Another Shifty Day

Although it wasn’t as shifty as previous days yesterday, the wind was still unastable and rather cold, especially at first when the fleet was called out. It was a very intersting day for both fleets and the men’s competition is still very open.

Late in the evening yesterday the Jury finished hearings. One decision had a great impact on the results. Greek team George VASSILAS and Evangelos MITAKIZ were given a redress for the third race, so they advanced to first place. The Greeks were on the course side too early, they had to go back around the committe vessel and start again. Vassilas/Mitakis said at the protest that the RC did not rise up the X flag on time, and that they lost many places because of that delay.

Pavle LONGIN and Peter KOSTOV are still number two, but only by one point. Portuguese team Luis MENDES and Paulo BAPTISTA took over the lead for a brief while, after the fourth race and first discard. Although the Croats had a very bad last race, 28 place, the Portugese did not make the best of it. They finished 14, and that was not enough. The last two days of racing are certainly going to be very exciting.

In the Ladies championship Pippa WILSON and Harriet TRUMBLE took over the lead, with an outstanding performance over the last two days. In the last four races the British girls have two wins and two second places, strongly heading towards the title. Second European crew, Italians Maria Stella TURIZIO and Maria Carolina RENDANO have 24 points more. Here’s what the sailors said about yesterday’s racing.

Leigh KEMPTON (USA 45249) – »Today’s sailing was nice, the breeze was a little steadier than yesterday, not that shifty. It was also a little lighter. We liked it today. The British girls, Wilson/Trumble, are really good, they were third at ISAF Worlds. We’ve won the last race. We had a good start. In the first race we had a bad start, we got pinched off, so we were kind of going slow after the starting line and we missed a few shifts. We were pretty deep at the windward mark, but we caught up and finished 10th. The second race we had a really good start and we were able to go fast upwind. This is not my first time in Croatia, I was here in ’98, in Split for Europeans Opti.

Maria Stella TURIZIO (ITA 51313) – In the first race we were third and in the second sixth. I liked it today, the wind wasn’t that shifty as previous days. I especially liked the second race, when the wind was little lighter.

Alison MARTIN (GBR 51164) – Today it was quite good actually. We had a pretty good day, we had a seventh and a third, so we are happy. In the first race we had a bad start, the wind went right and we got a little bit dumped. We had good downwind speed and we caught up a lot. In the second race we had a really good start at the portend. Worked our way up in the middle of the beat and then made some more places downwind. The wind was hardly shifty at all, that was really nice. It wasn’t very cold, but it could have been warmer though.

Marion ROMMEL (GER 51352) – The wind was good for us, we had a good trim, good speed. In the first race we had a really good start, we went to the left, more left than the others but not completly left. We were 8th on the first mark, and gained few places downwind. In the second race we had a good start aswell. After the start we tacked to the right, did a few tacks before the layline and came third on teh first mark.

Pavle KOSTOV (CRO 51254) – It was difficult tu sail, the wind was weird, not at all as usual from this direction. It was very hard for us to decide what to do. We are satisfied with two first races, but in the last we totally messed up the start and finished 28th. The weather was good, a bit cold at the beginning, but we warmed up later.

Hose MASSAPINA (coach of Mendes/Baptista)- The day was very intersting, another kind of wind. We have wind like this in the South of Portugal, and the sea is pretty much the same, so my team did really well today. This championship is very interesting. You never know who will win. Sailors are good, Spanish team Medina Ruiz/del Castillo, Greeks Vassilas/Mitakis, Croats Longin/Kostov. We have two more days, everything can happen.

Men – Top Ten Overall

Women – Top Ten Overall