Flurry of protests

As qualifying series for the 49er World Championships concludes in Athens

The Qualifying Series at the 49er World Championships concluded in customary controversy today in Athens. The scramble to make the Gold Fleet final of 25 boats always results in a last-minute flurry of protests, but today many of those protests were levelled at the race committee.

Some teams were given a five-point penalty for failing to sign in for racing earlier today, but when the signing-in papers went missing, race crews were understandably distraught at having received a penalty, whilst being unable to prove whether or not they had signed in correctly. With the 82-boat fleet divided into three groups, a five-point penalty equates to 15 points, a huge price to pay in such a tightly contested fleet.

Among the penalised teams were No.3 ranked team from the Ukraine, Rodion Luka and George Leonchuk. More crucially perhaps, a five-point penalty put the Irish team of Tom Fitzpatrick and Fraser Brown right on the cusp of Gold Fleet qualification in 25th place. [Eventually the committee decided it would be simpler and fairer to cancel all penalties]. So if the positions stay as they are, then the Irish have guaranteed themselves a place in the Olympics this summer, along with Finland, France and Japan. This means that just one Olympic place remains available, with New Zealand and Sweden currently locked in a duel that will continue into the Silver Fleet finals of the next three days.

It was another windy and unforgiving day out on the water, with even reigning World Champions Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks capsizing in one heat. But they have only fallen one place in the standings to third, conceding second place to their Norwegian training partners Christoffer Sundby and Frode Bovim, with the Spanish team still holding first place.

Peter Kruge described the conditions as “crazy”, but Pim Nieuwenhuis from the Netherlands loved it: “Racing the 49er is great, all your energy goes into it. If you had a satellite that could measure the level of concentration, you would see a hot spot of activity focused on Athens today. You have to keep your eyes open to everything going on around you in these conditions, gathering as much information as possible.”

There were some high-profile casualties who failed to make the Gold Fleet cut. Paul Brotherton and Mark Asquith finished tantalisingly close, just a point off the Irish, while the Brazilian team who finished 9th last year were five points behind Brotherton.

But the Olympic selection battle is alive and kicking for the Danes, with five teams through to the Gold Fleet. The Finals begin tomorrow.

Results:

Pos	Crew	Sail No	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Tot
1	IKER MARTINEZ	ESP 890	4	1	1	3	1	-6	10
	XABIER FERNADEZ
2	CHRISTOFFER SUNDBY	NOR 2	2	2	4	2	-9	2	12
	FRODE BOVIM
3	CHRIS DRAPER	GBR 1	1	2	4	-7	4	3	14
	SIMON HISCOCKS
4	STEVIE MORRISON	GBR 6	2	-6	5	5	1	2	15
	BEN RHODES
5	JONAS WARRER	DEN 18	-29	1	3	2	5	5	16
	PETER KRUGER		DNF
6	RODION LUKA	UKR 3	3	8	2	-9	5	1	19
	GEORGY LEONCHUK
7	CHRISTOPHER RAST	SUI 840	3	4	5	-16	6	1	19
	CHRISTIAN STEIGER
8	TIM WADLOW	USA 8	4	8	6	1	2	-14	21
	PETE SPAULDING
9	CHRIS NICHOLSON	AUS 11	1	7	7	1	-11	6	22
	GARY BOYD
10	THOMAS IVERSEN	DEN 17	-17	1	9	4	4	4	22
	JONATAN PERSSON
11	MARCUS BAUR	GER 5	5	5	1	3	-10	9	23
	MAX GROY
12	MARCIN CZAJKOWSKI	POL 12	-15	5	2	10	6	3	26
	KRZYSZTOF KIERKOWSKI
13	PETER HANSEN	DEN 20	-15	6	2	6	7	5	26
	SOREN HANSEN
14	MARC AUDINEAU	FRA 21	8	2	3	11	-13	3	27
	STEPHANE CHRISTIDIS
15	MICHAEL HESBEK	DEN 8	1	5	10	-11	7	5	28
	DENNIS DENGSOE ANDERSEN
16	NICO DELLE–KARTH	AUT 13	-29	9	3	6	2	8	28
	NIKOLAUS RESCH		OCS
17	THOMAS JOHANSON	FIN 19	7	3	-12	4	8	7	29
	JUKKA PIIRAINEN
18	ALLAN NORREGAARD	DEN 14	5	3	10	3	9	-17	30
	KLAUS NAUR
19	ALISTER RICHARDSON	GBR 7	9	4	9	4	-10	4	30
	ALEX TOBUTT
20	KENJI NAKAMURA	JPN 37	8.8	-20	8	5	1	10	32.8
	MASATO TAKAKI		RDG
21	PIETRO SIBELLO	ITA 23	2	-29	10	11	7	4	34
	GIANFRANCO SIBELLO			OCS
22	JAN-PETER PECKOLT	GER 28	11	7	1	13	3	-16	35
	HANNES PECKOLT
23	TOM FITZPATRICK	IRL 24	9	4	5	10	-16	7	35
	FRASER BROWN
24	ATHANASIOS PACHOUMAS	GRE 847	13	8	6	-14	8	1	36
	VASILIOS PORTOSALTE
25	EMMANUEL DYEN	FRA 893	8	15	-21	2	3	11	39
	YANN ROCHERIEUX
26	PAUL BROTHERTON	GBR 4	6	9	-13	10	10	6	41
	MARK ASQUITH
27	MARKUS STEEG	GER 27	-29	11	7	8	5	11	42
	MORITZ DEML		DNF
28	MATTS HELLMAN	NED 31	-12	10	11	5	8	8	42
	PIM NIEUWENHUIS
29	ANDRE FONSECA	BRA 9	-29	6	8	1	13	18	46
	RODRIGO DUARTE		DNF
30	ADAM BEASHEL	NZL 32	14	-29	4	8	2	19	47
	ED SMYTH			DSQ
31	JUAN-LUIS PAEZ	ESP 15	9	-29	11	16	12	2	50
	CARLOS DE BRICIO			OCS
32	JAMES MCINTOSH	GBR 872	4	3	15	15	13	-16	50
	PHILIP KENNARD
33	JORGE LIMA	POR 846	-29	10	13	6	14	8	51
	FRANCISCO ANDRADE		DNF
34	PAWEL KACPROWSKI	POL 29	5	15	11	-17	4	17	52
	PAWEL KUZMICKI
35	GEORGE PANAGIOTIDIS	GRE 183	7	14	9	13	9	-19	52
	ALFONSO PANAGIOTIDIS
36	PETER BACKE	SWE 778	7	12	-17	7	16	12	54
	ANDERS BENGTSSON
37	ALBERTO PADRON	ESP 16	-29	7	8	8	15	16	54
	JAVIER DE LA PLAZA		DNF
38	LUCA MODENA	ITA 30	12	12	-14	7	11	12	54
	MANUEL MODENA
39	THOMAS RUEGGE	SUI 870	3	-18	14	15	6	18	56
	JOERG STEINER
40	JANNE UUSI-AUTTI	FIN 853	10	11	-17	12	14	9	56
	KALLE BASK
41	AXEL NETTERLID	SWE 887	6	14	16	12	-29	9	57
	JONAS LINDBERG						DSQ
42	PEDRO REBELO DE ANDRADE	POR 41	12	9	12	12	-29	15	60
	ALEIXO DAVID						DNF
43	MARCUS HAAS	SWE 803	-29	13	7	18	12	11	61
	CHRISTOFFER HAAS		DNF
44	VINCENT JOYEUX	FRA 25	11	14	16	9	12	-17	62
	NICOLAS CAU
45	QUENTIN BLONDIAU	BEL 760	8	12	-17	17	16	10	63
	LIONEL BLONDIAU
46	EMIL TOFT-NIELSEN	DEN 633	10	18	6	13	18	-19	65
	SIMON TOFT ÍÉÅLSEN
47	ALEXANDRE MONTEAU	FRA 709	13	16	18	-22	14	7	68
	DAMIEN GUILLOU
48	ANDREAS KYPRAIOS	GRE 794	10	23	12	9	-29	15	69
	DIMITRIOS BENAKIS						DNF
49	BEN TARDREW	AUS 766	-21	19	19	16	3	13	70
	MARCUS TARDREW
50	MARCEL WALSER	SUI 712	6	13	18	19	-20	20	76
	CASPAR BUETTNER