Today was the day which decided the top 10 boats going through to each of the 470 Men and 470 Women Medal Races to determine who will secure medals at the 2011 470 European Championships with Race 12 held for each of the 470 Men Gold, 470 Men Silver and 470 Women fleets.
470 Men
Perhaps local knowledge was what helped Finnish brothers Joonas and Niklas Lindgren deliver a race win in the 470 Men Gold fleet and qualify through to the Medal Race today. Eyes are now on this team to carry Finland's pride and become the top performing Finnish team of the entire Olympic Class European Championships. Whilst they are out of medal contention they can still move up the leaderboard by several places.
Job done for Mat Belcher/Malcolm Page (AUS) who have secured their victory as the 470 Open European Championships, despite their worst result of the series as they got buried in the fleet after a bad choice saw them take the left hand side of the track upwind to eventually cross the line in 25th. The British team of Luke Patience/Stuart Bithell also headed this way, finished 27th in race 12 and have suffered the consequences, dropping from second overall to fourth going into the Medal Race. With the quality of this fleet, and double points in the Medal Race, Patience/Bithell have got a big ask on their hands to be near the podium. Equal disappointment for Japan's Ryunosuke Harada/Yugo Yoshida with a 29th in race 12 tumbling them down to ninth overall which puts an end to their progress towards the podium.
A frustrated Patience reflected, “We have thrown away some mega points in the results. I hope we are in a position where we can still win a medal.”
The Lindgren brothers were joined by Stuart McNay/Graham Biehl (USA) at the front of the fleet, with the Americans crossing 15 seconds behind the Finnish, whilst the next third placed team were trailing over a minute behind the Americans. A resultant climb up the leaderboard into fifth for McNay/Biehl puts them within reach of the second and third places for the Open European Championships.
Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic (CRO) also played a good race today and will now go into the Medal Race in second overall and in position to have a pop at the European Championship podium places. Igor was pleased with their delivery, “It was quite a hard race. We had some difficulties on the start and then we managed to get clear wind quite early and decided to go right which was better, so it worked really well from the first upwind. We were then at the top of the fleet and so just sailed. We really have a good chance for a medal and are really concerned to beat our European opponents here.” And on tonight's preparation for tomorrow, “Just relaxing, some massage, dinner, watch tv and enjoying ourselves.”
It is all over for Panagiotis Mantis/Pavlos Kagialis (GRE) who arrived in Finland to defend their European Championship title, but a lack of consistency in their racing and the mistake of punching forwards too early over the start line gave them two black flag penalties in the series which wiped out their chances of a successful defence or even going through to the Medal Race.
470 Men Medal Race Contenders
1. AUS11 - Mathew BELCHER /Malcolm PAGE – 39 pts
2. CRO83 - Sime FANTELA /Igor MARENIC – 66 pts
3. ISR7 - Gideon KLIGER /Eran SELA - 70 pts
4. GBR844 - Luke PATIENCE /Stuart BITHELL - 75 pts
5. USA1713 - Stuart MCNAY /Graham BIEHL – 79 pts
6. ESP9 - Onan BARREIROS RODRÍGUEZ /Aaron SARMIENTO PADILLA – 87 pts
7. GRE165 - Panagiotis KAMPOURIDIS /Efstathios PAPADOPOULOS - 89 pts
8. GBR854 - Nic ASHER /Elliot WILLIS - 90 pts
9. JPN4396 - Ryunosuke HARADA /Yugo YOSHIDA - 92 pts
10. FIN7 - Joonas LINDGREN /Niklas LINDGREN - 102 pts
Luke Patience/Stuart Bithell (GBR) lead Australia
Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic (CRO)
470 Women
The British team of Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark flew around the race track today to dominate throughout, take a win in race 12 and increase their chances of a medal position as they move on up to fourth overall.
However, it is still Spain's remarkable young team of Tara Pacheco/Berta Betanzos who lead the fleet and today sealed themselves the Gold or Silver Medal. “We have to keep going and do well in the Medal Race tomorrow and just think about it”, said Pacheco. She is clearly not one to be distracted from her mission. The Spanish regularly train with the second placed Brazilian team Fernanda Oliveira/Ana Luisa Barbachan and Pacheco acknowledged her pleasure that both teams have done so well here in Helsinki, “Yeh, yeh – I think that tomorrow we will also train together before the start. We will see.” When asked if the Brazilians would be happy if the Spanish win, Pacheco responded, “Yes, yes,” and if she would be happy if the Brazilians win, she continued, “Of course.” Pacheco's plan for tonight is “a big hamburger!” and “maybe go to bed early.”
Whilst the Brazilians could rock the Spanish from their position in first overall, equally the Brazilians could knock themselves totally out of the top three tomorrow - a theoretical outcome, but anything can happen.
The Danish team of Henriette Koch/Lene Sommer (DEN) stay firm in third overall and a finish of seventh of better tomorrow will see them at worse safely secure the bronze medal, but they are looking for higher places than that. On today's performance Koch said, “It would have been nice to make a good result and close the regatta, but it didn't go that way so we will just finish it in the Medal Race. If we sail well it is going to end up pretty good for us, so that is what we are going to focus on.” This team won the 470 Junior World Championships in 2006, which they have considered a career best result, but tomorrow is likely to change that to a European Championship medal. On how they will relax tonight, Sommer smiled, “Watch some Tour de France on TV or maybe a church visit,” before clarifying with a laugh, “but not to pray for our sailing, to be a tourist!”
470 Women Medal Race Contenders
1. ESP696 - Tara PACHECO/Berta BETANZOS - 54
2. BRA177 - Fernanda OLIVEIRA/Ana Luisa BARBACHAN - 65
3. DEN143 - Henriette KOCH/Lene SOMMER - 77
4. GBR847 - Hannah MILLS/Saskia CLARK - 91
5. FRA9 - Camille LECOINTRE/Mathilde GERON - 91
6. GBR850 - Penny CLARK/Katrina HUGHES - 105
7. FRA12 - Emmanuelle ROL/Hélène DEFRANCE - 106
8. GRE224 - Virginia KRAVARIOTI/Olga TSIGARIDI - 112
9. USA1736 - Amanda CLARK/Sarah LIHAN - 120
10. USA1757 - Erin MAXWELL/Isabelle FARRAR - 129
470 Women Race 12
Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark (GBR)
The schedule for the final day of racing at the 2011 470 European Championships is a warning signal at 0955 hours for 470 Women Race 13 (excluding top 10), followed by 470 Men Gold (excluding top 10) and 470 Silver. The warning signal for the 470 Men Medal Race is scheduled for 1155 hours and for the 470 Women Medal Race at 1255 hours.
Medals will be awarded to the teams eligible for the 470 European Championships, with prizes also awarded to the top three boats in the 470 Open European Championships.
Fonte: 470 International
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