Medal Races Conclude In Shifty Conditions

The weather conditions for today's Medal Races in Hyeres, continued the theme throughout the week and were sailed in light and shifty winds. The 42nd Semaine Olympique Francaise, 4th event on the ISAF Sailing World Cup tested the nerves of sailors and race committee. Concentration was one of the main key to success.

The 470 men and the Star were the first to hit the water for their medal race, with event victory claimed by Nicolas Charbonnier and Baptiste Meyer after a third place finish. This was the first of three medals collected by the French team in the 470 fleets this week.

Speaking after the medal race the duo said, “This is an important victory for us because we didn’t meet our expectations in the first regattas of the year. Here, we wanted to perform well. This is our first victory for one year. We always have to increase our communication onboard to be at the top. Baptiste is more and more comfortable. We are sometime in contradiction so we have to compromise.”

Their last victory was at the 2009 Princess Sofia Regatta.

Gabrio Zandona and Pietro Zucchetti (ITA) claimed the silver medal, with a narrow 3 point margin over the Swedes Anton Dahlberg and Sebastian Ostling who secured the bronze. The Italians didn't appear close to the top 3 for the majority of the event, but two second places in the last two races prior to the medal race put them in podium contention, which was sealed with a second place in the medal race.

Check out a 3D replay of the 470 Men's Medal Race:

In the 470 Women's fleet, it was another two medals to the French, with a gold and silver to their tally. After winning the medal race and the event, Emmanuelle Rol and Hélène Defrance (FRA) commented, “This is our first victory together. We are may be most friends as other teams, this is our strength. Yesterday, we were 4th and very close to the girl before us. Once again, we made a good medal race, we are comfortable on this part of the regatta.”

For this pair, their finish may also mean a shift up in the ISAF Sailing World Rankings where they currently place fourth in the world.

Early leaders in the event Camille Lecointre and Mathilde Geron (FRA) went into today's medal race with the gold medal close in their sights, but and eighth place saw it slip away. Having been in the top three most of the week, consistent sailing paid off for Gil Cohen and Dana Mamriav (ISR) who claimed bronze.

Click on the link below for the 3D replay of the 470 Women's Medal Race:

More Information:
Event Website
470 Men Results
470 Women Results

Images: Gold Medallists - Emmanuelle Rol and Hélène Defrance (FRA) and Nicolas Charbonnier and Baptiste Meyer (FRA) © Guillaume Durand