Part 3 - June And July

Athlete preparations as part of the countdown to the Olympic Games in Athens were reaching fever pitch in June and July of this year. Regional and World Championships in many of the Olympic classes were some of the last form guides as to who was most likely to be in with a shout at medals when the going got tough in August.

The Laser, Mistral, 49er and 470 classes all held their 2004 Europeans in this period, and for the Europe class, it was their World Championship that took place in Cagliari in Italy.

 

In the World Championship, Norweigan Sailor Siren SUNDBY did what she had been doing all year; dominating. With a scoreline that included five firsts and two second place finishes in the eleven race series, she won her second World title on the trot and with it the position of firm favourite going into the Olympic Games. Leading the class in the final release of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings before the end of July, few would bet against her taking home a gold medal from Greece.

 

The 470 European Championships returned to Warnemunde in Germany, home to many a top 470 Regatta over the years and in the men’s fleet it was Nick ROGERS and Joe GLANFIELD who took victory with a six point lead over Dimitri BEREZKIN and Mikhail KRUTIKOV (RUS). Third place went to the veteran team of Paul FOERSTER and Kevin BURNHAM (USA), making their final run in to Athens. Theirs and Rogers/Glanfield’s paths would cross again in less than a month, this time for the ultimate prize.

 

In the Women’s fleet, the absence of Sofia BEKATOROU and Emilia TSOULFA due to injury opened the door for a new winner, the championship went to Susanne WARD and Michaela MEHAN (DEN) with a ten point margin over Vladelina ILIENKO and Natalia GAPONOVICH (RUS) making it a double Russian silver medal haul for the championship.

 

In the Mistral Europeans, another Men’s and Women’s Olympic Fleet, it was Lise VIDAL (FRA) who won the final top class regatta before Athens, although the victory might have felt a little empty as it would be fellow Frenchwomen Faustine MERRET, finishing fourth in Poland who would represent the nation in Athens. They were split by the young Spanish Sailor Blanca MANCHON.

In the men’s fleet Przemyslaw MIARCZYNSKI of Poland managed to put in the most consistent series in the men’s fleet to win the European championship title from Julien BONTEMPS of France with Maxim OBEREMKO from the Ukraine third.

The 49ers went to Lake Garda, skiff sailing’s unofficial mecca, for their European Championship and under the predictable ORA thermal breeze, Chris DRAPER and Simon HISCOCKS completed their Athens preparation with a gold medal at the Continental event.

In order to be eligible to win the European Championship in the Laser class, you must come from a European nation, there is, however, an open trophy at the event. Winner of both was Philippe BERGMANS (BEL), whilst young Australian Tom SLINGSBY (AUS), edged ahead of his nations Olympic representative Michael BLACKBURN, who finished in fifth place, and Great Britain’s Paul GOODISON in third.

Remaining with the Olympic Games, the final organisational and administrative areas of the Olympic Games were being put into place by ATHOC, the IOC and ISAF. The torch relay was well on its six continent trip around the World, visiting all continents who send athletes to the Olympic Games before returning to Athens in time for the opening ceremony on 13 August.

The Olympic Sailing Competition Qualification System allows for the reallocation of unused qualification slots, based on “invitation place” requests. In considering requests, as decided at the 2004 ISAF Mid-Year meeting in San Diego (USA), the priority for the reallocation of places was been given to the single-handed events where a country has no other entry at the Olympic Sailing Competition, and in addition the performance of the individual athlete’s will be considered.

ISAF announced at the end of June the allocation of five invitational places to the Olympic Games in Athens. They went to:

Sami KOOHEJI (BRN) – Single-handed Dinghy Open – Laser
Giersson HAFSTEINN (ISL) – Single-handed Dinghy Open – Laser
Augusto NICOLINI (PER) – Single-handed Dinghy Open – Laser
Tim PITTS (ISV) – Single-handed Dinghy Open – Laser
Imre TAVETER (EST) – Single-handed dinghy Men – Finn

The Olympic Village opened in Athens on 31 July, neatly coinciding with the launch of the new branded look for the ISAF Athens 2004 website, which was to prove a big hit during the Olympic Games, signalling that the party, and the competition, was about to begin.

As well as build-up to Athens, it was a busy time for the other facets of the International Sailing Federation. No fewer than four ISAF sailing events took place in the period, as well as the Mid-Year Meetings, there was an International Judging Clinic held in New Zealand on 21 July and the 2005-2008 Racing Rules Of Sailing and Equipment Rules Of Sailing were posted on the ISAF website.

In the ISAF Women’s Match Racing Championship, held in Annapolis during June, it was American sailor Sally BARKOW and her crew who were crowned champions after only four flights of the semi-final stage could be completed following the breeze disappearing from Chesapeake Bay on the final afternoon of racing. BARKOW, who came into the regatta as a relative dark horse, ranked 27 in the ISAF Women’s Match Race Rankings, at the bottom of the list of the 16 top international contenders, sailed strongly from the beginning, and emerged from the double round robin phase in first with scores of 11-4 in the first round and 12-3 in the second.

In the Open Worlds, The ISAF Match Racing World Championship, it was the leader of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings, American Ed BAIRD who claimed his second World Championship victory in a row. Like the Women’s Championship, the Open event was pagued by light winds and in the closing stages of the event it was clear a final could not be sailed. Baird was awarded the victory and retained his title in front of a cheering crowd in Ekaterinberg (RUS).

The ISAF Offshore Team World Championship was held for the first time ever as part of the Sardinia Rolex Cup at the end of June. Competing in three boat teams comprising a Farr 40, a Swan 45 and a boat complying with the IMS rule, teams from across the globe participated in this flagship event in Porto Cervo, Sardinia. The event was eventually won by Spain with His Majesty King Juan Carlos as part of the crew of Bribon Telefonica. This victory corresponded with the announcement that Telefonica Movistar would be sponsoring a team in the upcoming Volvo Ocean Race, scheduled to start in November 2005 from Galicia.

Talking of flagship events, what is considered as an equal to the Olympic Sailing Competition for Youth Sailors, the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship kicked off in Poland on 8 July. With the greatest ever number of nations competing, 2003 winners of the Nations Trophy for the best performing nation, Australia, were back to defend their title. Egged on by the inspiration of Mr America‘s Cup Russell COUTTS (NZL), who made a surprise visit to Gdynia, it was not the Aussies, but the French team who took home the Volvo Trophy with no fewer than four medals. GBR, who bettered the French in the medal table, could not quite match their consistency, and finished a close second, ahead of the Australian team in third.

Nominations were opened for the 2004 ISAF Rolex World Sailor Of The Year Awards, which were to be held in November in Copenahgen, and the recommendations came flooding in for recognition of outstanding sailing achievement throughout the end of 2003 and up to September 2004. In November, at the meeting of the ISAF General Assembly, ISAF was to see a new president and vice-presidents, and the candidates were announced on the ISAF Website.

A new Round Britain and Ireland record was ratified by the WSSRC, in a time of 11 days, 12 hours, 26 minutes and 58 seconds, Michel KLEINJANS (BEL) acquired a new World record aboard his 40ft monohull ‘Roaring 40’, meanwhile, Ellen MACARTHUR aboard her brand new 70ft Trimaran failed to claim the outright transatlantic record, but as some consolation she was granted the title of fastes woman across the atlantic.

ISAF Congratulates the following sailors who became World Champions during June and July

Splash: Jorne KNEGT

Dart 18: Thierry WIBAUX & Christine WIBAUX

Micro: Piotr TARNACKI, Jerzy CHODUBSKI, Lukasz WOSINSKI

Dragon: Dieter SCHOEN, Vincent HOESCH & Andreas HUBER

Optimist: Wei NI

B14: Tim Fells & Dave Cunningham

OK: Jim HUNT (GBR)

8 Metre: J. Fruytier

X-99: Christian Soyka