Semaine Olympique Francaise-Leaders keep position to go to medal races

9:34 PM Thu 29 Apr 2010 GMT

Guillaume Durand Click Here to view large photo

The conditions didn't improve on the penultimate day of the 42nd Semaine Olympique Fran?aise, in Hy?res. The fourth leg of the Sailing World Cup has been marked by light winds, which is unusual for the Hy?res event, which is renowned for providing mixed conditions.

As a consequence, most leaders conserved their earlier position with changes only in the Laser, Laser radial and Star.

Today saw some intense matches in the Women Match Racing. After the quarter finals The German team of Silke Hohlbrock defeated Kathy Spithill (AUS) 3-0. Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) defeated Claire Leroy (FRA) 3-1.

Silke Hohlbrock: "After loosing the first two races in the first round robin, we didn't lose a single match. Before the regatta we trained in Kiel with lots of wind. We needed some days to adapt to the light conditions."

"Today we had a good upwind speed. In Palma we beat Tunnicliffe twice but here is a different story. Any small mistake can make the difference. She has a good record here so we will see."

Anna Tunnicliffe: "We were able to race seven really good races today. I really enjoyed racing the semi finals against Claire Leroy. She is a very good sailor."

"With these light conditions it is very hard to know what happen until the end. On the last leg against Claire, she had a penalty and we decided to keep it simple and go straight to the finish to secure the race. The organisers have made a fantastic job, especially with the lights conditions and wind coming late."

The women's match-racing final and the Medal races will start at 10am tomorrow morning.

In the Finn class, Marin Misura (CRO) who truly enjoyed the conditions this week is comforting his lead after claiming one more race. "I am very fast in these conditions. I had good starts which is important to have clear winds."

"Hy?res is my first regatta this year and it's a good preparation for the Europeans next week in my hometown, Split!"

Last years winner, Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) will start the medal race in second position. Jonathan Lobert (FRA) and Thomas Lebreton (FRA) are continuing to improve in the Finn fleet after qualifying in the medal race for the third time this year.

The French Finns are collecting the fruits of hard training last winter: "We did some intense training with Ed Wright over the winter in Fort Lauderdale, and it is now paying off!! Tomas and I also train well together and we are both progressing," explains Lobert.

Two races were sailed in the RS:X classes. The light conditions didn't permit for a third race as there were no planning conditions (as specified in the class rules). Byron Kokalanis (GRE) continues on his good form after winning Palma.

A victory and a fifth increase his lead and chances to secure Gold tomorrow as he takes the top place. In the women division, Bryony Shaw (GBR) collected near perfect scores with a first and a second. She has secured an 18 points lead over Bianca Manchon (ESP).

Shaw explains her results this week: "It's great to be in such a strong position going into the medal race. I knew that I was strong in the light winds so that's been a bonus, but it's also encouraging to know that the work done on technique has really paid off and we've seen the benefits of that this week."

"It's been a really demanding week - physically and mentally - not just on the water with the light wind we've had, but the delays are pretty draining as well. Our race officer has done a pretty good job with the conditions we've had and the races we've had have been good."

Mixed results were scored in the 470 men Gold fleet with all the top teams collecting bad scores. The French teams of Nicolas Charbonnier and Baptiste Meyer Dieu (FRA) and Camille Lecointre and Mathilde Geron conserve their lead in their division.

Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol (ITA) climb to second position overall. SOF last year winners the Danish team of Koch/Sommer miss on Medal Race on 12th position. The new 470 team of Golden Yngling medallist Sarah Ayton and Saskia Clarke finish in 14th place.

Guillaume Durand Click Here to view large photo

Paul Brotherton and Mark Asquith (GBR) place second twice today and keep their first place. Austrian team of Dellekarth/Resch jump to second after a bullet collected today.

In the 2.4, Damien Seguin (FRA) adds one more win to his score. Thierry Schmitter (NED) is in second position. In the Sonar, Israel team of Cohen/Efrati/Vexler is sharing the lead with early leader Norwegian team of Hang Wangsen. The 2.4 and Sonar will race normal fleet races tomorrow.

In the Laser class, only the top three will be able to take Gold or Silver tomorrow. After winning the Trofeo Sofia Mapfre in Palma last month, Javier Hernandez took a narrow one point lead over Olympic Gold medallist, Paul Goodison (GBR). Athens Silver medallist Andrea Geritzer (AUT) is in third position.

Some class favourites have missed narrowly the medal races. Michael Leigh (CAN), Tonci Stipanovic (CRO) and Mathias del Solar (CHI) have suffered from the light conditions.

Sari Multala (FIN) suffered in the last races today and dropped from first to 14th position overall.

Ausra Mileviciute (LTU) and Spanish Alicia Cebrian and Fatima Reyes are taking the top three races before the medal race.

The Norwegian Stars Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland take the lead in the seven Stars fleet. They will sail a medal race tomorrow.

Follow the medal races tomorrow with live tracking, on the event website: www.sof.ffvoile.net

by Effets Mer Media