First finals

Spanish remain on top at the 49er Worlds in Athens

After protests from yesterday, penalties were cancelled. Anyway it wouldn’t have affected the qualifications to the Gold fleet but some sailors were discouraged after hard fights on courses and sailing their best. They didn’t want to end the qualifications with 5 points of penalty.

First finals were held today. They started with no wind and postponment. Some were already packing their boat. A Portuguese team, Pedro Andrade and David Aleixo went back home. David was already ill before the Worlds but still wanted to race. He is now at the hospital until Monday after an infection in one of his finger.

These regattas were erratic. They were held in a light sea breeze (8 to 10knots). Leaders Iker Martines and Xavier Fernandez from Spain finished their first race with a 20 position but performed next races with a 2 and a 1. Iker asserted “eEverybody is bearing arms against each other to get the title. All fleet is good and it makes it hard to sail.” A tough fleet and Chris Nicholson from Australia was not really happy of his day: “It’s a sign we haven’t raced a lot before the Worlds”.

Surprisingly the Norwegian team Christoffer Sundby and Frode Bovim, who did really well in the beginning of this championship, dropped in the rankings.It is not just a competition to get the title but also one that would select a team for the Games. This regatta is one of the Trials for Denmark. Peter Kruge and Jonas....who were fifth overall yesterday are now passed by Michael Hestbaeck and Dennis Dengsoe.

But positions were always fluctuating. In fact Rodion Luka and George Leonchuk started as well with bad races but managed to fight to get a third position. Actually according to the coach of Germans Marcus Baur and Max Groy, the wind was really shifty and it was really hard to see where the wind would come first. But it is mostly because, as said French Emmanuel Dyen and Yann Rocherieux it is a tight Gold fleet and every single mistake can make you lose your leading.

In silver fleet some countries still can qualify and are giving a last chance to their country. Sweden is now in front of New Zealand but only from 2 points. This fleet has been dominated by Brasilian team. After success with a 9 at the last Worlds in Cadiz, Brasilian were a bit disappointed by being in the Silver fleet. Andre Fonseca explained: “ We sailed a lot in Brasil but our last regatta was Cadiz. Our only training partners have been the Portuguese that came to visit us during 2 weeks. The rest of the time we were alone. We thought going to Barcelona could be a good training before Athens but nothing happened there because of the weather. We started the season with a World championship...”

Bronze fleet waited on the beach this afternoon and were keeping itself busy by learning 49er to some friends. They still have a smile on their faces. Among them Canadian teams who are planning to do the European circuit and are looking forward to going to the next Worlds in Moscow (2005).

Results

Pos	Crew	Sail	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	Tot
	Gold fleet
1	IKER MARTINEZ	ESP 890	4	1	1	3	1	6	-20	2	1	4	23
	XABIER FERNADEZ
2	MARCUS BAUR	GER 5	5	5	1	3	10	9	4	1	4	-15	42
	MAX GROY
3	STEVIE MORRISON	GBR 6	2	6	5	5	1	2	1	15	10	-20	47
	BEN RHODES
4	TIM WADLOW	USA 8	4	8	6	1	2	-14	12	5	8	2	48
	PETE SPAULDING
5	CHRIS DRAPER	GBR 1	1	2	4	7	4	3	14	9	-23	8	52
	SIMON HISCOCKS
6	RODION LUKA	UKR 3	3	8	2	9	5	1	21	-23	3	3	55
	GEORGY LEONCHUK
7	CHRIS NICHOLSON	AUS 11	1	7	7	1	11	6	-22	19	9	1	62
	GARY BOYD
8	MICHAEL HESBEK	DEN 8	1	5	10	11	7	5	-23	7	13	9	68
	DENNIS DENGSOE ANDERSEN
9	CHRISTOPHER RAST	SUI 840	3	4	5	16	6	1	8	14	-21	12	69
	CHRISTIAN STEIGER
10	JONAS WARRER	DEN 18	-29	1	3	2	5	5	16	22	7	10	71
	PETER KRUGER		DNF
11	CHRISTOFFER SUNDBY	NOR 2	2	2	4	2	9	2	18	-20	14	18	71
	FRODE BOVIM
12	MARC AUDINEAU	FRA 21	8	2	3	11	13	3	9	3	19	-24	71
	STEPHANE CHRISTIDIS
13	PIETRO SIBELLO	ITA 23	2	-29	10	11	7	4	3	16	5	13	71
	GIANFRANCO SIBELLO			OCS
14	ALISTER RICHARDSON	GBR 7	9	4	9	4	10	4	-19	4	16	11	71
	ALEX TOBUTT
15	ALLAN NORREGAARD	DEN 14	5	3	10	3	9	17	7	-24	15	7	76
	KLAUS NAUR
16	THOMAS JOHANSON	FIN 19	7	3	12	4	8	7	15	8	12	-23	76
	JUKKA PIIRAINEN
17	JAN-PETER PECKOLT	GER 28	11	7	1	13	3	16	-25	11	11	5	78
	HANNES PECKOLT
18	TOM FITZPATRICK	IRL 24	9	4	5	10	16	7	13	12	2	-17	78
	FRASER BROWN
19	EMMANUEL DYEN	FRA 893	8	15	21	2	3	11	5	10	6	-25	81
	YANN ROCHERIEUX
20	NICO DELLE–KARTH	AUT 13	-29	9	3	6	2	8	17	13	17	6	81
	NIKOLAUS RESCH		OCS
21	ATHANASIOS PACHOUMAS	GRE 847	13	8	6	14	8	1	2	-26	18	14	84
	VASILIOS PORTOSALTE									DSQ
22	KENJI NAKAMURA	JPN 37	8.8	-20	8	5	1	10	10	6	20	16	85
	MASATO TAKAKI		RDG
23	THOMAS IVERSEN	DEN 17	17	1	9	4	4	4	6	21	-22	19	85
	JONATAN PERSSON
24	PETER HANSEN	DEN 20	15	6	2	6	7	5	11	18	-24	21	91
	SOREN HANSEN
25	MARCIN CZAJKOWSKI	POL 12	15	5	2	10	6	3	24	17	-25	22	104
	KRZYSZTOF KIERKOWSKI
	Silver fleet
1	ANDRE FONSECA	BRA 9	-29	6	8	1	13	18	3	2	7		58
	RODRIGO DUARTE		DNF
2	ALBERTO PADRON	ESP 16	-29	7	8	8	15	16	6	1	1		62
	JAVIER DE LA PLAZA		DNF
3	MARCUS HAAS	SWE 803	-29	13	7	18	12	11	2	6	6		75
	CHRISTOFFER HAAS		DNF
4	JUAN-LUIS PAEZ	ESP 15	9	-29	11	16	12	2	10	8	9		77
	CARLOS DE BRICIO			OCS
5	ADAM BEASHEL	NZL 32	14	-29	4	8	2	19	23	3	8		81
	ED SMYTH			DSQ
6	JANNE UUSI-AUTTI	FIN 853	10	11	-17	12	14	9	13	10	4		83
	KALLE BASK
7	AXEL NETTERLID	SWE 887	6	14	16	12	-29	9	11	13	3		84
	JONAS LINDBERG						DSQ
8	VINCENT JOYEUX	FRA 25	11	14	16	9	12	17	1	-30	5		85
	NICOLAS CAU									OCS
9	THOMAS RUEGGE	SUI 870	3	-18	14	15	6	18	7	9	13		85
	JOERG STEINER
10	PAUL BROTHERTON	GBR 4	6	9	13	10	10	6	5	-30	30		89
	MARK ASQUITH									DNF	DNF
11	EMIL TOFT-NIELSEN	DEN 633	10	18	6	13	18	19	-30	5	2		91
	SIMON TOFT ÍÉÅLSEN								DNF
12	MATTS HELLMAN	NED 31	12	10	11	5	8	8	19	19	-24		92
	PIM NIEUWENHUIS
13	PAWEL KACPROWSKI	POL 29	5	15	11	17	4	17	17	12	-20		98
	PAWEL KUZMICKI
14	JAMES MCINTOSH	GBR 872	4	3	15	15	13	16	-18	17	16		99
	PHILIP KENNARD
15	MARKUS STEEG	GER 27	29	11	7	8	5	11	14	-30	15		100
	MORITZ DEML		DNF							OCS
16	MARCEL WALSER	SUI 712	6	13	18	19	-20	20	12	4	10		102
	CASPAR BUETTNER
17	PETER BACKE	SWE 778	7	12	17	7	16	12	16	15	-19		102
	ANDERS BENGTSSON
18	LUCA MODENA	ITA 30	12	12	14	7	11	12	21	16	-25		105
	MANUEL MODENA
19	JORGE LIMA	POR 846	-29	10	13	6	14	8	15	14	26		106
	FRANCISCO ANDRADE		DNF
20	GEORGE PANAGIOTIDIS	GRE 183	7	14	9	13	9	19	24	-30	11		106
	ALFONSO PANAGIOTIDIS									OCS
21	QUENTIN BLONDIAU	BEL 760	8	12	17	17	16	10	-20	11	17		108
	LIONEL BLONDIAU
22	JOHN PINK	GBR 717	11	10	13	-29	29	14	9	7	12		110
	ALEX HOPSON					DNF	DNF
23	BEN TARDREW	AUS 766	21	19	19	16	3	13	4	-30	21		116
	MARCUS TARDREW									OCS
24	MCGRANE BEN	GBR 831	16	13	-20	14	19	15	8	20	18		123
	CLEGG JONATHAN
25	ALEXANDRE MONTEAU	FRA 709	13	16	18	22	14	7	-25	21	14		125
	DAMIEN GUILLOU
26	ANDREAS KYPRAIOS	GRE 794	10	23	12	9	-29	15	22	18	23		132
	DIMITRIOS BENAKIS						DNF
27	PEDRO REBELO DE ANDRADE	POR 41	12	9	12	12	29	15	-30	30	30		149
	ALEIXO DAVID						DNF		DNF	DNF	DNF
28	CEDRIC FLEURY	FRA 800	-29	17	20	18	18	10	26	22	22		153
	BRUNO FOURNIER		DNF
29	ILYA ERMAKOV	RUS 34	18	17	15	15	11	20	-30	30	30		156
	MAXIM LOGOUTENKO								DNF	DNF	DNF