Gold fleet racing

Martinez and Fernandez move into second as the breeze fills in at the Seiko 49er Europeans

Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez (ESP) continued to find form in the first three gold fleet races and closed the gap between themselves and the Peckolt brothers (GER) at the Seiko 49er Europeans in Sicily. The fleets are now split into gold, silver and bronze with the top 25 teams in the gold fleet carrying their qualification scores with them and adding another three races on Thursday.

As the Gold and Silver fleets set sail from the Circolo Velico Marsala., the bronze fleet remained on the shore waiting to be released; watching as the wind built to a healthy 15, gusting 18 knots.

The wind reached its maximum strength of the week so far for the gold fleet, but unfortunately diminished to only 7-8 knots for the end of the bronze fleet racing.

The day belonged to Martinez and Fernandez dominated the gold fleet, cruising their way to two wins and a fourth place; they were visibly the best crew on the water today. Throughout the week the Spanish crew is becoming more and more consistent and enjoying the 15 knots of wind that Marsala is providing. The Sibello brothers maintain their third place with a more mixed 14,5,2.

Iker Martinez commenting on their performance said: "Today was a very good day indeed, the wind was perfect for us, I think the Peckolt brothers will keep the lead as they only had 25 points, but we are now much close so we are pleased"

Other successful crews included the Danish team, Warrer and Kirketerp, and the French, La Graviere and Christidis. The Peckolt brothers could not recreate the untouchable form they have been displaying all week, but did manage to retain their lead at the top. Peckolt leads Martinez by four points going into Friday's racing.

The conditions were unexpected with the weather forecasts predicting light winds thath proved incorrect. British crew, Paul Campbell James and Mark Asquith had a successful day, improving their overall position into the top 10.

Asquith said: "We were expecting light winds today- I was preparing myself for the burning in the thighs. Thankfully though we were wiring for all three races - we are really pleased with our results"

Support crews onshore were also kept busy, changing broken halyards and providing assistance for the boat that had set afloat without inserting their bungs!

The Silver fleet saw success for Wicke and Jeschonnek (GER), and the bronze fleet, with dying winds later into the afternoon saw the Toft Nielson brothers come out on top, winning all of the day's races.

Racing continues on Friday through to the medal races and prize giving on Sunday.

			Qualifying	G1	G2	G3	Pts
1	PECKOLT JAN PETER PECKOLT HANNES	GER 11	19	9	6	6	40
2	MARTINEZ DE LIZARDUY IKER FERNANDEZ XABIER	ESP 10	38	1	4	1	44
3	SIBELLO PIETRO SIBELLO GIANFRANCO	ITA 4	37	14	5	12	68
4	LA GRAVIERE MORGAN CHRISTIDIS STEPHANE	FRA 7	59	5	1	5	70
5	DYEN EMMANUEL ROCHERIUEX JANN	FRA 16	36	15	22	3	76
6	MARCUS BAUR HANNES BAUMANN	GER 26	46	13	7	13	79
7	JONAS WARRER MARTIN KIRKETERP	DEN 8	65	2	3	10	80
8	ALONSO FEDERICO ALONSO ARTURO	ESP 6	63	3	8	7	81
9	CAMBELL-JAMES PAUL ASQUITH MARK	GBR 21	64	6	11	4	85
10	CZAJKWSKI MARCIN KIERKOWSKI KRZYSZTOF	POL 17	54	4	12	16	86
11	WADLOW TIM RAST CHRISTOPHER	USA 13	51	7	21	14	93
12	RODION LUKA GEORGII LEONCHUK	UKR 9	69	8	15	9	101
13	LIMA JORGE AUDRADE FRANCISCO	POR 18	59	19	14	11	103
14	PINK JOHN WHEELER SIMON	GBR 28	78	10	9	18	115
15	ALEXANDRE MONTEAU DAMIEN GUILLOU	FRA 992	68	11	18	19	116
16	ANGILELLA GIUSEPPE ZUCCHETTI PIETRO	ITA 30	88	12	10	8	118
17	KRUGER PETR DENGSO ANDER DENNIS	DEN 15	61	OCS	17	15	119
18	LINDBERG JOANAS TORLEN KALLE	SWE 42	82	17	2	21	122
19	MCGOVERN RUSSELL MCGOVERN MATT	IRL 1032	85	20	19	2	126
20	SIEBER CRHISTOPH KRUSE CKEMENS	AUT 38	92	16	20	22	150
21	BRIESENICK PUDENZ L. MASSMANN MORTEN	GER 45	77	OCS	23	25	151
22	ISHIBASHI AKIRA MAKINO YUKIO	JPN 971	97	21	16	17	151
23	GUNDERSEN CHRISTOPHER BOVIM FRODE	NOR 20	86	18	24	24	152
24	HANSEN PETER HANSEN SOREN	DEN 33	91	OCS	13	23	153
25	MARTIN IAN MCGRANE BEN	GBR 43	96	DNF	DNS	20	168