Markus Wieser of Germany is Dragon Champion

by Henry Ericsson on 10 Aug 2007
With one day of racing left, Markus Wieser of Germany, with his crew Sergei Pujachev and Thomas Auracher is the new Dargon European Champion. He won Thursdays race after Dane Valdemar Bandolowski crossed the finish line first but had been black-flagged at the start. Two hours of sailing down the drain. Well, win a few, lose a few, that's yacht racing in a nutshell.

The easterly wind piped down a little on Thursday, for the sixth race of the Volvo Dragon European Championship in Hanko. But the swell was left, creating a bumpy ride for the 48 dragons. Very choppee, very trickee, as the French would say. Fortunately the wind increased a bit on the second lap, causing some serious hiking on quite a few boats.

The Dane Valdemar Bandolowski pulled out an early lead and managed to defend his position to the finish line. But instead of the winning gun, he was met by a stony silence. He had been black-flagged at the start. Instead, the winner's salute was enjoyed by the unstoppable Markus Wieser, top dog of the Transbunker team of Ukraina. He has certainly put up a splendid performance this week, to match his adequate compensation package.

The following podium places went to Sweden and Finland. After an all-night session by the crew to exchange the broken stick on the Swedish dragon Ming, Jacob Wallenberg could step aboard, enjoy a speed as good as ever, and pick up a second place.

Finnish six-time champion 'Jungle-Tom' Jungell climbed from eighth to third place in the race. - No screw-ups this time, quite a change from yesterday, noted a satisfied Jungell.

Of the large Russian panzer division, it was time for Emelianov to take a front position, finishing in fourth place. While Semerkanov shared the black-flag fate of Bandolowski, his countrymen Krilov and Shayduko finished in creditable eighth and ninth positions.

With only one race left to sail of the Volvo Dragon European Championship, Markus Wieser has already won the championships. 'Nanu, das ist der herr Wieser aus Bayern, davon ist nichts zu tun', to paraphrase a legendary saying from 1914 when the Finnish yacht designer Gustaf Estlander was sweeping the board in the Kiel regatta. But the silver and bronze medals are still up for grabs, as the weather gods prepare to throw their dice for the final on Friday.

Volvo Dragon European Championship 2007

Final leading results of race day 4:

Race 6:
1) Bunker Queen, Markus Wieser - Sergei Pujachev - Thomas Auracher, Germany.
2) Ming, Jacob Wallenberg - Henrik Baltscheffsky - Vincent Hoesch, Sweden
3) Lilla Vågen, Tom Jungell - Markus Mannström - Jaakko Rantala, Finland
4) Convergence, Konstantin Emilianov - Alexandr Prohorov - Mihail Senatorov, Russia
5) Volvo, Harry Harkimo - Kenneth Thelen - Henrik Thelen, Finland
6) Eclipse, Jean-Claude Danet - Luce Pillot - Nicolas Abiven, France

Leading Overall result after 6 race, 1 discard:

1) Bunker Queen, Markus Wieser - Sergei Pujachev - Thomas Auracher, Germany, 16.7 pts
2) Little Wolfi, Wolfgang Rappel - Hans Jürgen Benze - Michael Lipp, Germany, 53 pts
3) Ming, Jacob Wallenberg - Henrik Baltscheffsky - Vincent Hoesch, Sweden, 63.5 pts
4) Valery, Dmitry Vokhmitzev - Vyacheslav Katyukhin - Viktor Fogelson, Russia, 71 pts
5) Alisa, Alexander Ezhkov - Vladimir Krutskih - Alexey Grigorjev, Russia, 72 pts
6) Rat Pack, Henrik Dahlman - Lars Henriksen - Oscar Dannström, Åland, 73 pts
7) Convergence, Konstantin Emilianov - Alexandr Prohorov - Mihail Senatorov, 76.7 pts
8) Munegu, Christian Boillot - Jean Sebastian Ponce - Lionel Pean, Monaco, 77 pts
9) Lilla Vågen, Tom Jungell - Markus Mannström - Jaakko Rantala, Finland, 77.7 pts
10) Sweet Alice, Hans Liljeblad - Fredrik Heine - Robert Carenfelt, Sweden, 62.7 pts