| SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA-(2-5-2003) The Semaine Olympique Française has been full of surprises and a real test for all the sailors engaged in the regatta. The high level of competition combined with the wide range of sailing conditions contributed to a difficult regatta for the athletes and tested the skills of the best sailors. In many classes, the winners have been decided on the last race, keeping the suspense until the end.
In the Laser and Europe class, the battle for 1st place remained fierce. Roope Suomalainen, 8th in the World ranking, took the best of Michael Blackburn, and one point was enough for the Finnish to take the title. Paul Goodison, regatta winner in 2002, is taking Bronze at only 2 points from the leader.
Same scenario in the Europe class where Siren Sundby claimed the last race and consequently the regatta. “It is the first time I win a regatta at this level. I am only 20 years old and I hope I can keep this level until Athens.” Sari Multala who was leading before the last race is only 1 point behind the Norwegian. It is the second time that the Finnish takes Silver in Hyères. “I wasn’t very regular this week and I had to carry 2 very bad results.” Sarah Macky from New-Zealand is taking 3rd place, 21 points behind the top 2.
Other tight result in the Tornado class. Going into the last day on equal points, Mitch Booth and Herbert Dercksen won narrowly the regatta one point ahead of French team and title holders Olivier Backes and Laurent Voiron. The Spanish team of Echavarri / Paz is conserving their 3rd position
In the 49er, Rodion Luka and Georgiy Leonchuk conserved their first place, winning the regatta 3 points from Brotherton / Asquith, 2nd. The Spanish team of Martinez / Fernandez are placed third. The Spanish skipper recovered from his knee operation to come back to his usual form.
In the Mistral classes, the top 5 places are unchanged. Jian Yun (CHN) and Jon-Paul Tobin (NZL) are taking Gold, Lai Mingshuang (CHN) and Gal Fridman (ISR) has settled for Silver while Bronze went to Jian Gao (CHN) and Ricardo Santos (BRA). They are now all heading to the European Championship in Sicily.
Despite a Black Flag in the last race for premature start, the Greek Champions of Sofia Bekatorou and Emilia Tsoulfa have hold onto their first position and the Championship title they had won last year. The 12th race was won by Israeli team of Nike Kornecki and Vered Bouskila who are also conserving their second place from the 2002 SOF Edition. They are on equal points with Spanish, Natalia via Dufresne and Sandra Azon.
In the men’s division, early leaders Molund / Andersson from Sweden have taken the title from Australians Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page, placed third. The Portuguese team of Alvaro / Nunes is in second position.
Today’s only race didn’t change the results in the Yngling class. Vice-World Champions, the Germans Ulrike Schuemann, Wibke Buelle and Winnie Lippert have taken Gold despite collecting an OCS (penalty for an early start). The Danish Jensen / Jespersen / Kiel are second in front of the Australian team of Melanie Dennison also penalised by an OCS.
The dual between Sebastien Godefroid and Ben Ainslie in the Finn class ended with the Belgium taking the regatta after scoring a second place today. Ben Ainslie chances for a win went when he overtook the 1st mark on the first leg of the last race. Ending the regatta with a win, Croatian Karlo Kuret, is securing third place, only 1 point from last year winner Mateusz Kusznierewicz.
Placing is remaining unchanged in the 2.4 with Damien Seguin (FRA) winning 9 races out of 12. Thierry Schmitter (NED) is second while Andrew Millband (GBR) is 3rd.
With a total of 186 races, racing in Hyeres was intense and qualitative. At the exception of the Mistral men and 2.4, the battled remained fierce until the end. The sailors had to give their best in this week demanding conditions. There is no easy victory in Hyères.
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