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Latest News Links Olympic - Mills and Clark on a roll at 470 Worlds . . . Olympic - Ainslie adds two more wins . . . News - Fall-out from windsurfing decision . . . Olympic - Ainslie takes control at Finn Gold Cup . . . Olympic - Dutch and Aussie crews lead 470 Worlds . . . Olympic - Black flag takes out Team GB pair at 470 Worlds . . . Olympic - Wright sets the pace at Finn Gold Cup . . . Dinghy - West Kirby Hawks take Wilson Trophy . . . Dinghy - South are RYA Eric Twiname champions . . . News - Death of Frank Bethwaite . . . Olympic - Outteridge and Jensen are 49er World Champions . . . Olympic - Ben Ainslie chasing sixth Finn Gold Cup title . . . Dinghy - No racing at Wilson Trophy . . . Olympic - Star Worlds to Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada . . . Keelboat - K6 Magic Marine Eurocup in the Netherlands . . . News - Olympic expectations too high says Park . . . News - Bryony Shaw - A Day in the Life . . . Dinghy - Glyn Charles Memorial Pursuit Race at Hayling Island SC . . . More Sailing News reports here . . . Mills and Clark on a roll at 470 Worlds . . . Olympic Team GB pair, Hannah Mills and Saskie Clark came back into contention at the 470 Worlds in Spain on Tuesday. Finishing with a win in the final race of the qualifiers to take seventh overall. Sophie Weguelin and Sophie Ainsworth are also safely into the gold group in 15th. French teams took control in the woomen's event, Camile Lecointre and Matilda Geron have a one point lead from Ingrid Petitjean and Nadege Douroux, with Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie of New Zealand taking third. Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout of the Netherlands drop to fourth and Gil Cohen and Vered Bouskila of Israel are fifth. Results awaited for 470 Men . . . 470 - Women - World Championships Leading scores after day 2 (54 entries) 1 FRA 9 CAMILE LECOINTRE, MATILDE GERON 1 -8 3 5 2 1 12 pts 2 FRA 4 INGRID PETITJEAN, NADEGE DOUROUX 1 -5 4 5 2 1 13 pts 3 NZL 75 JO ALEH, POLLY POWRIE 3 3 -4 2 1 4 13 pts 4 NED 11 LISA WESTERHOF, LOBKE BERKHOUT 6 1 1 1 -7 6 15 pts 5 ISR 311 GIL COHEN, VERED BOUSKILA 7 2 1 1 -10 5 16 pts 6 JPN 1 AI KONDO, WAKAKO TABATA 4 1 5 2 -17 4 16 pts 7 GBR 118 HANNAH MILLS, SASKIA CLARK (bfd) 2 7 7 1 3 20 pts 8 GER 21 KATHRIN KADELBACH, FRIEDERIKE BURNET 2 7 6 4 -12 2 21 pts 9 ESP 696 TARA PACHECO, BERTA BETANZOS 9 4 2 -15 6 6 27 pts 10 DEN 143 HENRIETTE KOCH, LENE SOMMER -14 5 9 9 5 2 30 pts Other GBR 15 GBR 862 SOPHIE WEGUELIN, SOPHIE AINSWORTH 2 4 11 9 -26 12 38 pts Full story at http://worlds.470.org/eventsites/results_main.asp?eventid=66686 Ainslie adds two more wins . . . Latest News - - - Ben Ainslie won both races on Tuesday, race 5 and 6, to extend his lead at the Finn Gold Cup in Falmouth. With the discard kicking in this allowed him to drop a third place and increase his lead to ten points over Ed Wright.  In the first race Jonas Hoegh-Christensen of Denmark took second and Ivan Gaspic Kljakovic of Croatia was third. Wright finished fifth and it was also another good race for Mark Andrews who was seventh to be 14th overall. Provisional reports show Ainslie also winning the second, race 6. Second Tapio Nirkko of Finland with Andrew Mills third and Wright fourth. Mark Andrews again improving with a sixth. This would put the Team GBR sailors back in the top three places after 6 races with Mills third and Hoegh-Christensen fourth. Finn - Gold Cup, Leading positions after 6 races (provisional) 94 entries 1st GBR 3 AINSLIE Ben 1 -3 1 3 1 1 10 7 pts 2nd GBR 11 WRIGHT Edward 2 1 5 -7 5 4 24 17 pts 3rd GBR 85 MILLS Andrew 4 8 2 11 -21 3 49 28 pts 4th DEN 2 HOEGH-CHRISTENSEN Jonas -14 9 4 6 2 8 43 29 pts 5th EST 2 KARPAK Deniss 5 5 20 -26 4 7 67 41 pts 6th FIN 218 NIRKKO Tapio 6 -22 9 8 17 2 64 42 pts 7th POL 17 KULA Piotr 9 10 8 -15 12 5 59 44 pts 8th CAN 41 COOK Christopher 8 12 -16 1 14 12 63 47 pts 9th FRA 112 LOBERT Jonathan 25 2 6 2 16 -27 78 51 pts 10th CRO 524 KLJAKOVIC GASPIC Ivan -26 16 3 12 3 20 80 54 pts 11th GBR 88 ANDREWS Mark -33 23 12 10 7 6 91 58 pts Full story at http://www.falmouthfinnfestival.com/goldcup-results/C1 Fall-out from windsurfing decision . . . The fall-out from the surprise decision to dump windsurfing from the 2016 Olympic Games and replace it with kiteboarding continues, with the Venezuelan Sailing Federation joining Spain and Israel in apologizing to their membership for voting against windsurfing at the last ISAF meeting in Italy. The Venezuelan Federation claims that it disagreed with the decision of its representative and that the decision to exclude the RS:X was never an option for the Federation. Many countries have made considerable investment in windsurfing, not least the British, with youth programmes to develop the sport at club level and provide a path to international competition. At a stroke those plans have been swept aside and a new discipline introduced, which in terms of competitive participants has little support, indeed a competition format has yet to be agreed. The crisis has been triggered by the failure of ISAF to convince the IOC of its case for an additional discipline for sailing and the belief within ISAF, that without a more "media friendly" face, sailing could be removed from the Olympics. Kiteboarding is seen as a new sport that will excite the media - Television coverage - which pays huge sums to the IOC. This effect is seen in other Olympic sports with the addition of snowboarding, bmx bikes and additions to popular "prime-time TV sports" figure skating, rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming. A sport or discipline may be included in the Olympic program if the IOC determines that it is widely practiced around the world, that is, the number of countries and continents that regularly compete in a given sport is the indicator of the sport's prevalence. And of course sailing has long fulfilled those criteria. The problem comes with the disciplines within the sport. Kiteboarding was accepted into ISAF in 2011 and fast-tracked through an evaluation tacked onto the new dinghy and multihull evaluation trials, just weeks before the vote in Italy. That evaluation report then heavily recommended that Kiteboarding be included as a new ISAF sailing event for both men and women. The report found that there are no race management or event organization issues and that Kiteboarding could be immediately included in major ISAF events and the Olympic Sailing Regatta. It was not made clear if they were referring to freestyle or racing or some mixture. What is becoming clear is that this rushed vote, with little of the usual discussion and preparation at national level, has caught many national authorities totally unprepared for such an about turn. Such about turns are pretty much the norm with the act in haste, repent at leisure ISAF culture. Windsurfers can now join the match racers and keelboat sailors with time to develop new skills. - GN Ainslie takes control at Finn Gold Cup . . . Ben Ainslie is back in control at the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Finn Gold Cup in Falmouth. After two more races Monday Ainslie scored a 1, 3, to take the overall lead after four races. Ed Wright, leader on day 1, had a 5, 7, and drops to secod place but is still ten points clear of third placed Andrew Mills who with a 2, 11, made it a full-house for Team GBR.  Rain and 15 knots of wind for day 2. Ainslie won the first race with Mills second and Ivan Gaspic of Croatia in third. Jonas Hoegh-Christensen of Denmark was fourth and Wright fifth. In the second race (Race 4) Mark Andrews led at the first mark, followed by Ainslie, Rafael Trujillo of Spain, Pieter Postma of the Netherlands and Canadian Chris Cook. By the final rounding of the windward mark the order was Cook, Postma, Jonathan Lobert of France, Hoegh-Christensen and Ainslie. At the downwind finish Cook held off Lobert to take the gun with Ainslie coming up fast for third. Postma was fourth, Trujillo fifth, Hoegh-Christensen sixth and then Wright in seventh. Ainslie said, “It was really tough out there today, it was quite windy, a lot of rain and low visibility so it was a difficult day for everyone and physically a real challenge. In the first race a front came through with quite a big wind shift to the right hand side, and made it a little bit difficult, but that’s part of the challenge of sailing in these conditions. In the second race I went the wrong way, there was a big clump down the right hand side and also the wind shifted a little bit to the right. It was a difficult run but I managed to contain the loss and then catch up with the rest of the race so I overall I’m happy with my day. It was great racing out there despite difficult conditions.” Race four winner, Cook said, “On the first beat I thought that the right side was going to have something in it, I think it’s the typical thing that’s been happening in all the races is a little bit of left and a little bit of right, it’s just how you play your side. So I got to the top in decent shape, and I got to the right side of the run as fast as I could and the pressure filled in from there and it sort of set up the opportunity to round with the top guys. Then the second beat again I was worried about the right side and I was forced to the left gate, I was up quite a bit on the right so I just had to wait. I got in front just in time for that big right shift and then it was a nice easy reach on the way in.” The forecast is for some sunshine, and strong winds. At least some in the already tired fleet will be thankful for the sunshine, Finn - Gold Cup, Leading positions after 4 races 1st 29 GBR 3 AINSLIE Ben 1.0 3.0 1.0 3.0 8.0 pts 2nd 01 GBR 11 WRIGHT Edward 2.0 1.0 5.0 7.0 15.0 3rd 14 GBR 85 MILLS Andrew 4.0 8.0 2.0 11.0 25.0 4th 17 DEN 2 HOEGH-CHRISTENSEN Jonas 14.0 9.0 4.0 6.0 33.0 5th 10 FRA 112 LOBERT Jonathan 25.0 2.0 6.0 2.0 35.0 6th 87 CAN 41 COOK Christopher 8.0 12.0 16.0 1.0 37.0 7th 106 POL 17 KULA Piotr 9.0 10.0 8.0 15.0 42.0 8th 24 FIN 218 NIRKKO Tapio 6.0 22.0 9.0 8.0 45.0 9th 03 NED 842 POSTMA PieterJan 22.0 14.0 11.0 4.0 51.0 10th 53 AUS 1 CASEY Brendan 13.0 25.0 7.0 9.0 54.0 Full story at http://www.falmouthfinnfestival.com/goldcup-results/C1 Dutch and Aussie crews lead 470 Worlds . . . Things got better for Olympic Team GB pair, Hannah Mills and Saskie Clark with a 2, 7, 7 on day 2 of the 470 World Championships in Spain. But flying out in front are the Dutch pair, Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout with three race wins. In second are Gil Cohen and Vered Bouskila of Israel with two wins Monday and in third Ai Kondo and Wakako Tabata of Japan. Best placed British are Sophie Weguelin and Sophie Ainsworth with a 4, 11, 9 score to be ninth overall. Mills and Clark are 19th overall. In the Men's 470 event Matt Belcher and Malcolm Page of Australia have won all of their four races to take a six point lead from Alvaro Marinho and Miguel Nunes of Portugal, with Sima Fantela and Igor Marenic of Croatia. No GBR entry. 470 - Women - World Championships Leading scores after day 2 (54 entries) 1 NED 11 LISA WESTERHOF, LOBKE BERKHOUT 9 pts 6 1 1 1 2 ISR 311 GIL COHEN, VERED BOUSKILA 11 pts 7 2 1 1 3 JPN 1 AI KONDO, WAKAKO TABATA 12 pts 4 1 5 2 4 NZL 75 JO ALEH, POLLY POWRIE 12 pts 3 3 4 2 5 FRA 4 INGRID PETITJEAN, NADEGE DOUROUX 15 pts 1 5 4 5 6 FRA 9 CAMILE LECOINTRE, MATILDE GERON 17 pts 1 8 3 5 Best GBR 9 GBR 862 SOPHIE WEGUELIN, SOPHIE AINSWORTH 26 pts 2 4 11 9 19 GBR 118 HANNAH MILLS, SASKIA CLARK 42 pts 26 2 7 7 470 - Men - World Championships Leading scores after day 2 (95 entries) 1 AUS 11 MATHEW BELCHER, MALCOLM PAGE 4pts 1 1 1 1 2 POR 1 ALVARO MARINHO, MIGUEL NUNES 10pts 5 2 2 1 3 CRO 83 SIME FANTELA, IGOR MARENIC 11pts 5 1 4 1 Full story at http://worlds.470.org/eventsites/results_main.asp?eventid=66686 Black flag takes out Team GB pair at 470 Worlds . . . Not a great start for the Olympic Team GB pair, Hannah Mills and Saskie Clark, who were disqualified at the start of the first qualifying series race of the 470 Worlds on Sunday in Spain. Best placed British pair were Sophie Weguelin and Sophie Ainsworth who finished second in their heat and are third overall and Joanna Freeman and Katia Tomsett who finished 11th in their heat. British boats in contention in the Men's event. The official word is that "Team GB representatives Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell focussing instead on training at the Games venue in Weymouth and Portland with the Skandia Team GBR men’s squad." Just as with the 49er Worlds where there were no British boats. 470 - Women - World Championships Leading scores after day 1 (54 entries) 1 FRA 4 INGRID PETITJEAN, NADEGE DOUROUX 1,0 pts 1 FRA 9 CAMILE LECOINTRE, MATILDE GERON 1,0 3 GBR 862 SOPHIE WEGUELIN, SOPHIE AINSWORTH 2,0 3 GER 21 KATHRIN KADELBACH, FRIEDERIKE BURNET 2,0 5 CHN 1261 FENG HUIMIN, HUANG LIZHU 3,0 5 NZL 75 JO ALEH, POLLY POWRIE 3,0 7 JPN 1 AI KONDO, WAKAKO TABATA 4,0 7 POL 11 AGNIESZKA SKRZYPULEC, JOLANTA OGAR 4,0 9 ARG 8 FERNANDA SESTO, CONSUELO MONSEGUR 5,0 9 AUS 1 ELISE RECHICHI, BELINDA STOWELL 5,0 Other GBR 21 GBR 849 JOANNA FREEMAN, KATIA TOMSETT 11,0 33 GBR 853 ANNA BURNET, FLORA STEWART 17,0 51 GBR 118 HANNAH MILLS, SASKIA CLARK 28,0 bfd 470 - Menn - World Championships Leading scores after day 1 (94 entries) 1 AUS 11 MATHEW BELCHER, MALCOLM PAGE 1,0 pts 1 FRA 27 SOFIAN BOUVET, VINCENT GUILLARM 1,0 1 FRA 44 PIERRE LEBOUCHER, VICENT GAROS 1,0 4 AUS 13 SAM KIVELL, WILL RYAN 2,0 4 FRA 8 KEVIN PEPONNET, JULIEN LEBRUN 2,0 4 GRE 1 PANAGIOTIS MANTIS, PAVLOS KAGIALIS 2,0 7 ARG 11 FRANCISCO SUCARI, FRANCISCO RENNA 3,0 7 FIN 7 JOONAS LINDGREN, NIKLAS LINDGREN 3,0 7 ITA 71 ANDREA BARCHIESI, LORENZO PICCIONI 3,0 No GBR competing . . . Wright sets the pace at Finn Gold Cup . . . Wright sets the pace at Finn Gold Cup . . . After Ben Ainslie won the opeing race at the Finn Gold Cup taking place in Falmouth, Ed Wright took the second race and the overall lead after the first day. Denss Karpak of Estonia is in third place and Andrew Mills is fourth.  The fleet was initially held ashore but there was a further delay on the water as the wind clocked round to the west before a line was set. The first race finally got going under black flag at around 14.00 with one boat disqualified; Egor Terpigorev (RUS) led at each and every mark but unfortunately for him he crossed the finish line in silence as the winner's gun went to Ben Ainslie (GBR). The second race was started very promptly with another black flag start following a general recall. At the top mark Wright just held the lead from Jonathan Lobert (FRA) with Oleksiy Borysov (UKR) and Jonas Høgh-Christensen (DEN) close behind. On the final downwind Wright extended even further for a comfortable win with Ainslie moving into third and putting some pressure on Lobert in the closing stages. Zarif had a great race crossing in sixth. Racing continues Monday with two more races scheduled from 11.00, and with stronger winds forecast, it should prove to be another great day of racing in Falmouth. Finn - Gold Cup, Leading positions after 2 races 1st 01 GBR 11 WRIGHT Edward 2.0 1.0 3.0pts 2nd 29 GBR 3 AINSLIE Ben 1.0 3.0 4.0 3rd 07 EST 2 KARPAK Deniss 5.0 5.0 10.0 4th 14 GBR 85 MILLS Andrew 4.0 8.0 12.0 5th 106 POL 17 KULA Piotr 9.0 10.0 19.0 6th 87 CAN 41 COOK Christopher 8.0 12.0 20.0 7th 33 POL 7 SZUKIEL Rafal 3.0 20.0 23.0 8th 17 DEN 2 HOEGH-CHRISTENSEN Jonas 14.0 9.0 23.0 9th 10 FRA 112 LOBERT Jonathan 25.0 2.0 27.0 10th 24 FIN 218 NIRKKO Tapio 6.0 22.0 28.0 Full story at http://www.falmouthfinnfestival.com/goldcup-results/C1 West Kirby Hawks take Wilson Trophy . . . The 63rd Wilson Trophy will be remembered as the sunniest and windiest on record, but also for being the first time, in as long as anyone can remember, that competition at West Kirby Sailing Club’s British Open Team Racing Championship had to be cut short mid-way through the quarter finals. The big conditions were forecast, only for later in the afternoon, as Principle Race Officer Adam Whittle explained: “The wind came in a lot earlier than it was meant to. It was gusting 36 knots at Hilbre [the weather station nearby] and it just wasn’t feasible to continue. We were having break downs and people were getting injured. It wasn’t team racing – it was survival. Having sailed 16 rounds in perfect team racing conditions, I thought it would have been wrong of us to carry on." Because of this the final results reverted to the last complete round, or round 16 of the Wilson Trophy’s Swiss league, where local favourites West Kirby Hawks had come out on top, followed by New Forest Pirates. Having suffered defeats to a US team in the last two Wilson Trophy finals, West Kirby Hawks finally came out on top for the first time since 2009. The Under 21 trophy was won by Schull Youth Team, who finished the event half way down the leaderboard on eight wins. South are RYA Eric Twiname champions . . . The RYA South Zone have been crowned 2012 RYA Eric Twiname champions today as their sailors reigned victorious at Rutland Water this weekend as the ‘Battle of the Zones’ came to a thrilling finish. Some 325 sailors in 285 boats representing the nine RYA Zone and Home Countries took to the water in an attempt to wrestle the coveted Eric Twiname Shield from the grasp of 2011 event winners the RYA West Zone - and with dominant performances across all fleets the South Zone walk away proud winners. In clinching their prestigious victory the RYA South Zone also won the Eric Twiname Dinghy Trophy, awarded to the Zone performing best from the top two dinghy classes out of the five, while the North Zone for a remarkable third year running retained the Eric Twiname Windsurfing Trophy, awarded to the Zone scoring best from two of the four windsurfing classes. 2012 RYA Eric Twiname Championships Results: Overall results of the 2012 Eric Twiname Shield 1) RYA South Zone 2) RYA South East Zone 3) RYA North Zone Dinghies Optimists 1) Freya Black (Bewl Valley SC) 2) Matthew Leckie (Leigh and Lowton SC) 3) James Hammett (Papercourt / Hayling Island SC) Winning Zone: South East Toppers 1) Harriet Ward (Queen Mary SC) 2) Adam Fuller (Orwell Yacht Club And Royal Harwich Yacht Club) 3) Emily Lloyd (Plymouth Youth Sailing) Winning Zone: South East Cadets 1) Ben Shorrock / Tom Bridge (Frensham Pond SC) 2) Sophie Goodrich / Hannah Goodrich (South Cerney SC) 3) Alex Page / Richard Townley (Alton Water Sailing Academy) Winning Zone: South West RS Fevas 1) Nick Robins / Alicia Campbell-Bottoms (Hayling Island SC) 2) Harvey Martin / Will Ward (Ogston SC) 3) James Eales / Rebecca Lewis (Royal Lymington Yacht Club) Winning Zone: South Mirrors 1) Jo Kalderon(Itchenor SC ) / Sally Lorimer (Warsash SC) 2) Rachel Grayson / George Richards (Beaver SC) 3) Max Odell (Hayling Island SC) / Finley Boon (Northampton SC) Winning Zone: South Dinghy overall winning Zone: 1) RYA South Zone 2) RYA South East Zone 3) RYA West Zone Windsurfers: Bic Techno 4.5 1) Ben Tweedle (Emsworth SC) 2) Stanley Corr (Astbury Sailsport SC) 3) Libby Rodgers (Axbridge Animals) Winning Zone: South Bic Techno 5.8 1) Zara Petts (Hssc) 2) Thomas Cave (Lakeside SC) 3) Galahad Wisbey (Hssc & Queen Mary SC) Winning Zone: South Bic Techno 6.8 1) Ross Warren (Roseland Waveriders) 2) Alexei Murphy (Bray Manic Monkeys) 3) Alice Read (Oxford SC) Winning Zone: South West Bic Techno 7.8 1) Jordan Howram (North Lincs Humberside SC) 2) Tristan Levie (Largs SC) 3) Rachel Horton (Poole Academy Allstars) Winning Zone: North Windsurfing overall winning Zone: 1) RYA North Zone 2) RYA South West Zone 3) RYA South Zone Laser 4.7 indicator results: 1) Ellie Cumpsty (Chew Valley Lake SC) 2) Matthew Whitfield(Penarth/Cardiff Bay Yacht Club) 3) Will Creaven (Cardiff Bay Yacht Club) Full story at www.ryaracingevents.org.uk Death of Frank Bethwaite . . . Frank Bethwaite, born in Wanganui, New Zealand in 1920, passed away in Sydney, Australia, Friday night. A highly regarded designer, meteorologist and sailing scientist, and considered the father of the modern lightweight skiff type dinghy. Frank Bethwaite was 91. He joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force at the outbreak of the Second World War, becoming a flight instructor and test pilot before flying bombing missions over the Pacific during 1944 and 1945. After the war he became a commercial airline pilot for Tasman Airways (later Air New Zealand). Bethwaite had four children with his wife Nel: Christine, Mark (an Olympic and World Championship competitor), Nicky and Julian (also a boat designer). After settling in Sydney, Bethwaite designed a small boat suitable for his youngest children to use to learn how to sail. This became known as the Northbridge Junior (now known as the 9er) and later developed into the larger NS14. Bethwaite is most well known for designing the International Tasar. At the age of 48, he made the decision to move full time into the construction of dinghy masts, foils and boat construction. Starboard Products started first as a backyard operation before moving to Naremburn, Australia. They produced NS14s, A12s, NJ, Cherubs plus foils for 18 footers, and masts for a variety of classes. They were producing over 120 boats per year, and 3 times that in spares and associated bits and pieces. During his work as Meteorological Adviser to the New Zealand 1976 Olympic team he gathered data in the course of that regatta that became the genesis of Frank’s definitive book, High Performance Sailing. The company became Bethwaite Design and in 1997 the 49er was developed largely by Julian but with assistance from Frank and won the ISAF trials to become the first Olympic skiff, making its debut in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. That boat in turn led to the development of the 29er and recently a smaller rig version of the 49er, the FX49er, was chosen as the new women's skiff for the 2016 Olympics. In 2002 Frank and his wife, Nel Bethwaite retired and younger son Julian took over the business. In 2006 Frank was presented with a Innovation Hero lifetime achievement award from the Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering at the University of Sydney for the design and commercialisation of innovative high-performance sailing craft. Outteridge and Jensen are 49er World Champions . . . Australians Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen are the new 49er World Champions. Second went to Peter Burling and Blair Tuke of new Zealand with the Danish pair, Allan Norregaard and Peter Lang stealing third from Manu Dyen and Stephane Christidis of France in the Medal race. This is the fourth 49er tile for Outteridge and his third with Jensen. The medal ceremony was held directly afterwards and began with a moment of silence by all competitors in respect for the news that Frank Bethwaite (91), father of Julian and an instrumental partner in the design and continued development of the 49er, had passed away overnight. While many of the current sailors may not have known Frank, they certainly were enjoying his product and more than likely many had read one of his books on high performance sailing. 49er - Seiko 49er World Championship - Leading positions after 17 races + Medal race (74 entries) 1 AUS 1 Nathan Outteridge / Iain Jensen 78 2 NZL 2 Peter Burling / Blair Tuke 91 3 DEN 5 Allan Norregaard / Peter Lang 106 4 FRA 1161 Manu DYEN / Stephane CHRISTIDIS 106 5 DEN 1242 Peter Kruger-Andersen / Nicolai Thorsell 116 6 NZL 110 Marcus Hansen / Josh Porebski123 Ben Ainslie chasing sixth Finn Gold Cup title . . .  Ben Ainslie will be chasing a sixth Finn Gold Cup title when the JP Morgan Asset Management Falmouth Finn Festival continues this weekend with the opening of the Finn Gold Cup, the class world championship with 94 entries from 30 countries registered.As an Olympic Qualification Regatta, the principal objective of the week is to select the remaining six nations for the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition. Of course many nations are also using the regatta as their final sailor selection event, so the stakes are about as high as they could possibly be for many sailors here. The regatta is being hosted by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club, though the event is based at the Falmouth Watersports Centre with racing taking place in Falmouth Bay. A series of 10 races will constitute the opening series from Sunday 13 May to Thursday 17 May, with a medal race for the top 10 and an 11th race of the rest on Friday 18 May. The festival concludes next Saturday when the sailors will take part in the Olympic Torch relay, which passes through the town on the first day of its route around Britain.  Last week's UK National Championships provided a brief indication of form. Though Giles Scott (GBR) won the event, one man who arguably has some unfinished business next week is the five times world champion Ben Ainslie (GBR). After being denied a possible sixth title in Perth last December, he will be keen to rectify matters, in what could potentially be his final Finn Gold Cup. Ainslie said earlier, “For me it's great to be sailing back in Cornwall where I grew up. I've never really raced here so I am learning a lot . It will be tough and I'll have to raise my game a little bit. It will be easier without Giles there, though it's still incredibly tough out there to win these races.” Current world champion Scott is not able to defend his title next week due to a clash of dates with the the AC 45 event in Venice and his commitments to Team Korea. Scott explained, “I am sad that I'm not sailing the Gold Cup, but as much as I like Finn sailing, it is quite a good year to go off and do other things and get some new experiences." Other former world champions Edward Wright (GBR), Rafael Trujillo (ESP) and Jonas Høgh-Christensen (DEN) will also be in contention, as will the 2008 Olympic silver medalist Zach Railey (USA), who also picked up the silver medal in Palma earlier this year. However Ainslie's main threat will probably come from the last year's runner-up, Pieter-Jan Postma (NED). Having won two races last weekend, he is clearly on form and should revel in the conditions if the wind and waves are up. - Robert Deaves No racing at Wilson Trophy . . . Were the Wilson Trophy a speed sailing event, then Friday would have been perfect with sunshine and 20+ knot winds this afternoon . Unfortunately with the wind gusting up to 36 knots in the morning, racing was unable to take place at West Kirby Sailing Club’s British Open Team Racing Championship, despite one false start at 16:00. Racing will now commence at 08:00 Saturday when conditions are looking more sedate, with 10 knots and sunshine forecast. Full story at http://www.wksc.net/wilsontrophy/ Star Worlds to Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada . . . Star World Championship title to Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada of Brazil - Second to Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson and third to Michael and Claus Olesen of Denmark. Following a match-race between the two leaders in the final race, which ended with Percy and Simpson in 38th and Scheidt and Prada 39th. This meant Percy and Simson had to count their 17th from Thursday, while Scheidt and Prada counted their 10th giving them a two point final overall lead. Hubert Merkelbach and Nils Hollweg of Germany won the final race. “It’s frustrating that we weren’t able to finish it off, but this is just a battle, not the war,” said the 35-year-old double Olympic gold medallist Percy. Star - World Championships, Final Leading scores after 6 races, 1 discard (72 entries) 1 BRA 8456 SCHEIDT ROBERT / PRADA BRUNO 30.00 pts 2 GBR 8471 PERCY LAIN / SIMPSON ANDREW 32.00 3 DEN 8433 HESTBAEK MICHAEL / OLESEN CLAUS 33.00 4 IRL 8418 O'LEARY PETER / BURROWS DAVID 40.00 5 SWE 8450 LOOF FREDRIK / SALMINEN MAX 43.00 6 SUI 8364 MARAZZI FLAVIO / DE MARIA ENRICO 44.0 K6 Magic Marine Eurocup in the Netherlands . . . The team of Dave Hall, Paul and Ben Constable won the K6 Magic Marine Eurocup. Racing was on the Grevelingen inland sea sailing from the new Marina next to the village of Bruinesse in the Netherlands. The racing took place over the three day early May bank holiday with three races starting late on Saturday followed by a four race day on Sunday finishing up early on Monday with three races.  Team Hall showed their hand early on by winning the first race, Peter Kirkby & Pete Clarke won the second with team Hall taking the gun on the final race of the day. Day 2 and team Hall took the first race in freasher conditions, Team Kirby took race 3 and then Hall sweept-up the fianl two races. The third and last day dawned with a complete change of weather and wind direction, a shifty patchy light wind from the south along with a rise in temperature was a welcome change for many. Dave Hall and his team stamped their name on the trophy by winning all three races after close fought battles with team Robson and team Kirkby. With team Hall now unbeatable the fight for second was down to the wire and in the end it was Peter Kirkby and Pete Clark who got it by 2 points. K6 - Magic Marine Eurocup, Final leading scores (13 entries) 1. GBR166 Dave Hall, Paul & Ben Constable 8 pts 2. GBR216 Peter Kirkby & Pete Clark 17 pts 3. GBR162 Ian Robson & Sandy Johnson 19 pts 4. GBR214 Neil Davison & Andrew Younge 33 pts 5. GBR156 Jonathan Calascione, Myles Mence & Pyers Tucker 42 pts 6. GBR213 Nick Jones & Mike Butler 46 pts Olympic expectations too high says Park . . . With much expected after their six medals, including four gold, in Beijing four years ago. Stephen Park, the RYA's sailing manager, has tried to play-down the high expectations for Britain's sailing team that are building ahead of the London 2012 Games. With the perceived advantage of racing on home waters and high rankings in many of the Olympic classes, Park knows that unrealistic hopes are being raised and the fall-out, if the team fail to beat the Beijing results, could set the cause of British sailing back. So while team members have based themselves in Weymouth, venue for Olympic sailing events, for several years, Park is refusing to heap more expectations on their shoulders. “Home advantage is different when it comes to sailing,” he said. “Theoretically, you would think there is a pretty big advantage because you’ve got the opportunity to know the conditions, the waters, the winds, the tides and the currents. But the reality is that if you look out the window there are half a dozen nations down here, and they’ve been here for ages. They’re going to be here up to the Games, and they’re spending as much time in Weymouth as we are." Park also highlighted the lack of close crowd participation for sailing. With competition taking place several miles out at sea, just viewing, let alone being close enough to cheer-on British sailors is difficult. "The cycling test event for example in the velodrome saw the home crowd really raise the game of the British cyclists, we don’t have that same advantage." Viewing the sailing events at Weymouth will be the best yet organised for any Games, with ticketed and free viewing areas on Weymouth beach, equipped with large screens showing close-ups of the action. And for the Medal races, which complete each event, the top ten competitors will race on special short courses close to the Northe viewing area to decide the podium places. Park has set a conservative target of four medals at the Olympics. Ben Ainslie (Finn), Paul Goodison (Laser) and Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson (Star) are defending champions who will be seeking to take gold again. But he claims it will be almost impossible to repeat the success of four years ago. “If you asked all the sailors then they are all going to say that they will win a medal, so their target is ten Olympic and three Paralympic, but the RYA’s target as a whole is four and one,” he added. “I think we’re normally pretty good at goal setting - we’re realistic - but any country that brings back four Olympic medals in sailing is going to be the top nation so it would be a good place to be. The next major event for Team GB sailors in the run-up to the Olympics will be the Sail for Gold world cup regatta being held at the Weymouth Olympic venue in early June. Full story at http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/11052012/58/london-2012-home-water-advantage-played.html Bryony Shaw - A Day in the Life . . . Olympic windsurfing sailor Bryony Shaw won a Bronze in Beijing in 2008. And as London 2012 fast approaches, she's aiming even higher, for gold. With rigorous training well under way for her Olympic success Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has supplied her a Transporter kombi to help ferry her and all her gear around. This video shows a day in the life of Bryony on a typical race day. Glyn Charles Memorial Pursuit Race at Hayling Island SC . . .  On-Line Entry for the 2012 Glyn Charles Memorial Pursuit Race at Hayling Island SC has now been posted on the Event page set. This years event will take place on Sunday 20 May.The event is open to Entry is open to all monohull dinghies with a PY of 1459 and below. Also the Keelboat classes Artemis 20, Flying 15, RS K6, RS Elite, X boat, Swallow, Sunbeam, Hawk, Star, Yngling. Other classes may be accepted at the discretion of the organizing authority, contact the HISC Office. Eligible boats may enter by completing the online form and submitting the entry fee using the HISC website. On-line entry is available on the Glyn Charles Pursuit Race event page from Tuesday 1 May 2012. All proceeds will be donated to the John Merricks Sailing Trust Full story at http://www.hisc.co.uk |
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