Gold for Pietro and Giancarlo Sibello on penultimate day!

by Corinne McKenzie on 24 Apr 2009
Pietro and Giancarlo Sibello of Italy, in the 49er, have secured the first Gold medal of the Hyeres ISAF Sailing World Cup.

With a 22 point lead on Spain's Alonso brothers, the Italian pair have added a second victory since their disappointing fourth place finish at the Olympic Games. Also on the cusp of Gold are Rohart and Ponsot of France, only a disqualification at the start of Friday's Medal race or an equipment failure will deny them.

With only two points separating the Spanish from Nico Luca Delle Karth and Nikolaus Resch (AUT), the battle for silver will be fierce, while the top six can access the podium. Among the four French teams who will race the Medal race tomorrow, only Morgan Lagravière and Yann Rocherieux in 5th place overall stand a chance to climb on the podium.

Xavier Rohart and Pierre-Alexis Ponsot (FRA) have increased their chance to keep Gold and only a disqualification at the start or an equipment failure could give the opportunity to win the events to the next three teams.

New leaders in the Men 470’s

Gabrio Zandona and Eduardo Mancinelli (ITA) are the new leaders in the Men 470 event who have seen a different team at the top, each day of the championship. The Semaine Olympique Française is the first international regatta for the new Italian team. Experienced 470 skipper Gabrio Zandona has teamed up for this new Olympiad with young ex-420 sailors Edoardo Mancinelli. 'This is my first international event in the 470! It is a long regatta with many hours on the water, it does make it hard to keep the rhythm.'

With the top teams scoring high points, the podium is opened to the top ten teams engaged in the medal race.

The 470 men are the only class to have changed leaders today. A second discard in all classes is opening the chances for the podium in most fleets.

Four duals for Gold!

It will be a two boats battle for Gold in the Laser radial Medal Race. ISAF Sailing World Cup leader Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) is getting closer to Fenclova, 4 points away from the Czech. Commenting earlier on the strong wind expected in the Medal Race, the Olympic Champion said: 'After these light conditions all week, it will be good to hike again and stretch our legs!' Evi van Acker from Belgium is in third place. The podium is opened to the top six.

The 470 women medal race should provide a good fight for Gold between ISAF Sailing World Cup leaders Henriette Koch and Lene Sommer (DEN) who have conserved their hold on the 470 women fleet and young Dutch team of Margriet Fokkema and Marieke Jongens (NED). 'Anything can happen tomorrow with the wind. So we'll focus on sailing our own race and do as good as possible.' Declared Koch.

The Dutch pair have progressively reached the second place overall with consistent racing throughout the regatta. Margriet Fokkema (22) and Marieke Jongens (21) were very excited with their result:

'This is very cool' said Fokkema. ‘We only differ five points with the Danes. We did not expect this. We can only win first tomorrow. We have been sailing together for two and a half years now. We were always there, in contention. But we are very happy that we are in this position now.'

'And about the pressure of racing in their first medal race in an international event: 'We feel the pressure for sure to maintain this position. But as soon as we get in the boat we are chilled. That will be the same tomorrow.' Said Jongens with a big smile!

Spanish pair of Tara Pacheco and Berta Betanzos is in a hot seat in third place with Bronze medal opened to the top 10 teams. The medal race is sure to provide some thrill!

The top ten sailors qualified in the RS:X medal race could have a chance to take the third place in the podium. However, like in the Women 470, the Radial and the Finn, the Gold will be a dual between the top two Beijing Bronze and Silver medallists Shahar Zubari (ISR) and Julien Bontemps (FRA). However, the top eight sailors could access to Silver!

Croatian Finn sailor Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic has increased his lead at the top of the Finn fleet. Only Gasper Vincec from Croatia can threaten his chance to take Gold. ISAF Sailing World Cup leader Ed Wright is in third position overall.

'The second discard came in today so it changes the results around a lot, so I needed to get a couple of good races in,' Wright explained. 'I went out there and pretty much tried to sail conservatively but still try and win, and I got a third and fourth which was what I really needed. It would be nice to walk away with a medal,' continued the 31-year-old who picked up gold at the Miami World Cup event, and silver in Palma a fortnight ago. 'I’ve medalled here (in the Finn) all but one time – hopefully again tomorrow.'

In the women division Peina Chen (CHN) will face strong competition from experienced windsurfers, 2008 Bronze medal Bryony Shaw (GBR) and Spanish Marina Alabau and Blanca Manchon, respectively leading the ISAF World ranking and the Sailing World Cup standings.

The Medal race in the Laser division will decide all medallists tomorrow. Paul Goodison keeps the lead in the Laser despite scoring big points today. Croatian Tonci Stipanovic has climbed to second.

The 2.4mr will be racing tomorrow their first medal race.

The medal races will be sailed on two courses close to the pier. The first start will be given at 10AM. A nice 15 knots breeze is expected to provide for great racing!

The running order for the medal races on Friday 24 April is as follows:

North course - scheduled to commence at 10:00hrs local time:
49er > Star > Finn > Laser > Laser Radial

South course - scheduled to commence at 10:15hrs:
2.4mR > 470 Men > 470 Women > RS:X Men > RS:X Women