August 24, 2003
1 minute reading time
Imhoff Prevails In Light Airs
A tense finale to the Setanta Dragon European Championship saw The Netherland's Fred IMHOFF hold his nerve to secure overall victory this afternoon off Kinsale, Ireland.
A tense finale to the Setanta Dragon European Championship saw The Netherland’s Fred IMHOFF hold his nerve to secure overall victory this afternoon off Kinsale, Ireland.
With four boats in the running, Imhoff could easily have lost to one of the others as all were within ten points of his overnight lead.
After a series of postponement to allow a light breeze to build, race six got underway and saw Frank BERG edge ahead after the first full lap. But a strong ebb tide and a softening in the 8 knot breeze saw his fortunes reversed and with a worse placing than his discard, he opted to retire.
On the final upwind leg, Imhoff moved ahead once more though was limited by the conditions and could see world champion Vincent HOESCH gaining ground along with Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.
With a boat length to spare, Ireland’s Peter O’REILLY took the gun from Ulsterman Simon Brien before Imhoff made the line to win overall.
Overall Top Ten
| Pos | Nat | Helm | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
| 1 | NED | Fred Imhoff | Richard van Rij, Rudy den Outer | 15 | 3 | 0 | 58 | 0 | 5.7 | 23.7 |
| 2 | SUI | Vincent Hoesch | Horro Kniffka, Bernd Faber | 5.7 | 28 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 8 | 30.8 |
| 3 | DEN | Berg Frank | Soren Kaestel, Mads Christensen | 8 | 13 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 58 | 37 |
| 4 | DEN | Frederik | Lars Hendriksen, Kasper Harsberg | 0 | 5.7 | 8 | 19 | 14 | 11.7 | 39.4 |
| 5 | GBR | Poul Hoj-Jensen | Claus Hoj-Jensen, Wolfgang Rappel | 16 | 10 | 22 | 3 | 11.7 | 14 | 54.7 |
| 6 | GER | Marcus Brennecke | Markus Wieser, Thomas Auracher | 3 | 19 | 23 | 8 | 17 | 27 | 70 |
| 7 | SWE | Tom Lofstedt | Martin Alsen, Martin Larsson | 19 | 45 | 20 | 17 | 8 | 16 | 80 |
| 8 | IRL | Neil Hegarty | Peter Bowring, David Williams | 32 | 21 | 14 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 81 |
| 9 | IRL | Andrew Craig | Edmund Peel, Aidan O’Connell | 10 | 30 | 11.7 | 28 | 16 | 23 | 88.7 |
| 10 | NED | Pieter Heerema | Dolf Peet, Florian Fendt | 31 | 17 | 28 | 0 | 18 | 44 | 94 |