24 Apr 2011
Spain and Greece Take Lead on Day 1 of SOF
Perfect conditions blessed the first day of competition in the Semaine Olympique Française, fourth event in the ISAF Sailing World Cup. The easterly breeze ranged from 12-18 knots across the seven different racing areas, with big waves and sun providing excellent racing in Hyères.
| Henriette Koch and Lene Sommer (DEN) |
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The previous two days have been 30+ knots, winds and rain which provided some exciting training days. However, the forecast for the coming week looks quite light and tricky which means it will probably be a very closely fought and interesting regatta.
Heading up the 57 boat strong 470 Women fleet are the Spanish pairing of Tara Pacheco and Berta Betanzos. They mastered the conditions today and placed fourth in the first race and won the second for a two point lead over Gil Cohen and Bouskila Vered (ISR) and 2009 Hyères winners Henriette Koch and Lene Sommer (DEN).
Prior to the event, last year's winners Emmanuelle Rol and Hélène Defrance (FRA) who are now sailing in Hyères as their first Olympic selection regatta commented, "When we sailed in Hyères some years ago we were impressed by the level of the other teams. Now we have won the event last year we are more relaxed and confident. Of course, being an Olympic selection and with the increased level, we are still a bit stressed but it is like racing any other important regatta in the circuit."
Disappointment for the new GBR pairing of Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark who were hit by a coach boat prior to race 1. They tried to race, but the boat started to sink - however fully ready to rock and roll for day 2.
Top 5 Women after 2 races
| Pos | Sail | Crew | R1 | R2 | Pts |
| 1 | ESP 696 | PACHECO Tara BETANZOS Berta (ESPBB2) | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | ISR 311 | COHEN Gil BOUSKILA Vered | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 3 | DEN 143 | KOCH Henriette SOMMER Lene (DENLS2) | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 4 | JPN 4151 | KONDO Ai TABATA Wakako (JPNWT1) | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 5 | GBR 850 | CLARK Penny HUGHES Katrina (GBRKH13) | 12 | 3 | 15 |
| Action from day 1 of racing |
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With 106 boats competing, the 470 Men are sailing in two fleets for the qualification series, before being re-seeded into a gold and silver fleet for the final races of the regatta. Results are tight among the 470 men, Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis (GRE) are leading on equal points with winners of the most recent ISAF Sailig World Cup event, Trofeo Princess Sofia, Nicolas Charbonnier and Jeremie Mion (FRA). These two are just a point ahead of Pierre Leboucher and Vincent Garos (FRA) who after a sixth in race 1, went on to win the closing race 2 of the day.
Top 5 Men after 2 races
| Pos | Sail | Crew | R1 | R2 | Pts |
| 1 | GRE 1 | MANTIS Panagiotis KAGIALIS Pavlos | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | FRA 7 | CHARBONNIER Nicolas MION Jeremie | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | FRA 44 | LEBOUCHER Pierre GAROS Vincent | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| 4 | AUS 11 | BELCHER Mathew PAGE Malcolm | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| 5 | NED 1 | COSTER Sven COSTER Kalle | 6 | 3 | 9 |
Check out our photo gallery on Facebook - courtesy of onsite 470 photographer Thom Touw.
More Information:
Event Website
470 Men - Overall Results
470 Women - Overall Results
Top Image: Tara Pacheco and Berta Betanzos (ESP). All images © Thom Touw