505 Euro Cup Series Leg 1 at La Rochelle Nautique, France - Day 2

505 Euro Cup Series Leg 1 at La Rochelle © Christophe Favreau / www.christophefavreau.com

Day 2 of the 505 Euro Cup in La Rochelle, France saw a change of conditions, from the rain and fresh breeze of Friday, to a lighter southerly and a warmer and eventually sunny day. The change of weather also brought a change to the leaderboard.

Alex Holzapel and Arne Wittier from Germany were the pathfinder for race 4's gate start and led around the first mark from a tight grouping of boats. Slowly they were caught and past by Jan Phillip Hoffman and Felix Brockerhoof, who took the win, Alex and Arne held on for 2nd and German Father and son team, Tim and Finn Boeger completed the German sweep.

Race 5 and another pathfinder benefit, this time Howie Hamlin and Jeff Nelson from the USA used the honor to lead from start to Finnish, never being troubled. Showing better speed today, Ian Pinnell and Rich Mundell, a GBR/Canada team took 2nd and JP and Felix took third.

505 Euro Cup Series Leg 1 at La Rochelle - photo © Christophe Favreau / www.christophefavreau.com

By race 6 the wind was softening but that didn't slow down JP and Felix who made no mistake to pick up another win, while Ian and Rich again took 2nd. New to the front in third place was the French team of Maxine Paul and Ludovic Roblin.

The wind had backed off even further by the 7th and last race of the day and for most crews it was "off the wire" upwind and looking for good pressure. A right shift halfway up the beat had the teams on the left in trouble and the boats furthest right looking good. Keeping it in the family, JP's brother Nils Henning Hoffman and Matthias Weidenbach were the furthest right and capitalized to take the win. Behind there was lots of place changing, but where it matters Howie and Jeff crossed in 2nd and Finnish team of Rosemarie Hartman and Tuomas Laurila took third.

After seven races the leaderboard is taking shape and JP and Felix have a strong lead, Howie and Jeff are 2nd and Paul Brotherton and James Fawcett have slipped to third. Mike Holt and Rob Woelfel are 4th and Ian and Rich's good results move them up to 5th. All still to play for with 3 races to go but it will take some effort by the chasing teams to topple JP and Felix.

Results after Day 2: