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14 August 2005, 08:20 am

SLATER Climbs To Second Place After Bullet

Finn European Championship 2005

Kalmar, Sweden

After winning today's only race, Dan SLATER (NZL) has moved to second place in the ISAF Grade C1 Finn European Championship in Kalmar, Sweden. Series leader Ben AINSLIE (GBR) came in third and with his closest challengers Emilios PAPATHANASIOU (GRE) and Gasper VINCEC (SLO) both struggling, now holds a 25 point lead with just two races of the Championship remaining.

SLATER only stepped in the Finn boat six months ago. 'It was Craig MONK who introduced me to the Finn several years ago, I have always wanted to sail the boat but at the time I was too light. Now I can finally race the boat and I am constantly improving.' With three second places and his latest victory he now moves up five places to second with VINCEC, Marin MISURA (CRO) and PAPATHANASIOU also involved in the hunt for medals, all within four points of the Kiwi.

After finishing in third place today, AINSLIE is still dominating the competition 25 points ahead of the fleet. With two races scheduled tomorrow, the Brit will still have to race on the last day of the Championship, although he looks all but assured of victory.

Second place went yesterday went to Zach RAILEY (USA) who gained some good ground in 16th position overall. He is closing the gap on the first ranked junior Ivan KLJAKOVIC GASPIC from Croatia, who is twelfth on the leaderboard but only 15 points ahead of the American. Norbert WILANDT (POL) is the third junior in 30th position, just two points ahead of Tapio NIRKKO (FIN).

The sailing conditions were very tough once again yesterday with shifty and light wind. Only one race was sailed and the Racing Committee had to reduce the course to allow for a fair finish.

Top Ten After Seven Races

Pos	Nation	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Pts
1	GBR	Ben AINSLIE	1	1	1	1	1	(4)	3	8
2	NZL	Dan SLATER	2	(35)	2	13	2	13	1	33
3	SLO	Gasper VINCEC	11	4	4	5	(39)	1	10	35
4	CRO	Marin MISURA	7	3	6	(14)	5	8	7	36
5	GRE	Emilios PAPATHANASIOU	(22)	2	9	2	9	2	13	37
6	ES	Rafael TRUJILLO	5	6	5	16	6	5	(29)	43
7	DEN	Jonas HØGH-CHRISTENSEN	9	7	3	6	(42)	3	19	47
8	UKR	Olexiy BORYSOV	18	(42)	7	12	8	10	5	60
9	SW	Daniel BIRGMARK	6	5	13	17	16	(19)	12	69
10	POL	Waclaw SZUKIEL	12	15	8	3	19	(28)	16	73