Yesterday there were extreme weather conditions at the Spa Regatta on the penultimate day of racing. With winds of up to 40 knots at times the Tornado and 49er fleets were held on the shore.
After one race the Mistral, Star and Laser classes were sent back ashore to wait to see if the wind would subside a little, which it did allowing most to be sent out again for further racing later in the day. Meanwhile the Yngling and Europe classes stayed on the water for back to back racing.
Robert Scheidt (BRA) is leading the Laser fleet, but is being challenged by Ed Wright (GBR). Sari Multala (FIN) continues to lead the Europe class, with Min Dizillie (BEL) hot on her heels, just three points adrift.
Nick Dempsey (GBR) has made huge gains in the Mistral Men, after a relatively slow start to the regatta, two bullets and two seconds in the last four races have pulled him into the lead. He's just one point clear of team mate Dom Tidey (GBR), but when a second discard comes into effect, since he is currently counting a 15 th, he will be in an even stronger position.
Lee Lai Shan (HKG), Olympic Gold medallist at the 1996 Olympics, continues to lead the Mistral Women from Natasha Sturges (GBR).
Things couldn't be tighter at the top of the 49er fleet, Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez (ESP) are tied on eleven points with Luka Rodion and George Leonchuk (UKR).
In the Finn class 2001 European Champion Emilios Papathanasio (GRE) is three points clear of new recruit Ben Ainslie (GBR).
Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell (GBR) were flying in the Star class, scoring three bullets from the last three races, to have a relatively comfortable lead going into the last days racing.
There is just the one final race scheduled for today for all classes, with the latest possible start at 14:00 h for the 49 er class.The Star class are scheduled to start at 10:30 h.
Results
470 Men-Gold fleet (after ten races, 2 discards)
1, Johan Molund/Martin Anderson, SWE ((12),1,1,1,5,(OCS),1,2,4,2) 17 pts
2,Sven Coster/Kalle Coster, NED (1,4,4,3,(12),4,1,4,(18),1) 22 pts
3, Eugen Braslavets/Igo Matvienko, UKR (1,1,4,(DSQ),(22),2,4,1,12,9) 34 pts
470 Women (after ten races, 2 discards)
1, Sofia Bekatorou/Emilia Tsoulfa, GRE (12,1,(OCS),1,8,3,1,4,1,(DNF)) 31 pts
2, Ingrid Petitjean/Nadege Douroux, FRA (6,3,2,4,(26),9,5,2,2,(DNF)) 33 pts
3, Lisa Westerhof/Margriet Matthijsse, NED (3,2,7,12,5,5,(14),1,5,(DNF)) 40 pts
Laser-Gold fleet (after ten races, 2 discards)
1, Robert Scheidt, BRA ((OCS),1,1,2,4,1,1,(10),3,2) 15 pts
2, Ed Wright, GBR (3,1,4,2,1,4,1,3,(9),(12)) 19 pts
3, Karl Suneson, SWE (3,1,3,(OCS),2,3,2,6,(8),3) 23 pts
Europe-Gold fleet (after nine races, 2 discards)
1, Sari Multala, FIN ((2),1,1,1,2,(7),1,2,1) 9 pts
2, Min Dizillie, BEL (1,2,3,1,1,(4),(6),2,2) 12 pts
3, Sarah Macky, NZL (1,1,3,(9),1,(5),4,1,5) 16 pts
Mistral Men-Gold fleet (after eight races,1 discard)
1, Nick Dempsey GBR (4,5,(28),15,1,1,2,2) 30 pts
2, Dom Tidey, GBR (7,1,4,(22),4,4,5,6) 31 pts
3, Nicolas Huguet, FRA (6,7,4,(24),2,2,7,4) 32 pts
Mistral Women (after eight races, 1 discard)
1, Lee Lai Shan, HKG (1,4,1,8,6,(9),2,6) 28 pts
2, Natasha Sturges, GBR (3,6,2,10,5,(11),3,5) 34 pts
3, Jeanne Mailhos, FRA (12,14,8,19,1,2,4,1) 42 pts
Tornado (after eight races, 1 discard)
1, Roman Hagara/Hans P. Steinacher, AUT (3,2,(23),12,2,3,5,4) 31 pts
2, Mitch Booth/ Herbert Dercksen, NED (1,12,14,2,1,1,2,(DNF)) 33 pts
3, Fernando Echavarri/Anton Paz, ESP ((OCS),8,2,4,5,6,3,7) 35 pts
49er (after six races, 1 discard)
1, Iker Martinez/Xabier Fernandez, ESP (3,4,2,4,1,1) 11 pts
2, Luka Rodion/George Leonchuk, UKR (1,(OCS),1,3,4,2) 11 pts
3, Chris Draper/Simon Hiscocks, GBR (2,2,5,(8),4,4) 17 pts
Finn-Gold fleet (after seven races, 1 discard)
1, Emilios Papathanasio, GRE (1,1,2,1,4,(13),8) 17 pts
2, Ben Ainslie, GBR (3,5,1,3,(10),5,3) 20 pts
3, Mateusz Kusznierewic, POL ((OCS),2,10,4,3,2,1) 22 pts
Yngling (after seven races, 1 discard)
1, Monica Azon/Diane Cuadras/Julie Garcia, ESP (9,1,2,(15),4,3,6) 25 pts
2, Annelies Thies/Annemieke Bes/Petronella de Jong, NED (1,(9),3,9,8,1,4) 26 pts
3, Ulrike Schuemann/Wibke Buelle/Winnie Lippert, GER (5,2,6,8,5,(15),2) 28 pts
Star (after six races, 1 discard)
1, Iain Percy/Steve Mitchell, GBR (9,2,(27),1,1,1) 14 pts
2, Nicola Celon/Dodo Natucci, ITA (5,7,(OCS),8,2,4) 26 pts
3, Serge Kats/Jean Pierre Martens, NED (8,8,7,7,3,6) 31 pts