PECKOLT Brothers Extend Their Lead

Day two of qualification at the ISAF Grade C1 Seiko 49er Europeans saw the PECKOLT brothers continue to race consistently and extend their lead.

The French and Danish crews had a successful day in pursuit of the Germans at the top of qualification.

Tuesday saw the 49er crews racing further out into the Mediterranean to avoid the shallow water. The 49er fleet was joined on the water by two young Optimist sailors, which just served as a reminder of the sheer speed and capabilities that the 49ers possess.

The day’s conditions didn’t quite live up to the forecast; the wind was increasing from the start at 245 degrees with 8-9 knots and increasing throughout the races to 260 degrees with 11 knots. The 15 knots of wind promised early in the day never arrived. The course was a similar length to Monday, being 0.9 nautical miles and taking 29 minutes to complete. General recalls dominated the starts and the jury boats were kept busy, with all the crews sailing aggressively as the end of qualification approaches.

The winners of the qualification races in day two were shared out amongst the top sailors. World #1 crew Jan-Peter PECKOLT and Hannes PECKHOLT (GER) brother continued to find form and consistency with three top five results extending their lead at the top. Success in the day’s racing though were mainly for the French crew Emmanuel DYEN and Yann ROCHERIUEX (1,14,1) and the Danish crew Peter KRUGER ANDERSON and Dennis DENGSO (11,2,1).

When asked about his results KRUGER ANDERSON said, ‘In the first race we lost three or four positions on the finish line, but the last two races we were up at the front and retained our positions for the rest of the race. We had good starts in all three races which I think made the difference.’

Another consistent crew today was the Irish brothers Russell MCGOVERN and Mark MCGOVERN, picking up two thirds and a fourth.

Russell commenting on their day said, ‘The wind was perfect, 10-11 knots of wind is the best breeze for us and it was pretty easy to just get brute speed. After yesterday we thought we would take it back a notch and be a bit safer on start. We played it safe and it seemed to pay off today.’

After day two at the Seiko 49er European Championships, the experienced sailors are beginning to show the way and sail to expectation. A fair amount of fluctuation mid fleet promises for an exciting day of racing on Wednesday, with crews sailing aggressively each vying for a place in the gold fleet.

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PECKOLT Brothers Extend Their Lead

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