2 1 3 6
3 RUS 4 Basalkina Anna/Loukashova Galina/Maximova Ekaterina 25 6 7 3 9 16
4 GER 261 Schuemann; Ulrike/Kappel; Runa/Höpfner; Ute 25 9 5 5 6 13
5 NZL 4 Sharon Ferris/Raynor Smeal/Ashley Holtum 26 14 3 8 7 8
6 GBR 9 Sophie Bekatorou/Annie Lush/Lucy Macgregor 28 7 DSQ 6 13 2
Other GBR
12 GBR 14 Gemma Farrell/Rachel Larman/Rachel Howe 44 5 10 20 14 15

420:
1 POR 51163 António Pereira/Afonso Prieto 7 2 1 3 OCS 1
2 ESP 51694 Jose A. Medina/Antonio Del Castillo 9 1 OCS 4 1 3
3 POR 52408 Miguel Mamede/Tomás Almeida 10 4 3 1 2 21
4 ESP 51124 David Omedes/Carlos Gallart 12 3 2 18 3 4
5 ESP 52246 Felipe Parejo/Pablo Fernández Palacios 14 8 4 2 1 7

Europe:
1 SWE 3567 Victor Bergstrom 4 2 1 1 1 1
2 ESP 257 David Kearley 5 5 1 1 2 1
3 SWE 3490 Marcus Dackhammar 11 1 2 5 OCS 3
4 SWE 3552 Niklas Johansson 11 4 3 2 OCS 2
5 SWE 99 Erik Malmberg 12 DSQ 5 3 2 2

For full results, visit http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org