Ainslie to defend title

At the start of the Finn Europeans in Marstrand tomorrow

On Friday 6 June RYA Team GBR sailor and Team Volvo for life member Ben Ainslie will be sailing to defend his title at the Finn European Championships.

Last year Olympic champion Ainslie won the European championships after only five months of sailing in the class, since then he has gone on to win the world championships, the 2002 Olympic test event and more recently SPA Olympic classes regatta as well as qualifying his place to represent Great Britain at the Pre-Olympics.

Currently 84 boats have entered the event including a number of past European, world and Olympic champions and competition could come from a number of sailors all capable of challenging Ainslie for the title. Olympian Sebastien Godfroid of Belgium has had a good start to the year winning both Palma and Hyeres Olympic classes regattas. The 1996 gold medallist Mateusz Kusznierewicz of Poland is also a strong contender as is the world number one and Hyeres bronze medallist Karlo Kuret from Croatia and the 2001 European champion Emilios Papathanasiou of Greece.

Other Team GBR sailors that will be looking for a good result in Sweden are Andrew Simpson who is currently ranked number six in the world, last years Junior European champion Chris Brittle and Charlie Cumbley, who finished eleventh at this event last year.

RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park commented, "the exceedingly high calibre of the fleet will mean that Ben has his work cut out to defend his European title and an observer should not expect this to be a walk in the park based on Ben's recent success. Eyes will also be on Andrew Simpson who now seems to have resolved his most recent equipment troubles and could surprise many at the end of the week."

Racing will be held on the Marstrand fjord just north of the island of Marstrand and commences on Friday 6 June through until Wednesday June 11. A maximum of two races will be sailed per day.



Entry list

1 Aaron O Grady Irland
2 Adam Cowling Great Britain
3 Akif Muslubass Turkey
4 Aleinikov Vladislav Belorussia
5 Anders Nilsson Sweden
6 Andrew Kern United States
7 Andrew Simpson Great Britain
8 Anthony Nossiter Australia
9 Apostolos Karnoutsos Greece
10 Augustin Juarez Spain
11 Ben Ainslie Great Britain
12 Ben Beer US Virgin Islands
13 Björn Smit Sweden
14 Bryan Boyd United States
15 Cees Scheurwater Netherlands
16 Charlie Cumbley Great Britain
17 Cheis Cook Canada
18 Chris Brittle Great Britain
19 Christian Finnsgård Sweden
20 Christoph Burger Swiss
21 Dave Mellor Great Britain
22 Dean Mc Allay Australia
23 Edward Greig Great Britain
24 Emilios Papathanasiou Greece
25 Enver Adakan Turkey
26 Evgeni Tchemov Russia
27 Evgeniy Yaroshenko Ukrain
28 Evgenly Chernov Russia
29 Ewout Meijer Netherlands
30 Gasper Vinec Slovenia
31 Geoffrey Ewenson Unated States
32 Guillaume Florent France
33 Harley Flett Australia
34 Hartmut Duisborg Germany
35 Iacopo Tacchino Italy
36 Imre Taveter Estonia
37 Ismaël Bruno France
38 Ivan Karatkevich Belorussia
39 Jaap Zielhuis Netherlands
40 Janno Hool Estonia
41 Johan Tillander Sweden
42 Johan Wijk Sweden
43 John de Leeuw Great Britain
44 Jonas Andersson Sweden
45 Jonas Högh ChristensenDenmark
46 Jörgen Lindhartsen Denmark
47 Karlo Kuret Croatia
48 Kevin Hall United States
49 Kotov Sergiy Ukrain
50 Kristian Åderman Sweden
51 Lars Vesterholm-NielsenDenmark
52 Lauri Linkolm Estonia
53 Luca Devoti Italy
54 Marin Misura Croatia
55 Martijn Van Muyden Netherlands
56 Massimo Ghevarlucci Italy
57 Mateusz Kusznierewicz Poland
58 Matthew Howard Great Britain
59 Michael Fellman Germany
60 Michael Maier Czech
61 Michal Hruby Czech
62 Michele Marchesini Italy
63 Mo Hart United States
64 Nenad Viali Croatia
65 Pascal Rambeau France
66 Paul McKenzie Australia
67 Rafael Szukiel Poland
68 Rafael Trusillo Spain
69 Robert Potczynski Poland
70 Sander Kooij Great Britain
71 Sander Willems Netherlands
72 Sebastien Godefroid Belgium
73 Stefan de Vries Netherlands
74 Sylvain Chtounder France
75 Sören Holm Denmark
76 Tapio Nirkko Finland
77 Thomas Greig Great Britain
78 Thomas Laursen Denmark
79 Tibor Pallay Hungary
80 Tim Carver Great Britain
81 Waclan Szukiel Poland
82 Vladimir Krutskikh Russia
84 Yoen Jacob Irland