Surprises on Day One

Familiar names head the Men’s leaderboard after day one here in Zadar. While in the Women’s fleet the expected leaders had a day to forget.

The day started at 11 am with a postponement followed by abandoned races on both course area’s, when the last of a low pressure zone lead to showers and unpredictable breeze headings.

After a long wait on the water, racing got underway at 14.30hrs local in a comfortable 8-10 knots. The right hand side of the course favouring the Women in both fleets with Therese TORGENSSON of Sweden heading the fleet for the first mark rounding of the Championship. From there it was a race between the Swedish pair, the Dutch team of Marcelien DE KONING and Lobke BERKHOUT and Japan’s Ai KONDO and Yuki KAMAI.

In the second of the Women’s fleets the first race was dominated by the little known Brazilian pair of Fernanda OLIVEIRA and Adriana KOSTIW, leading all the way to take out race one and backing it up with a solid ninth in the second race to be fourth overall at the end of the day.

Rank outsiders Katarzyna TYLINSKA and Zuzanna GLADYSZ of Poland lead the Women’s overall results with a third and fourth with the Swiss pair of Franziska DUERIG and Monika MEIER in second overall.

Defending champions looking for a fifth consecutive world championship title, Sofia BEKATOROU and Emilia TSOULFA (GRE) are buried way down the pack in 26 after finishing 17 and ninth yesterday. Below them in 31, are the Sydney gold medallists Jenny ARMSTRONG and Belinda STOWELL who posted an 11 and 18.

The most outstanding piece of sailing for the day came in the very first race of the men by veteran and 1996 Olympic gold medallists Yevgen BRASLAVETS and Igor MATVIENKO (UKR) who suffered on the left side of the course the first time up, to round in the 20’s only to blitz the fleet on the first run to lie in fourth place by the first leeward mark. From there they fought back to take second place in their first heat.

France’s Olympic selected team of Phillippe GILDAS and Nicolas LE BARRE have a lot to prove this week after the French Olympic Committee re-opened their selection when the Bonnaud Brothers took out the Hyères Week regatta. Gildas and Le Barre who also claimed the top spot on the ISAF World Rankings last week did all they could do by registering three wins from three heats in yesterday’s racing. Braslavets and Matvienko sit in second overall with a 2,3,1 for the three heats. Winners of the Athens Regatta 2003 Johan MOLUND and Martin ANDERSSON (SWE) hold down third but already just ten points separate the top seven boats.

Local heroes Tomi BASIC and Petar CUPAC had a great day with 7,2 and 4 to sit seventh overall at his home club of S.C. Uskok.

Complete results are available on the event website via the link below.

Top Ten Men After Three Races

Top Ten Women After Three Races