After their outstanding win at the 470 European Championships, Panagiotis Mantis and Paul Kagialis (GRE) have been rewarded again with a personal best ranking accolade as they secure the world #3 position in the 470 Men on the ISAF World Sailing Rankings which were released on 22 September 2010.
Continuing their dominance at the head of the women's 470 fleet are
Ingrid Petitjean and
Nadège Douroux (FRA), although their points margin over the next ranked crew has been virtually halved by
Emmanuelle Rol and
Hélène Defrance who have moved up into second in the world after their Gold Medal at the 470 European Championships in Istanbul.
470 Men
Holding firm as the world's #1 are the Aussie golden boys,
Mathew Belcher and
Malcolm Page, who secured their #1 position in the August release of the Rankings after winning the
2010 470 World Championships, which was followed up with their win of the
2009-2010 ISAF Sailing World Cup. It has definitely been an Aussie year to remember.
Also retaining their position as the world's #2 are
Gideon Kliger and
Eran Sela (ISR). The team have secured top ten finishes at all the events they have contested this year, including a silver medal double of a second place at the 470 World Championships and the 470 European Championships.
The newly crowned world #3 helm,
Panagiotis Mantis first entered the ISAF Sailing World Rankings back in October 2001, and after a year mixing it up in the world's top 20, has put in some excellent performances this year with crew Kagialis to make the break into the top three. The pair won the 2010 470 European Championships and took a fifth at the 2010 470 World Championships, alongside top 20 finishes at each of the ISAF World Cup Events they have contested, including a fourth at Kieler Woche and seventh at Miami OCR. Their win at the Europeans was toughly fought, but they revelled in the breezy conditions and sealed their Championship gold with a win in the medal race. It is not surprising to see Panagiotis delivering at this level, as his pedigree includes being a two-time 470 Junior World Champion.
Greece has a long tradition of sailing and supporting the 470, evidenced strongly this year with a national record of sending 13 teams to the 470 Worlds, with a combination of young talent and more experienced crews, demonstrating the strength of the current and future sailors.
Within the rest of the world's top ten there are no newcomers, just a shuffle around of the previous existing top ten teams.
Following the Greeks up the pecking order are the young British team of
Luke Patience and
Stuart Bithell who have also had a phenomenal year, and find themselves ranked #4 in the world. The duo claimed the bronze medal at the recent 470 Europeans, with a scoreline including three bullets from one day's racing. This was preceded by another bronze at Skandia Sail for Gold on their home waters.
Another Greek team,
Panagiotis Kambouridis and
Gerasimos Orologas have also made a massive break up the world rankings, up to 24 from 87. Their fourth place at the 470 Europeans has helped propel them upwards, but also the team had assigned themselves multiple ISAF Sailor ID's which meant their results were split across each of these ID's. With their results now allocated to one ISAF Sailor ID, their full achievements are reflected on the world rankings.
Eleven new teams make their way onto the World Rankings from Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Malaysia, Romania, Turkey and the Ukraine for a total of 305 teams.
470 Women
Ingrid Petitjean and Nadège Douroux's dominance is really starting to be challenged, particularly by their team-mates Emmanuelle Rol and Hélène Defrance, recently crowned 2010 470 European Champions, who have moved up to #2 in the rankings.
Other French teams are also making a move, with Camille Lecointre and Mathilde Geron achieving a world ranking personal best as they climb up to fourth in the world, from eleventh after their fourth place at the 470 Europeans.
Also moving up are Denmark's Henriette Koch and Lene Sommer, who so nearly had the European Championship in their hands during the early part of the race series. Despite losing the yellow jersey in the day before the Medal Race and dropping out of medal contention, they went onto win the Medal Race in style, they move up to #5. This is another young pair who have really made an impression at the front of the 470 fleet over the past year. They broke into the world's top ten a year ago, and have remained have solid in the top 50% of that group, achieved through top ten finishes at six of the nine ranked events they have contested in 2010
Russia, who support a significant team of 470 sailors, will be pleased with the drive up the rankings achieved by Vlada Ilienko and Elena Khryukina, up 20 places to #47 in the world - a personal best - driven by some consistent results at events this year, including a seventeenth at the 470 Europeans.
Thirteen different nations feature in the world's top 20, representing four continents, a clear picture of the depth of women's 470 sailing around the world. Three new teams, from Greece and the Ukraine, join the world rankings for a total of 139 women's teams.
View the latest ranking lists here:
470 Women's Rankings
470 Men's Rankings
International 470 Class Association - www.470.org
ISAF World Sailing Rankings - www.sailing.org/world-rankings.php