Pole hangs on

As Dean Barker wins a race at the Finn Europeans

Today was by far the most difficult day on the water, both for sailors and the race committee. The wind was all over the place, up and down in strength, patchy, puffy...
Whatever the complaints, frustration, the favourites came out in front and the overall results after two races didn’t change much. Mateusz Kusznierewicz with fourth and seventh places today is still in the lead, nine points ahead of rival Ben Ainslie. Sebastien Godefroid and Guillaume Florent remain third and fourth.

The first race was won by Slovenia's Gasper Vincec. The right side was favoured following a big shift on the first beat. The wind was a light to medium, 8-10 knots and according to general consensus, very shifty. The wind increased to 12 knots in the start of the second race and up to 15 on the second beat. The course was a windward-leeward in the first race and was changed to a triangle in the second.

Greece's Emilios Papathanasiou was leading the fleet at the mark of the second race until Dean Barker passed him at the end of the reaches to win the race from him and Ben Ainslie. First Juniors today are Oleksyi Borisov placing 15th in the first race and Mark Andrews 43rd in the second.

Four places and eight points are separating the top three Juniors. Lei Gong is the first Junior and first Chinese sailor after eight races. He is placed in 42nd position, two places ahead of second Junior, Oleksyi Borysos (44th) from the Ukraine. Finnish junior Tapio Nirkko is only one place behind in 45th. The last race tomorrow will be intense.

The battle for country qualification is also being hard fought with the top four countries placed within three points. Argentina leads the pack in 28th followed by Hungary 29th, Russia 30th and Austria 31st! Italy is the fifth country in 39th place.

During the selection process many countries have to satisfy their country quota to be allowed to participate in the Olympic Games. Florian Raudaschl (31st) has to be placed in the top 15 to be considered for Athens. Swedish, Canadians, Dutch, Swiss…have also to meet high level criteria. Among the New Zealanders, it seems that the battle is over and that Dean Barker will participate in his first Olympic Games next summer.

Results

Pos	Sailor	Nat	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Tot	Pts
1	KUSZNIEREWICZ Mateusz	POL	2	2	2	1	3	DNF	4	7	112	21
2	AINSLIE Ben	GBR	28	4	1	4	2	15	2	2	58	30
3	GODEFROID Sébastien	BEL	1	6	3	35	7	11	11	6	80	45
4	FLORENT Guillaume	FRA	11	5	9	2	13	10	8	4	62	49
5	BARKER Dean	NZL	4	37	6	18	10	9	9	1	94	57
6	PAPATHANASIOU Emilios	GRE	29	1	4	17	8	22	30	3	114	84
7	CLARKE Richard	CAN	17	35	11	13	12	2	27	5	122	87
8	HOGH-CHRISTENSEN Jonas	DEN	13	7	7	24	19	8	12	DNF	181	90
9	KURET Karlo	CRO	21	26	26	19	1	6	13	8	120	94
10	HOLM Soren	DEN	5	10	25	30	15	3	40	10	138	98
11	ADAKAN Ali Enver	TUR	14	46	12	7	18	19	6	23	145	99
12	WEBB Clifton	NZL	3	9	19	9	BFD	14	10	41	196	105
13	FOX Peter	NZL	6	15	35	14	6	24	32	12	144	109
14	TRUJILLO Rafael	ESP	33	17	33	8	23	4	3	25	146	113
15	SIMPSON Andrew	GBR	41	3	24	5	30	1	37	14	155	114
16	NOSSITER Anthony	AUS	53	8	13	25	9	16	28	18	170	117
17	VINCEC Gasper	SLO	40	50	14	11	4	26	1	24	170	120
18	MISURA Marin	CRO	19	42	23	27	5	7	---	13	227	136
19	SIGNORINI JoÆo	BRA	20	24	15	20	16	27	22	19	163	136
20	ADERMAN Kristian	SWE	42	23	40	6	14	43	17	9	194	151
21	ZIELHUIS Jaap	NED	8	54	10	10	24	30	34	35	205	151
22	FELLMANN Michael	GER	52	11	20	3	17	34	23	46	206	154
23	COOK Christopher	CAN	12	32	47	23	54	21	5	21	215	161
24	VIALI Nenad	CRO	34	16	31	12	33	5	38	57	226	169
25	BRUNO Ismaël	FRA	32	53	5	40	28	35	26	27	246	193
26	O'GRADY Aaron	IRL	7	22	29	58	35	32	36	33	252	194
27	BURROWS David	IRL	54	38	16	51	BFD	20	7	11	288	197
28	COLLA Alejandro	ARG	43	28	18	36	32	29	39	17	242	199
29	HAJDU Balazs	HUN	15	51	39	61	22	28	19	26	261	200
30	KRUTSKIKH Vladimir	RUS	44	25	21	38	20	48	24	29	249	201
31	RAUDASCHL Florian	AUT	16	64	30	47	25	13	51	20	266	202
32	MUELLER VON BLUMENCRON Othmar	SWI	51	13	38	34	34	33	20	32	255	204
33	BIRGMARK Daniel	SWE	31	18	44	46	38	50	14	15	256	206
34	SZUKIEL Rafal	POL	9	12	49	28	45	46	25	DNF	305	214
35	DE VRIES Stefan	NED	27	61	36	33	31	12	49	28	277	216
36	CHERNOV Evgeny	RUS	64	29	32	41	26	41	18	37	288	224
37	TILLANDER Johan	SWE	10	20	63	15	21	DNF	61	39	320	229
38	ALSOGARAY Julio	ARG	58	47	17	53	27	18	35	34	289	231
39	MARCHESINI Michele	ITA	26	21	43	29	50	31	60	42	302	242
40	HOWARD Matthew	GBR	46	48	27	31	51	36	82	16	337	255
41	TAVETER Imre	EST	75	34	BFD	56	42	37	16	22	373	282
42	GONG Lei	CHN	30	14	BFD	45	47	51	46	56	380	289
43	LIU Bo	CHN	24	69	8	26	BFD	DSQ	43	30	382	291
44	BORYSOV Oleksiy	UKR	70	27	28	DSQ	46	61	15	47	385	294
45	NIRKKO Tapio	FIN	36	36	61	52	41	40	31	71	368	297
46	BOYD Bryan	USA	23	44	69	22	62	55	59	40	374	305
47	ZHANG Peng	CHN	48	40	71	39	60	53	33	36	380	309
48	MAIER Michael	CZE	65	63	22	37	11	23	DNF	DNC	403	312
49	MILLER Mattias	GER	57	77	53	16	48	52	54	51	408	331
50	BURGER Christoph	SWI	35	43	37	21	BFD	38	66	DNF	422	331