Meltemi kicks in

Andrew Preece reports on a breezy day on the waters of Gylfada on day two of the Olympics

The Meltemi kicked in and the action kicked off here in Greece with the Olympic sailing event delivering a stunning day of racing in the 25-knot plus northerly offshore breeze.

For a while everything looked decidedly dodgy as the four race committees, running races for eight of the eleven Olympic classes, pushed their fleets off into a promising 12 knots of westerly wind. "We’ve got absolutely no idea which way to go in this," said Ben Ainslie’s coach David Howlett. "Your guess is as good as mine!"

And Ainslie was as good as his coach’s word as he rounded the first Finn mark with only five boats behind him. His America’s Cup skipper Dean Barker was the star of the opening beat rounding first and holding a lead for two legs until the wind totally shut down and the entire Finn fleet arrived at the bottom mark together and the race was abandoned.

On the Yngling course things followed the same pattern as spinnakers were hastily dropped on the first downwind leg as the fleet tight reached into the bottom mark. The waiting game began as the Yngling and Finn classes watched enviously as the 470s, Lasers, Mistrals and Europes were racing further to the east.

Over there Robert Scheidt was upstaged by the relatively unknown Austrian Andreas Geritzer who dominated the 42-boat Laser fleet with a fourth and a first. Geritzer is ranked outside of the top ten in the world but Schiedt wasn’t too worried. "I was consistent today even though I need to improve my starting and on the first day of racing I’m happy with that."

But if the Laser class began against the formbook on the Europe course Siren Sundby is living up to her pre-event billing. Sundby, Robert Scheidt and Ben Ainslie were probably the only three sailors at the regatta that the pundits would be surprised to see not winning gold and Sundby tucked away her main rivals Serena Amato and Sari Multala with relative ease though the surprise performer was the Belgian Min Dezillie who twice led at the top mark but hit it the first time and finished 13th and capsized in the second race and still managed to win!

Back on the Yngling and Finn courses and the Meltemi had kicked in big style. As both fleets finished Race 3 a band of 25 plus knots pushed down the track. The strong winds were very much to the liking of Shirley Robertson, Sarah Webb and Sarah Ayton who won two races in imperious style but the lasting memory is of the New Zealand women with Sharon Ferris steering lying flat on their side and taking water as they gybed and broached on the finish line handing second place to the Germans. It took some time for Ferris and her crew to get back under control and bail the water out as others met the same fate as they plunged the bow in during their final gybes and crossed the line sideways.

It was the same gust that virtually capsized the Finn overnight leader Mateusz Kusznierewicz at the top mark allowing Ben Ainslie to extend to a race three win; Kusznierewicz was seen halfway down the run with his leg over the side just saving himself from a costly swim. It raised a cheer from the British journalists on the media boat. Ainslie made life hard for himself in race 3 rounding the first mark in 16th but his phenomenal downwind speed and technique took him to second in the space of just one leg and then on to first at the finish.

Ainslie made life easier for himself in Race 4 when he rounded the top mark second and took the lead and lost it before blowing the race leader Sebastien Godefroid away on the short reach from the bottom mark to the finish: Ainslie rounded in touch, pumped himself over the top of Godefroid within seconds of round the mark and suckered the Belgian into capsizing within metres of the finish.

Ainslie went on to record his second bullet of the day, Kusznierewicz finished fourth and Godefroid fifth with the Belgian swearing loudly to himself as he finally crossed the line. It raised the British sailor to eighth in the overall standings and while Kusznierewicz still leads from the Spaniard and the Croatian, Ainslie is showing the kind of form that could take this one to the wire although he will need to leapfrog his America’s Cup skipper Dean Barker who is sailing stunningly considering that he only joined the class at the end of last year and is sitting just off the podium in fourth.

On the 470 course Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield have consolidated at the top in winds that saw the Japanese crew swinging in the water on the end of their trapeze, kites ragging on the reaching legs. The Ukrainian Atlanta Gold medallists Braslavets and Matvienko won the first race of the day before spectacularly capsizing in the second: they were blasting across the spreader leg of the trapezoid course with the kite up in 25 knots when they mysteriously swerved violently and capsized. Only as they wrestled with their upturned boat did it become apparent that their rudder had fallen off… about 200 metres previously! The DNF dropped them to sixth.

But it was business as usual on the Women’s 470 course where the Greek pairing of Sofia Bekatorou and Emilia Tsoulfa tarnished a first and two seconds with a 13th in race four. While the rumours of a loss of Greek form after Bekatorou injured her back earlier in the season opened up the form book in the Women’s 470, the duo appear to be well in control of a class they have dominated for some time.

But life in the Men’s Mistral class is in turmoil overnight as the Race Committee is threatening to disqualify the entire fleet for sailing the wrong course. The Pole Przemyslaw Miarczynski is the nominal leader but the outcome of the protest could totally shuffle the pack.

The good news for the British sailors, who appear to be revelling in the Meltemi, is that according to British weather experts this wind is due to fire out of the north for two to three days. On Robertson, Webb and Ayton’s strong wind form they could have it wrapped up by then, Ainslie is already right back in this and Rogers and Glanfield seem to be able to deliver in the light and the heavy stuff.



Results:

Pos	Name	Nat	R1	R2	Total
	EUROPE
1	Siren SUNDBY	NOR	1	3	4
2	Serena AMATO	ARG	5	2	7
3	Sarah BLANCK	AUS	3	7	10
4	Signe LIVBJERG	DEN	4	6	10
5	Tania ELIAS CALLES	MEX	6	5	11
6	Min DEZILLIE	BEL	13	1	14
7	Sari MULTALA	FIN	8	9	17
8	Sarah MACKY	NZL	14	4	18
9	Petra NIEMANN	GER	12	8	20
10	Meg GALLIARD	USA	9	11	20
11	Lenka SMIDOVA	CZE	10	13	23
12	Joana PRATAS	POR	2	24	26
13	Teja CERNE	SLO	7	23	30
14	Maria COLEMAN	IRL	18	12	30
15	Shen XIAOYING	CHN	11	20	31
16	Larissa NEVIEROV	ITA	23	10	33
17	Monika BRONICKA	POL	16	18	34
18	Laura BALDWIN	GBR	21	14	35
19	Neus GARRIGA	ESP	20	15	35
20	Virginia KRAVARIOTI	GRE	15	21	36
21	Anastassia MALETINA	RUS	17	22	39
22	Maiko SATO	JPN	24	16	40
23	Tatiana DROZDOVSKAYA	BLR	22	19	41
24	Blandine ROUILLE	FRA	25	17	42
25	Carolijn BROUWER	NED	19	26	45
	MISTRAL MEN
1	Prezmyslaw MIARCZYNSKI	POL	4	1	5
2	Joao RODRIGUES	POR	3	2	5
3	Nikolaos KAKLAMANAKIS	GRE	1	5	6
4	Julien BONTEMPS	FRA	2	4	6
5	Gal FRIDMAN	ISR	5	3	8
6	Ricardo SANTOS	BRA	6	7	13
7	Yuanguo ZHOU	CHN	10	10	20
8	Lars KLEPPICH	AUS	8	13	21
9	Riccardo GIORDANO	ITA	14	9	23
10	Thomas ASHLEY	NZL	17	8	25
11	Joeri VAN DIJK	NED	7	19	26
12	Mariano REUTEMANN	ARG	21	6	27
13	I Gusti Made Oka SULAKSANA	INA	9	20	29
14	Ivan PASTOR	ESP	18	11	29
15	Ertugrul ICINGIR	TUR	11	18	29
16	Maxim OBEREMKO	UKR	15	15	30
17	Nick DEMPSEY	GBR	19	12	31
18	Andreas CARIOLOU	CYP	13	22	35
19	Motokazu KENJO	JPN	12	24	36
20	David MIER Y TERAN	MEX	20	16	36
21	Duckpil OK	KOR	16	25	41
22	Richard STAUFFACHER	SUI	28	14	42
23	Peter WELLS	USA	25	21	46
24	Chi Ho HO	HKG	23	23	46
25	Aron GADORFALVI	HUN	31	17	48
26	Toni WELHELM	GER	24	27	51
27	Carlos Julio FLORES PEREZ	VEN	22	31	53
28	Tom MALINA	CZE	29	26	55
29	Arun HOMRARVEN	THA	26	29	55
30	Foued OURABI	TUN	27	32	59
31	Martin LAPOS	SVK	34	28	62
32	Vladmir MOISEEV	RUS	32	30	62
33	Angel SEGURA	URU	30	33	63
34	Veselin NANEV	BUL	33	35	68
	MISTRAL WOMEN
1	Alessandra SENSINI	ITA	7	1	8
2	Olga MASLIVETS	UKR	5	4	9
3	Barbara KENDALL	NZL	1	9	10
4	Zofia KLEPACKA	POL	8	2	10
5	Lia Shan LEE	HKG	3	8	11
6	Jannicke STÅLSTRÖM	NOR	9	3	12
7	Faustine MERRET	FRA	2	13	15
8	Jessica CRISP	AUS	4	11	15
9	Blanca MANCHON	ESP	10	5	15
10	Yin JIAN	CHN	11	6	17
11	Antonia FREY	GRE	6	18	24
12	Sigrid RONDELEZ	BEL	17	7	24
13	Natasha STURGES	GBR	16	10	26
14	Anja KAESER	SUI	14	12	26
15	Masako IMAI	JPN	12	14	26
16	Lanee BEASHEL	USA	13	16	29
17	Lee KORZITS	ISR	15	15	30
18	Amelie LUX	GER	18	17	35
19	Catalina WALTHER	ARG	19	23	42
20	Irina KONSTANTINOVA	BUL	20	22	42
21	Livia GYORBIRO	HUN	24	19	43
22	Vita MATISE	LAT	22	21	43
23	Carolina BORGES	BRA	25	20	45
24	Gabriella HADJIDAMIANOU	CYP	21	27	48
25	Rosa CAMPOS	MEX	23	25	48
26	Karla BARRERA	PUR	26	24	50

	LASER
1	Andreas GERITZER	AUT	4	1	5
2	Robert SCHEIDT	BRA	3	8	11
3	Philippe BERGMANS	BEL	9	4	13
4	Karl SUNESON	SWE	5	10	15
5	Mark MENDELBLATT	USA	2	14	16
5=	Paul GOODISON	GBR	13	3	16
5=	Gustavo LIMA	POR	1	15	16
8	Mate ARAPOV	CRO	6	11	17
9	Michael BLACKBURN	AUS	18	2	20
10	Peer MOBERG	NOR	7	18	25
11	Luis MARTINEZ DORESTE	SPA	19	7	26
12	Maciej GRABOWSKI	POL	8	23	31
12=	Allan JULIE	SEY	14	17	31
12=	Kemal MUSLUBAS	TUR	11	20	31
15	Diego NEGRI	ITA	20	12	32
16	Hamish PEPPER	NZL	24	9	33
17	Vasilij ZBOGAR	SLO	21	13	34
18	Evangelas CHIMONAS	GRE	12	24	36
19	Gareth BLANCKENBERG	RSA	22	16	38
20	Bernard LUTTMER	CAN	15	25	40
20=	Roope SUOMALAINEN	FIN	35	5	40
22	Kevin LIM	MAS	23	21	44
23	Diego ROMERO	ARG	40	6	46
23=	Anders NYHOLM	DEN	16	30	46
25	Giedrius GUZYS	LTU	31	19	50
26	Ho Kon KIM	KOR	17	34	51
27	Kunio SUZUKI	JPN	30	22	52
28	Felix PRUVOT	FRA	10	43/DSQ	53
29	Qiang CHI	CHN	29	28	57
29=	Alejandro FOGLIA	URU	26	31	57
31	Rory FITZPATRICK	IRL	33	26	59
31=	Stanley TAN KHENG SIONG	SIN	32	27	59
33	Hafsteinn GEIRSSON	ISL	28	36	64
33=	Mario AQUILINA	MLT	27	37	64
35	Martin TRCKA	CZE	37	29	66
35=	Maxim SEMERKHANOV	RUS	34	32	66
37	Haris PAPADOPOULOS	CYP	25	43/DNS	68
37=	Yuriy ORLOV	UKR	36	32	68
39	Augusto NICOLINI	PER	38	35	73
40	Matias DEL SOLAR	CHI	39	38	77
41	Sami KOOHEJI	BRN	41	39	80
42	Timothy PITTS	ISV	42	40	82

Pos	Name	Nat	R1	R2	R3	R4	Tot
	FINN
1	Mateusz KUSZNIEREWICZ	POL	3	1	6	4	14
2	Rafael TRUJILLO	ESP	8	3	3	6	20
3	Karlo KURET	CRO	6	2	10	8	26
4	Dean BARKER	NZL	5	10	7	11	33
5	Ali ENVER ADAKAN	TUR	2	15	8	10	35
6	Guillaume FLORENT	FRA	7	7	5	16	35
7	Emilios PAPATHANASIOU	GRE	1	5	17	13	36
8	Ben AINSLIE	GBR	9	26	1	1	37
9	Anthony NOSSITER	AUS	18	8	4	7	37
10	Sebastien GODEFROID	BEL	19	12	2	5	38
11	Michael FELLMAN	GER	14	11	12	2	39
12	David BURROWS	IRL	17	14	9	3	43
13	Kevin HALL	USA	11	6	13	17	47
14	Daniel BIRGMARK	SWE	12	13	11	14	50
15	Michael MAIER	CZE	13	17	19	9	58
16	Joäo SIGNORINI	BRA	15	9	21	15	60
17	Gasper VINCEC	SLO	4	24	14	19	61
18	Richard CLARKE	CAN	10	18	15	22	65
19	Jonas HOEGH-CHRISTENSEN	DEN	16	4	23	26	69
20	Jaap ZIELHUIS	NED	22	19	18	12	71
21	Balazs HAJDU	HUN	24	16	16	20	76
22	Alejandro COLLA	ARG	20	21	25	18	84
23	Michele MARCHESINI	ITA	21	20	20	24	85
24	Vladimir KRUTSKIKH	RUS	23	22	22	21	88
25	Imre TAVETER	EST	25	23	24	23	95

Pos	Helm	Crew	Nat	R1	R2	R3	R4	Tot
	470 WOMEN
1	Sofia BEKATOROU	Emilia TSOULFA	GRE	1	2	2	13	18
2	Susanne WARD	Michaela WARD	DEN	11	1	4	3	19
3	Ingrid PETITJEAN	Nadege DOUROUX	FRA	8	3	5	7	23
4	Therese TORGERSSON	Vendela ZACHRISSON	SWE	9	10	7	2	28
5	Shelley HESSON	Linda DICKSON	NZL	6	8	10	5	29
6	Natalia VIA-DUFRESNE	Sandra AZON	ESP	2	4	9	15	30
7	Vlada ILIENKO	Natalia GAPONOVICH	RUS	7	6	12	8	33
8	Stefanie ROTHWEILER	Monika LEU	GER	13	15	8	1	37
9	Christina BASSADONE	Katherine HOPSON	GBR	5	14	15	4	38
10	Maria FERNANDA SESTO	Paula REINOSO	ARG	15	7	11	6	39
11	Vesna DEKLEVA	Klara MAUCEC	SLO	3	5	14	18	40
12	Katie McDOWELL	Isabelle KINSOLVING	USA	12	16	3	12	43
13	Jennifer PROVAN	Nikola GIRKE	CAN	4	13	18	11	46
14	Jenny ARMSTRONG	Belinda STOWELL	AUS	14	12	6	14	46
15	Lisa WESTERHOF	Margriet MATTHIJSSE	NED	10	21/DSQ	1	17	49
16	Marta WEORES	Anna PAYR	HUN	21/OCS	9	13	9	52
17	Yuka YOSHISAKO	Mitsuko SATAKE	JPN	21/DSQ	17	17	10	65
18	Nike KORNECKI	Vered BUSKILA	ISR	21/OCS	11	16	19	67
19	Elisabetta SACCHEGGIANI	Myriam CUTOLO	ITA	16	19	19	20	74
20	Fernanda OLIVEIRA	Adriana KOSTIW	BRA	21/OCS	18	20	16	75
	470 MEN
1	Nick ROGERS	Joe GLANFIELD	GBR	2	3	9	4	18
2	Gildas PHILIPPE	Nicolas LE BERRE	FRA	14	2	13`	7	23
3	Paul FOERSTER	Kevin BURNHAM	USA	1	8	2	15	26
4	Andreas KOSMATOPOULOS	Kostas TRIGONIS	GRE	9	6	11	9	35
5	Alexandre PARADEDA	Bernardo ARNDT	BRA	5	1	14	19	39
6	Eugen BRASLAVETS	Igor MATVIENKO	UKR	10	4	1	26	41
7	Gideon KLIGER	Udi GAL	ISR	19	12	6	8	45
8	Sven COSTER	Kalle COSTER	NED	4	21	4	16	45
9	Nathan WILMOT	Malcolm PAGE	AUS	12	28/DSQ	3	3	46
10	Kazuto SEKI	Kenjiro TODOROKI	JPN	3	7	21	18	49
11	Tomaz COPI	Davor GLAVINA	SLO	13	13	17	6	49
12	Tomislav BASIC	Petar CUPAC	CRO	16	10	19	5	50
13	Gustavo MARTINEZ	Dimas WOOD	ESP	7	22	12	10	51
14	Javier CONTE	Juan DE LA FUENTE	ARG	26	20	5	1	52
15	Lukcas ZELLMER	Felix KRABBE	GER	17	16	10	11	54
16	Gerald OWENS	Ross KILLIAN	IRL	11	14	16	14	55
17	Tomasz STANCZYK	Tomasz JAKUBIAK	POL	24	11	25	2	62
18	Gabrio ZANDONA	Andrea TRANI	ITA	21	23	7	12	63
19	Johan MOLUND	Martin ANDERSSON	SWE	18	15	8	22	63
20	Kristian Skjoedt KJAERGAARD	Mads Moller HANSEN	DEN	23	9	22	13	67
21	Alvaro MARINHO	Miguel NUNES	POR	22	5	20	21	68
22	Dmitry BEREZKIN	Mikhail KRUTIKOV	RUS	8	17	26	17	68
23	Daeyoung KIM	Sung Ahn JUNG	KOR	6	19	24	25	74
24	Selim KAKIS	Kaan OZGONENC	TUR	25	18	15	24	82
25	Lukas ERNI	Simon BRUEGGER	SUI	20	25	18	20	83
26	Peter CZEGAI	Csaba CSEREP	HUN	15	26	27	27	95
27	Andrew BROWN	Jamie HUNT	NZL	27	24	23	23	97

Pos	Name	Crew	Crew	Nat	R1	R2	R3	R4	Tot
	YNGLING
1	Shirley ROBERTSON	Sarah WEBB	Sarah AYTON	GBR	5	4	1	1	11
2	Ekaterina SKUDINA	Diana KRUTSKIKH	Vladislava UKRAINTSERVA	RUS	6	5	11	2	24
3	Ruslana TARAN	Svitlana MATEVUSHEVA	Ganna KALININA	UKR	10	3	9	4	26
4	Dorte JENSEN	Christina BORREGAARD-OTZEN	Helle JESPERSEN	DEN	1	14	5	6	26
5	Anne LE HELLEY	Marion DEPLANQUE	Elodie LESAFFRE	FRA	3	2	14	12	31
6	Annelies THIES	Annemieke BES	Petronella DE JONG	NED	8	1	13	9	31
7	Katerina GIAKOUMIDOU	Eftichia MANTZARAKI	Elena DIMITRAKOPOULOU	GRE	12	6	8	5	31
8	Kristin WAGNER	Anna HOELL	Veronika LOCHBRUNNER	GER	9	8	2	13	32
9	Sharon FERRIS	Joanna WHITE	Kylie JAMESON	NZL	15	16	3	3	37
10	Carol CRONIN	Liz FILTER	Nancy HABERLAND	USA	2	10	16	10	38
11	Karianne EIKELAND	Beate KRISTIANSEN	Lise Birgitte FREDRIKSEN	NOR	14	13	4	7	38
12	Monica AZON	Graciela PISONERO	Marina SANCHEZ	ESP	7	7	10	15	39
13	Paula LEWIN	Peta LEWIN	Christine PATTON	BER	4	15	6	14	39
14	Giulia CONTI	Alessandra MARENZI	Angela BARONI	ITA	16	12	7	8	43
15	Nicky BETHWAITE	Karyn GOJNICH	Kristen KOSMALA	AUS	11	11	12	11	45
16	Lisa ROSS	Deirdre CRAMPTON	Chantal LEGER	CAN	13	9	15	16	53