Hansen brothers dominate 49ers

After first day of Volvo Champions Race in Schwerin, Germany

The favourites took command of the first day in the Volvo Champions Race in Schwerin, Germany. On a day with tricky and inclement weather conditions on the Schweriner Lake and even though the wind was shifting left and right and gusting from near nothing to 20mph, nothing could stop the Hansen Brothers from leading the 49er rankings after three races.

The young Danish team displayed it's yellow gennaker for the leading crew in the Volvo Champions Race Tour Rankings with pride and once again dominated the fleet in great style. A third, a first and another third place put the Danes in front of a stear-studded fleet of World Champions and Olympic competitors.

While Markus Steeg/Moritz Deml (GER) and John Harris/Evan McNicol (AUS) are laying in second and third position, three times World Champion Chris Nicholson and his crew Gary Boyd did win the first race but dropped down to fourth overall after three races.

It was the day of the brothers as Germany´s Helge and Christian Sach dominated the Tornado fleet and lead the Volvo Champions Race Rankings after Day 1. Their performance surprised everyone including themselves as Helge recently suffered from a knee injury that put him out of the circuit for more then three months. "We are most surprised to be on top of the rankings after the first day," said Helge Sach. "It's a great feeling to be able to come back like this."

Robbie Daniel/Anders Strume (USA) spoilt their two impressing wins with a tenth and are in second position overall just in front of Robert Wilson/Martin Sellars (GBR).

Tornado Olympic Silver and Bronze Medallists Darren Bundock (Autralia/5th) and Roland Gäbler (Germany/6th) are hoping for a better day tomorrow. "It's pretty tricky and challenging to sail on this lake," says Gäbler. "If you do not concentrate every single second you are in danger of capsizing."

The teams of Frank und Peter Mühlhauser (Germany) and Mike Bassett/Riechelmann (New Zealand) share the doubtful fame of being 'Kings in the water'. Both 49er teams capsized two times.

In total 15 crews in each class are fighting for an event prize purse of 13.000 Euros. Another 35.000 Euros will be split amongst the top crews after the third stop in Travemünde (October 9 ­ 12). The Volvo Champions Race will finish on Sunday with the prize giving ceremony. Says Thomas Hanel, member of the board of Volvo Car Germany, we have seen spectacular action on the Schweriner Lake today and look forward to a great weekend. We are more and more convinced that we have created a new role model for spectator-friendly high performance racing in olympic classes. This is the feedback we are getting from sailors and spectators."

Volvo Champions Race Schwerin
Results Day 1 / after 3 races

Tornado Sport
1st Helge und Christian Sach (GER) 8.00 pts
(4/1/3)
2nd Robbie Daniel/Anders Strume (USA) 12.00 pts (1/10/1)
3rd Robert Wilson/Martin Sellars (GBR) 12.00 pts (2/4/6)
4th Peder Ronholt/Sören Jörgensen (DEN) 12.00 pts (5/2/5)
5th Darren Bundock/Glenn Ashby (AUS) 15.00 pts (6/7/2)
6th Roland Gäbler/Gunnar Struckmann (GER) 16.00 pts (9/3/4)
7th Lars Bähr/Dino Grobe (GER) 18.00 pts (3/5/10)
8th Johannes Polgar/Will Howden (GER/GBR) 24.00 pts (8/8/8)
9th Diego Cayolla/Nuno Barreto (POR) 28.00 pts (11/6/11)
10th Martin Strandberg/Christian Mattson (SWE) 28.00 pts (10/9/9)
11th Erik Holden/Mark Coakley (CAN) 33.00 pts (7/13/13)
12th Patrick Egger/Kristof Koch (GER) 36.00 pts
(13/11/12)
13th Tino und Niko Mittelmeier (GER) 37.00 pts
(DNF/14/7)
14th Christina Loweg/Julia Nowak (GER) 40.00 pts
(14/12/14)
15th Eckart und Gyde Kaphengst (GER) 43.00 pts
(12/15/DNF)

49er
1st Peter und Sören Hansen (DEN) 7.00 pts
(3/1/3)
2nd Markus Steeg/Moritz Deml (GER) 8.00 pts (2/2/4)
3rd John Harris/Evan McNicol (AUS) 10.00 pts (6/3/1)
4th Chris Nicholson/Gary Boyd (AUS) 12.00 pts (1/5/6)
5th Marcus Baur/Max Groy (GER) 15.00 pts (7/6/2)
6th Nico Delle-Karth/Nikolaus Resch (AUT) 16.00 pts (4/4/8)
7th Gabriel Wicke/Wolf Jeschonnek (GER) 19.00 pts (5/7/7)
8th Rodion Luka/George Leonchuk (UKR) 25.00 pts (9/11/5)
9th Jan-Peter und Hannes Peckolt (GER) 29.00 pts (10/8/11)
10th Ronald Rensch/Torsten Haverland (GER) 30.00 pts (8/12/10)
11th Felix Oehme/Julien Kleiner (GER) 34.00 pts (12/13/9)
12th Mike Bassett/Kurt Riechelmann (NZL) 36.00 pts (14/9/13)
13th Martin Kirketerp/Dion Valente (DEN) 38.00 pts
(DNF/10/12)
14th Martin Gerhardt/Fionn Erdmann (Hamburg/GER) 39.00 pts
(11/14/14)
15th Frank und Peter Mühlhauser (Allensbach/GER) 45.00 pts
(13/DNF/DNF)