Wind Decreases and Leaderboard Changes In Palma

Very different conditions were delivered today compared to the windy day one. After some postponements a light and shifty 10-15 knot offshore breeze filled in and racing got underway. The change in conditions produced some shuffling across the 470 leader boards.

470 Men
Bronze medallists in the 2011 Rolex Miami Regatta, Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell (GBR) added two more victories to their race score in the 470 men fleet and climb from sixth to first overall. Nick Rogers and Chris Grube (GBR) remain in second overall, three points ahead of Australians Mat Belcher and Malcolm Page. Belcher and Page certainly found their form today to shift up the leaderboard.

“The racing was good today, the forecast was right. We started in the offshore wind and came back with the sea breeze. There were different styles going on so it was good to train, keep your eyes out and keep sailing to all the changes going on around you,” explained Luke Patience.

The overnight leaders, New Zealand’s young duo Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders couldn’t repeat their double gun of day one, but sailed respectably to post a 13 and 4 to place themselves in fourth overall.

The home team of Onan Barreriros and Aarón Sarmiento (ESP) are racing with a very clear objective just over a year out from the Olympics. “Our objective in this regatta is to sail our best to collect the most points towards our Olympic selection.”

For many nations, the Princess Sofia Trophy marks the start of the evaluation towards national selection for which sailors will earn the right to represent their nations at the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition. Continued Barreiros, “We are from the Canary Islands and used to strong winds. So Monday's conditions were great for us. Lots of countries are starting their selection so there is a high level.

“Last year we finished third. We would be happy to finish in the top ten but we will try to get on the podium. In each country there are three or four good teams and they are all fighting against each other for a place at the Olympics. London is approaching fast!”

The team sit in fifth overall and are the top placed Spanish team in the 470 men's fleet so far – and are also the highest placed Spanish team on the ISAF Sailing World Rankings at #9.

Looking down the entries, there are some very, very talented sailors here in Palma up against some equally very, very talented sailors! For example, all three of the medallists from the 2010 470 Junior Worlds held in December 2010 in Doha, Qatar are here. Gold Medallist, Sofian Bouvet with crew Jeremie Guillarm wrapped up today with a third in race 4. Their form on the series score does not look so good - as a consequence of two “did not compete” scores yesterday and a BFD in the opening race 3 today – but then they showed what they can deliver with their third place result.

The Junior Worlds silver medallists David Bargehr and Lukas Mahr (AUT) also put in their best result so far in race 4 – posting an 8 to shift themselves up the scoreboard. The Italian bronze medallists, Simon Sivitz Kosuta and Jas Farneti posted their best result of a 12 today – again showing their enormous potential in this highly experienced and world class fleet. The next generation of Olympians and snapping hard at the heels of their teammates.

470 Women
The Japanese AI Kondo and Wakako Tabata (JPN) have sailed another outstanding day posting a 2,5 to add to their overnight lead. They have only scored top five results so far and are clearly demonstrating their talent in what have been significantly diverse conditions over the last two days. The Japanese have been training in Palma for the last three weeks – so yes they are familiar with the conditions here, but so are many of the other top teams.

“We used to be lacking speed in the breeze but our intense training in Palma has paid off on Monday. We were able to master the breezy conditions and continue with good results today. Lots of other top teams have changed crew like the Dutch or the British so it does give us an advantage,” explained Ai Kondo. They won the last ISAF Sailing World Cup event they contested, the 2010 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, and are definitely on great form here in Palma.

The Japanese are only two points ahead of New Zealand's Jo Aleh and Bianca Barbarich-Barber (NZL) who put in the performance of the day in Palma to win both of today's races and climb up from fourth to second overall. This event is their first competition together, as Bianca stepped in for usual crew Polly Powrie who is recovering from a bike crash! This new team have been training together for just six days – again enormous talent.

“There was a lot less wind than yesterday. The conditions were good for us. We had lots of fun!” commented a smiling Aleh.

Israel's Gil Cohen and Bouskila Vered hold tight in third overall with a 5,7 posting today.

Elsewhere in the fleet, a series best result to date for the young German team of Annina Wagner and Marlene Steinherr who secured an eighth place in race 4. They finished 21st here last year – and are on form to improve on that result. With a ranking of #20 they are the second top place German team on the ISAF Sailing World Rankings, although competition from their German team mates is challenging to say the least, with six German teams inside the world's top 50.

Check out the photo gallery by Thom Touw on our Facebook page

More Information:
Event Website
470 Men Results
470 Women Results

Main Image: Ai Kondo and Wakako Tabata (JPN) dominate the women's fleet ©  Thom Touw