Incredibly close

Just one point seperates the top five positions at the 470 World Championship in Rizhao, China

Racing got underway today at the 470 World Championships. In light winds and current playing a key factor, two races were completed.

After day one, Ronan Dreano and Ronan Floch (FRA) take first place on the 470 Men’s leaderboard, followed by Gideon Kliger and Udi Gal (ISR). In the Women’s Fleet Yuka Yoshisako and Noriko Okuma (JPN) take the lead, with title defenders Marcelien de Koning and Lobke Berkhout (NED) right on their tail with one point difference.

The shifty and unstable wind gave the Race Committee a hard time to get racing started. Starts were given on the Men’s course, however one race had to be cancelled because of worsening conditions.

On the Women’s course, the Race Committee didn’t even manage to get racing started till later in the afternoon. But also for them, shortly after 15:00 the first starting signal was given in light, shifty winds of six to eight knots.

During the day the wind increased a little to about 11 knots with also the current getting stronger.

At first impression the results in the Men’s Fleet seem remarkable, looking at the current positions on the leaderboard of sailors on top of the World Ranking List. The difference between number one and number fourty is only twenty points, the difference between the number one and ten only four points. This makes it too early to draw  conclusions.

Overall leaders Ronan Dreano and Ronan Floch (FRA) however are Men to watch. In the 470 Europeans they made a similar opening and finally took home a Silver medal. Title defenders Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page (AUS) had a first good race finishing in third position, however with a tenth place in the second race, they drop to sixteenth overall.

470 Ladies Yuka Yoshisako and Noriko Okuma (JPN), currently on thirty-first position in the World Rankings, had an almost perfect day with a bullet and third place, which puts them in an early lead at this 470 Worlds event.

Dutch Ladies and reigning World Champions Marcelien de Koning and Lobke Berkhout seem to take good advantage of the local elements. In the first race they became fourth, to win the second race of the day in a convincing lead.

At the 470 Women there is more difference in points in this early phase of the Championship. The Title defenders gave themselves a convenient margin of ten points ahead of Therese Thorgersson and Vendela Zachrisson (SWE), and fifteen points ahead of Ingrid Petitjean and Nadege Douroux (FRA).

Results:

Men

Pos	Helm/Crew	Sail Number	R1	R2	Tot
1	Ronan Dreano/Ronan Floch	FRA24	1	7	8
2	Cheul Yoon/Hyeongtae Kim	KOR83	6	2	8
3	Gideon Kliger/Udi Gal	ISR7	2	6	8
4	Vitaly Moshkovsky/Yaroslav	UKR71	4	4	8
5	Dimitry Berezkin/Alexander	RUS4	6	3	9
6	Geoffrey Wooley/Mark Overi	NZL198	9	1	10
7	Enrico Fonda/Marco Guerra	ITA7	10	1	11
8	Panagiotis Kambouridis/Oro	GRE165	9	2	11
9	Patryk Piasecki/Kacper Zie	POL50	5	6	11
10	Ante Cesic/Ante Kjundzic	CRO69	2	10	12
11	Tetsuo Watanabe/Kimihiko I	JPN4269	4	8	12
12	Nick Rogers/Joe Glanfield	GBR817	5	7	12
13	Nic Asher/Elliot Willis	GBR828	7	5	12
14	Alex.Pallu de la Barriere/	FRA17	1	12	13
15	Pierre Leboucher/Vincent G	FRA44	12	1	13
16	Nathan Wilmot/Malcom Page	AUS311	3	10	13
17	Stu McNay/Graham Biehl	USA1713	9	4	13
18	Gustavo Martinez/Dimas Woo	ESP769	3	11	14
19	Mathew Belcher/Nick Behrei	AUS361	4	10	14
20	Stephen Keen/Philip Keen	NZL201	12	3	15
21	Sven Coster/Kalle Coster	NED1	10	6	16
22	Panagiotis Mantis/Theo Pol	GRE136	5	12	17
23	Kan Yamada/Kenichi Nakamur	JPN4257	16	3	19
24	Gildas Philippe/Nicolas Le	FRA2588	12	7	19
25	Gabrio Zandona/Andrea Tran	ITA2	2	18	20
26	Nicolas Charbonnier/Olivie	FRA7	18	2	20
27	Marc Patino/Joaquim Benjum	ESP9293	11	9	20
28	Mikee Anderson/David Hughe	USA1734	3	18	21
29	Christopher Lorenz/Friedri	GER4964	8	13	21
30	Fabien Delahaye/Etienne Bo	FRA8	8	13	21
31	Karlo Hmeljak/Luka Verzel	SLO16	17	5	22
32	Benjamin Bonnaud/Romain Bo	FRA11	6	16	22
33	Kazuto Seki/Soichi Yanagaw	JPN4181	7	16	23
34	Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic	CRO83	8	16	24
35	Tomaz Copi/Aljaz Jadek	SLO141	21	4	25
36	Wen Zijin/Wang Suhong	CHN540	7	19	26
37	Matthias Schmid/Florian Re	AUT3	17	9	26
38	Francisco Sanchez/Alejandr	ESP1	15	11	26
39	Tobias Etter/Felix Steiger	SUI51	14	13	27
40	Hideki Yoshimine/Akihito N	JPN4100	13	15	28
41	Max Rieger/Moritz Rieger	GER11	13	15	28
42	Park Kyutae/Sung Changil	KOR92	20	9	29
43	Roy Tay/Peiming Chung	SIN6	15	14	29
44	Daeyoung Kim/Sungahn Jung	KOR81	1	BFD	31
45	Fabio Zeni/Nicola Pitanti	ITA11	10	22	32
46	Gerald Owens/Sam Hunt	IRL77	28	5	33
47	Farokh Tarapore/Vikas Kapi	IND17	25	8	33
48	Andreas Kosmatopoulos/Andr	GRE131	13	20	33
49	Michalis Mileos/Pavlos Kag	GRE623	14	19	33
50	Giulio Desiderato/Alessand	ITA5	19	14	33
51	Stephane Locas/Oliver Bone	CAN606	11	24	35
52	Chen Hechi/Zhang Yongdong	CHN543	16	19	35
53	Timo Fischer/Gundram Leife	GER25	19	18	37
54	Kim Chang¨CJu/Kim Ji¨CHoon	KOR82	OCS	8	38
55	Park Jungyeol/Kim Hyungdo	KOR88	24	14	38
56	Alvaro Marinho/Miguel Nune	POR22	23	15	38
57	Zheng Feng/Fu Zhiqiang	CHN428	16	23	39
58	Deng Daokun/Wang Weidong	CHN60	22	17	39
59	Aung Myin Thu/Sai Pyae Son	MYA1	15	25	40
60	Lu Jie/Jiang Junhua	CHN442	20	20	40
61	Alberto Gonzalez/Diego Gon	CHI1101	11	OCS	41
62	Onan Barreiros/Aaron Sarmi	ESP9	OCS	11	41
63	Liu Ming/Wu Wutang	CHN210	17	24	41
64	Karlo Krpeljevic/Josko Lal	CRO93	18	23	41
65	Tetsuya Matsunaga/Taro Uen	JPN4207	OCS	12	42
66	Zhou Dequan/Zhong Hainan	CHN544	14	28	42
67	Lan Hao/Wang Chao	CHN820	18	24	42
68	Zheng Senze/Wu Linsheng	CHN592	19	23	42
69	Morten Bogacki/Christian L	GER77	21	21	42
70	Jonny McGovern/Tom Mappleb	GBR811	27	17	44
71	Max Dzembritzki/Fabian Bau	GER4966	23	21	44
72	Lucas Zellmer/Heiko Seelig	GER4931	OCS	17	47
73	Lim Seungcheol/Lee Kyungil	KOR91	20	27	47
74	Liu Zhengdong/Wang Wei	CHN443	26	22	48
75	Justin Law/Michael Miller	USA1697	22	26	48
76	Pusparajan Muttu/Nijeesh B	IND18	OCS	20	50
77	Dylan Clarke/Ayden Menzies	AUS359	OCS	21	51
78	Weng Liangdao/Lin Qiaowen	CHN590	24	27	51
79	Yuanzhen Xu/Terence Koh	SIN7	26	25	51
80	Luke Patience/Twiggy Grube	GBR826	OCS	22	52
81	Vitaly Ignatenko/Roman Tym	UKR3	25	27	52
82	Wang Gongguo/Zhuang Xuehai	CHN431	28	26	54
83	Pavle Kostov/Petar Cupac	CRO111	OCS	25	55
84	Yang Shuai/Zhou Bolin	CHN323	27	28	55
85	Nils Schroder/Jens Steinbo	GER4936	OCS	26	56
86	Li Fei/Hu Xianqiang	CHN146	29	28	57
87	Jeong Dongwoon/Yun Hyunho	KOR87	29	29	58

Women

Pos	Helm/Crew	Sail Number	R1	R2	Tot
1	Yoshisako Yuka/Okuma Norik	JPN4152	1	3	4
2	Marcelien de Koning/Lobke	NED11	4	1	5
3	Ai Kondo/Naoko Kamata	JPN4151	4	3	7
4	Wang Xiaoli/Huang Xufeng	CHN248	5	4	9
5	Fernanda Oliveira/Isabel S	BRA177	8	2	10
6	Noa Botzer/Laia Trajtenber	ISR6	3	7	10
7	Emmanuelle Rol/Anne¨CSophie	SUI1404	1	10	11
8	Amanda Clark/Sara Mergenth	USA1736	2	10	12
9	Lenka Smidova/Elizabeth Kr	CZE1	6	8	14
10	Therese Torgersson/Vendela	SWE323	3	12	15
11	Lauren Jeffries/Rike Ziege	AUS360	5	11	16
12	Ruslana Taran/Olena Pakhol	UKR1	11	7	18
13	Nike Kornecki/Ravid Kanoni	ISR10	14	6	20
14	Ingrid Petitjean/Nadege Do	FRA4	7	13	20
15	Camille Lecointre/Gwendoly	FRA9	19	2	21
16	Chizuko Ijima/Sayaka Kato	JPN4155	16	5	21
17	Henriette Koch/Lene Sommer	DEN143	2	20	22
18	Wakako Tabata/Naomi Kurita	JPN4177	16	6	22
19	Jennifer Provan/Carol Lutt	CAN630	13	9	22
20	Wen Yimei/Yu Chunyan	CHN25	9	13	22
21	Vlada Ilienko/Natalia Gapa	RUS700	22	1	23
22	Stephanie Rottweiler/Vivie	GER4978	11	12	23
23	Sylvia Vogl/Carolina Flats	AUT431	6	18	24
24	Elise Rechichi/Tessa Parki	AUS357	9	16	25
25	Pippa Wilson/Sheena Craig	GBR837	12	14	26
26	Teja Cerne/Alja Cerne	SLO148	10	17	27
27	Liying Toh/Elizabeth Tan	SIN11	7	21	28
28	Erin Maxwell/Isabelle Kins	USA1757	10	18	28
29	Giulia Conti/Giovanna Mico	ITA23	15	15	30
30	Adi Gilboa/Vered Bouskila	ISR13	8	23	31
31	Maria Sampati/Chiona Mirto	GRE185	23	8	31
32	Christina Bassadone/Saskia	GBR833	17	15	32
33	Karin Almquist/Karin Berg	SWE325	28	5	33
34	Melissa Heppell/Katrina Hu	GBR809	30	4	34
35	Marina Gallego/Laia Tutzo	ESP1833	25	9	34
36	Lian Cuixian/Chen Yuanfang	CHN282	20	14	34
37	Shen Yinjuan/Huang Yineng	CHN214	12	24	36
38	Molly Carapiet/Molly O''Bry	USA1768	13	23	36
39	Julie Bossard/Eve Pajot	FRA6	15	22	37
40	Daria Blaschiewitz/Geeske	GER4924	28	11	39
41	Kathrin Kadelbach/Saskia S	GER4951	19	20	39
42	Isabel Ficker/Laura Zanni	BRA187	25	16	41
43	Marta Petrasz/Naurotskaja	POL517	24	17	41
44	Juliane Wolf/Claudia Wolf	GER4942	23	19	42
45	Roberta Borges/Andrea Borg	BRA186	21	21	42
46	Wu Aihong/Zeng Yanting	CHN517	14	29	43
47	Huang Lizhu/Feng Huimin	CHN600	18	25	43
48	Xu Xiaomei/Zhu Yulan	CHN438	17	28	45
49	Shelley Hesson/Bianca Barb	NZL202	18	27	45
50	Li Jie/Yu Yanli	CHN162	27	19	46
51	Qiu Binbin/He Xinyan	CHN18	20	26	46
52	Merilii Randmaa/Agnes Lill	EST13	22	24	46
53	Dawn Liu/Deborah Ong	SIN17	24	22	46
54	Anastasiia Kolomiiets/Tais	UKR70	21	26	47
55	Chit Su/Nwe Nwe San	MYA2	26	25	51
56	Caroline Young/Evan Brown	USA1761	27	27	54
57	Suk¨CKyong Kim/Se¨CMi Lee	KOR79	26	OCS	57
58	Zhang Kaiyong/Huang Mingzh	CHN595	29	28	57
59	Song Jun/Bu Xiaohong	CHN325	29	29	58
60	Cai Liping/Yu Beibei	CHN660	30	30	60