Ainslie 14 points ahead

Despite very difficult wind conditions many of the leaders extended in their various fleets at the Princess Sofia

Sailors and regatta organisers were expecting a strong south westerly wind with waves on day three of the Princess Sofia Regatta. However, the stronger winds today came from the North today, Tuesday.

While the wind gave the Ynglinga a solid 18 knots on their course, and the 49er with a weak, moderate breeze, it failed to reach the Finn course forcing the racing committee to abandon the first race of the day. Meanwhile the Tornados were enjoying a totally different wind from the west!

With the last qualification races scheduled today for the Lasers, 49ers, 470 and RS:X Men, the weather didn’t make it easy for the race committees who had to adjust to the capricious winds to provide fair racing for all. In the end, all races were sailed as scheduled, and the favorites are mostly keeping their place at the top of the classifications.

Petra Niemann (GER) continues on her quest to conquer the Trofeo Princesa Sofia with two more victories in the Laser Radial. The Trophy is given every year to the sailor or team with the least points in a fleet of a minimum of 20 boats. The laser radial fleet is right on target and with five points to her overall score (Petra is discarding a first), the German is in good position for the coveted cup. The Norwegians Anette Myhre and Catherine Gjerpen are conserving their place in second and third respectively.

Competition is tight for first place in the Tornado, Yngling and 470 men, with teams on equal points. French Tornado sailors Xavier Revil and Christophe Espagnon and Germans Johannes Polgar and Florian Spalteholz have each scored a first and a second. The German team seemed to have recovered their earlier form after a disappointing result at the World Championship this year where the pair placed 21st. Polgar and Spateholz's good results in Palma in a small but talented fleet will be welcome as they prepare for the final Olympic selection regatta in Hyères.

The Russian teams are still leading the Yngling fleet and are now on equal points with regatta defenders Americans Barkow, Howe and Capozzi and world champions Ayton, Webb and Wilson (GBR) are also close only two points behind. While the British enjoyed the heavier breeze to claim the first race, Athens 470 Gold medalist, Sofia Bekatorou’s boat took the bullet in the second.

The top four are unchanged in the 470 men. Gabrio Zandonà and Andrea Trani (ITA) and Javier Conte and Juan de la Fuente (ARG) have won a race each and are still on equal points in first and second. Second at this year's World Championhips, Alvaro Marinho and Miguel Nunes (POR) have mastered the tricky conditions and are sailing smart which is helping compensate for lack of speed: “We played the shifts well! Our good boat is still on the way from Australia so we are using an old boat and are not so fast”. A first and a third today brings, the Portuguese to eighth overall.

Marina Alabau and Alessandra Sensini are conserving a safe margin in the RS:X regatta. While the Spanish had inconsistent results with a ninth and a win to take first place overall, the Italian collected all top three results. Bryony Shaw is unmoved in third place after winning the first race.

World number three, Nick Dempsey (GBR), is dominating the men's RS:X division after winning today’s races. Meanwhile Ivan Pastor moved up to second overall after discarding a tenth place.

In the Finn fleet, Ben Ainslie increased his lead with a fourth place and a win while the rest of the fleet had mixed results. The shifty winds were hard to read on the Finn course, racing on the eastern corner of the bay. Ainslie proved once again how hard to beat he is. In second position, Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) has scored only top ten results but is 14 points adrift of Ainslie. World number one, Jonas Hoegh-Christensen (DEN) had up and down results with a second and 20 he is discarding, to slot in at third place just in front of Zach Railey (USA) who has lost two places to after a disqualification at the start.

The top 3 remains unchanged in the Laser class with Paul Goodison (GBR) and Nick Thompson (GBR) scoring similar points today. Rasmus Myrgren (SWE) who has been reinstated yesterday in third place has suffered from the shifty conditions to finish 12th in the first race and win the second. Other race victories go to Andreas Geritzer (AUT) who gets back from 31st to fourth place after deleting 17 points from his overall score. Alejandro Foglia from Uruguay has had a great day with a fifth and a win to place 12th overall while in 31st position, Igor Lisovenko (RUS) takes the other win.

Natalia via Dufresne and Laia Tutzo (ESP) have claimed back the top spot in the 470 women after scoring a second and a fourth. Early regatta leaders the Italians Conti and Micol and Germans Rothweiler and Kussatz have collected high scores but are still in the top three.

Bronze medallist at the 49er World’s in Melbourne in January and Athens Silver medallists, Rodion Luka and George Leonchuk (UKR) have stolen the lead from Jan Peter and Hannes Peckolt (GER) after a sixth place and two wins scored in today’s three races. The Germans are only two points behind after consistent results. “It was a tricky day with challenging conditions. We had choppy waves and very gusty winds.” The brothers have chosen Palma for their training camp: “We come here every year for a few months. It is great for training.” The young sailors, who have quickly reached second place in the world rankings, have their eyes set on a place on the Olympic podium. “Now that the selection trials are over we can concentrate on testing our equipment and select the best gear for China.”

The qualification phase is over and the 49ers, Laser, 470 and RS:X men fleets will be now divided in Gold and Silver.

Results, here .