Germany fights back

The strong French grip on the Hobie European Championship slipped a little today

Christophe Renaud de Malet and Alban Rossollin (FRA) took the lead in the Open Hobie 16 Europeans 2007 today, Thursday. The Frenchmen of New Caledonia enjoyed the medium conditions, in which they performed strongly with two bullets and a second. Bader and Souquet remained in second position overall, followed by yesterday’s leaders Le Gall and Obert. As foreseen by the French, the Germans advanced in the overall ranking. The northwesterly breeze of about twelve knots was a pleasure for all 127 teams competing in the gold and silver fleets. They are halfway through the championship, so this evening it is time for a party on the Gravenzande beach.

“Winning the first race of the day, is good for your mind”, said Alban Rossollin after claiming first position in the championship. “There was a pretty big swell and enough wind for one or two on the wire. In the second race, we had a bad start at the pin-end. It was chaos and I think we were behind everybody, but we did a good job on tactics in the first beat. We had great boat speed, both upwind and downwind, and overtook many cats.” They crossed the finish line in second position. “There was a perfect breeze in the last race. We had a good start and were leading at the bottom mark,” added Rossollin. They stayed focussed and took the next bullet. “If you are in first position, you are more intelligent”, he continued with a smile.

Jerome Le Gall and Enrick Obert had more difficulties today and dropped from the first to the third place overall. They finished with a 5-12-10 score-line. “My crew was not really in the race," commented Le Gall. "He made many mistakes. I think it was a lack of concentration.”

Ingo Delius and Katrin Wiese-Dohse were very unfortunate in the first race, as their trapeze broke. “That was a pity, because we were in fourth position at that time,” commented Delius. They took revenge with a fifth and a third. “We were leading in the second race, but halfway the wind died and we were sailing with an extremely stiff rig, so we dropped to the fifth place. It was fantastic to see the British youth winning with so much joy. That is what we try to achieve with young sailors,” he continued. His crew Wiese-Dohse also enjoyed the racing very much: “It was great fun with more wind.” The silver medallists from the Master Europeans are as best German team in fourth position.
Current ISAF Youth World Champions Richard and Andrew Glover (GBR) surprised the established Hobie 16 class sailors by taking the bullet in the second race. The last one was a bit different. “All day it paid to go left, until then. We were on the left side when the wind shifted to the right,” explained Richard Glover. A 23rd place was the result and the Glover brothers dropped to the tenth position overall. “Considering we are youth, I am pretty pleased with our performance so far. We are not very fast on the downwind without spinnaker. That is more patience sailing, because it is a lot slower and all the old boys are used to it,” he continued. The new European Youth Hobie 16 with spi champions Lauriot-Prevost and Pervier are eighth overall in the provisional results.

After a long afternoon on the North Sea, the competitors could relax at the Caribbean dinner party on the Gravenzande beach. Four races are scheduled for tomorrow.

Results:

1-FRA - Renaud de Malet and Rossollin, 6 points
2-FRA - Bader and Souquet, 14 points
3-FRA - Le Gall and Obert, 18 points
4-GER - Delius and Wiese-Dohse, 24 points
5-GER - Bockelmann and Schrader, 37 points

The Hobie 16 & Hobie Dragoon Europeans 2007 are sponsored by: I-Drukker.nl, Carrier Airconditioning, the Greenery, Autobedrijf Schoenmeijer, Vakantiepark Vlugtenburg aan zee, Tomselect, Ernst Olieman BV, Hogenboom vakantieparken, AfvalisHipenSexy.nl, Wealco Systemen BV, Westland Energie Services, ProfMedia BV, Rabobank, Boekestijn Transport Service, De Parel, Center Line, Hoeve de Viersprong, Colour XL, IkSloopGoedkoop.nl, Kwekerij Rozenhof, Ariën Hofman MD, Combifleur, Hobie Cat Holland BV, Westland Workwear, Woodfever, Veenman, Gemeente Westland, Arditio fotografie, Valere ICT Strategies, Vrijwillige Reddingsbrigade 's Gravenzande, Jessica emotions& flowers, Venvo Zonwering and van Spronsen b.v.