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470 General Event News

RESPONDING TO THE PRESSURE AS THE SOFIA IBEROSTAR FINALS ARRIVE

03 Apr 2019

As the split from qualifying to finals racing arrived today at the Trofeo Princesa Sofia Iberostar, so the strongest breeze of the regatta so far arrived as if on cue. The step up to gold fleet racing can be a blessing or a curse.

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2019 Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofia Iberostar
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It is the time for the top ranked sailors to move up to their A game. And for those who have posted a series of promising qualifying results, or maybe have done well in Miami where the fleet strength and depth is not the same, if they are looking to convert training advances to real results, strong finishes in these first few gold fleet races are vital.

Such was the case today in the Men’s 470 class. Miami world cup winners Jordi Xammar and Nico Rodriguez, Spain’s fleet leaders when they went afloat in the morning, plummeted to a 20th and 25th place finish. European champions Anton Dahlberg and Frederik Bergstrom of Sweden move to the top of the standings with their fifth and eighth, but with the breeze up to 12kts at times 2012 silver medallist Luke Patience and Chris Grube had their best day for some months as the best scoring duo in the class today, their pair of fourth places promoting them to third. Patience and Grube enjoy the brisker winds.

The Scots helm Patience is not really a fan of the increasing levels of kinetics which seem required in the class in light airs:

“They used to say that experience pays off in this class, but the 470 is so physical these days. And we are old men now, spending half the evening in physio.” He grins, “ But I do think it is a bad thing for the class. It looks stupid. The 470 is a traditional boat we should be doing traditional sailing. Believe me I am not complaining, not moaning. The reality is that it adds a greater element of fitness and it is nice to have an excuse to go to the gym.”

Looking where the fleet is at now, 15 months from the Olympics Patience maintains, “Everyone in this class seem to peak in different ways. This is my third Olympic cycle, you see trends where boats produce a very good start to the four year cycle and they fall away and then you see others building up into it.”

Australia’s 2016 silver medallists Mat Belcher and Will Ryan moved up the 470 standings with a pair of solid sevenths and are now 11th their scoreline still affected by their DSQ from Race 1.

Results

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