Untouchable Ainslie

Ben Ainslie takes home two bullets on the second day of racing at the Princess Sofia Regatta

Medium breeze and sunshine provided for another day of superb racing in the bay of Palma at the Princess Sofia Regatta. In many classes, the teams in contention for Olympic selections are having very close battles.

The Russian trio of Ekaterina Skudina, Diana Krutskikh and Natalia Ivanova, first in the ISAF World ranking, have closed the gap on their home-country rivals after winning both races comfortably today. They have climbed to second position overall behind Basalkina, Ukraintseva and Maximova who are holding the lead in the Yngling fleet after a consistent two thirds today. “This is our second Olympic selection regatta” explained Natalia Ivanova; “We are leading by 11 points and the SOF in Hyères will be the last. We love sailing here and are pretty confident. We have trained in Palma for five months during the last two years. This is the best place in Europe for sailing.”

The light conditions are no real advantage for either Russian team with both more comfortable in this type of breeze. Last year’s winners, Sally Barkow, Carrie Howe and Debbie Capozzi (USA) have taken third place from the British World Champions after placing second twice. In another battle for Olympic selection, the French teams are within a point of each other in eighth and ninth positions. Anne-Claire Le Berre, Alice Ponsart and Marion Deplanque, have a head start in their national selections after a sixth at the Worlds in Miami. The Trofeo Sofia MAPFRE is the second stage in their selection that will conclude at the European championship. They are facing strong competition against, Anne Le Helley and her team who have placed fifth at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The Polish Finn sailors are having a separate race within the main regatta. Placed in seventh, eighth and ninth position, it is a tight battle for Olympic selection even if Junior sailor Piotr Kula who leads the Szukiel brothers by 11 and 16 points in this regatta has to catch up on lots of points after the first two selection events last year. The Princes Sofia is the penultimate stage with the last hurdle being Hyères in late April.

In another race of his own is the 'untouchable' Ben Ainslie (GBR). The Laser and Finn Gold medalist has confirmed he is still at home in Palma after taking two bullets today. His last appearance in El Arenal dates from 2004 when he claimed none less than sevem races in the regatta. Zach Railey (USA) conserved his second place overall while Gasper Vincec has lost 11 places from third to 14th after a disqualification at the start of the third race.

It has been a faultless regatta in the Laser Radial for Petra Niemann (GER) who added two more race victories to yesterday’s wins. Norwegians Anette Myhre and Catherine Gjerpen are on equal points in second and third position.

A perfect day for Ivan Pastor saw the Spaniard gain five places to fourth overall after two bullets in the RS:X class. Nick Dempsey (GBR) held his lead while Israel's windsurfers Shahar Zubari and Nimrod Mashiah are collecting similar results and have climbed to second and third places on equal points.

Paul Goodison (GBR) managed to keep control of the large Laser fleet and has been joined by team mate Nick Thompson (GBR) at the front of the fleet. Both won their last group race. A DNC in the third race costs Andreas Geritzer (AUT) 29 places who fell from second to 31st.

There were tight scores in the 49er fleet where the Peckolt brothers are the new leaders after a consistent day of top three results. The British pairing of Paul Campbell-James and Mark Asquith dropped to sixth overall only eight points from the top. The European championship next week has attracted most of the top 49er sailors in Mallorca which brings a very high level of competition to the Princes Sofia.

There was a change of leadership in the Tornado as well with Xavier Revil and Christophe Espagnon (FRA) narrowly taking first position from the Germans Polgar ans Spalteholz after winning the day’s last race.

Italian teams have now taken the lead in three classes in Mallorca. Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol have made the most of the shifty conditions on the 470 race area to win the first race and place fifth in the second. Early leaders, Natalia via Dufresne and Laia Tutzo (ESP) have not been so lucky. They drop from first to fifth overall after scoring a 24th in the third race. The German team of Stefanie Rothweiler and Vivien Kussatz are in second after winning the last race of the day. Gabrio Zandona and Andrea Trani (ITA) have progressed from third to first overall thanks to top five results in the regatta. They are on equal points with Javier Conte and Juan de la Fuente who have moved up four places after a near perfect day where the Argentineans have placed second and first.

Female windsurfers, Alessandra Sensini and Marina Alabau, are still neck and neck after scoring similar points again today (a second place and a win). They are first and second on six points and enjoy a comfortable 20 points lead over Skandia Team GBR's Briony Shaw.

Despite a pessimistic weather forecast before the start of the regatta, the competition has been granted with medium sea breeze varying from eight to 12 knots, sometimes shifty but fair conditions. A picturesque sunset ended the second day of racing in Palma predicting (a common knowledge here) stronger wind for Tuesday!

Results, here ,