| PALMA DE MALLORCA, SPAIN-(1-4-2007) Changeable winds were seen on the first day of racing at the Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia – Mapfre in which all classes were programmed to compete except for the Dragon class. A total of 860 boat sailed out to sea with a forecast that announced embat wind that was light and momentary to drop again and leaving almost the whole bay without wind. Most classes could only sail a quite complicated race today.
The Star class, based in Club Nàutic S’Arenal, sailed two races in good wind conditions in the racing area of Cap d’Enderrocat. New Zealand team Hamish Pepper /David Giles, the class number one, started well with a victory in the first race and finishing fifth in the second race. Fifth classified in the ISAF ranking lists, Brazilian team Robert Scheidt/Bruno Prada had a more regular performance with two second places that take them to the top of the overall standings. Second place is for the New Zealand team while third place is for Polish sailors Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Tomasz Holc (third in the world sailing ranking list). Spanish pre-Olympic team, Roberto Bermúdez/Pablo Arrarte, is fourteenth overall.
British team Stevie Morrisson/Ben Rhodes (fourth in the ISAF ranking list) share the first place of the 49er fleet (80 entries) with Spanish team Arturo Alonso/Federico Alonso and also Danish brothers Peter & Soren Hansen. The three 49er groups sailed only one race today.
The top places in Laser Radial, with venue at Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa and 91 entries, were for Spanish sailor Fátima Reyes and Australian competitor Cristal Weir.
After the one race completed in Laser Standard, with 138 entries and based at Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa the lead is for Canadian sailor Bernard Luttmer tied with Swiss competitor Christoph Bottoni and followed by Julio Alzogaray from Argentina and Gianpiero Menza from Italy.
The Russian teams dominated the first and only race sailed by the Yngling fleet, with venue at Real Club Náutico de Palma. The winners were Ekaterina Skudina/Diana Krutskikh/Natalia Ivanova followed by Anna Basalkina/Vladislava Ukraintseva/Ekaterina Maximov, third in the ISAF world sailing ranking lists. Third place is for Dutch team Janneke Hin/ Brechtje Vp Werf/Floortje Hendrik.
Only one race was sailed also in the Tornado class, based at Club Nàutic S’Arenal, following the abandonment of the second race due to wind drop. French team Olivier Baches/Paul-Ambroise Sevestre leads the standings followed by British sailors Leigh Mc Millan/Will Howden while third place is for Russian team Andrey Kirilyuk/Valery Ushkov. Second classified in the ISAF World sailing ranking lists, Spanish team Fernando Echavarri/Antón Paz finished tenth in today’s race.
Only one of the three 470 M groups managed to complete a race so there are no overall results. The remaining classes (Finn, 470 W & Neil Pryde RS:X M 6 W) could not sail today due to the changeable, light wind conditions in their respective racing areas.
Two races are scheduled tomorrow for all classes with the warning signal scheduled at 12:00hrs. The Dragon class will begin racing tomorrow.
The 38 Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia – Mapfre is sponsored for second consecutive year by Mapfre and is organised by the Federación Balear de Vela, Real Federación Española de Vela, Real Club Náutico de Palma, Club Nàutic S'Arenal, Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa and Escuela Nacional de Vela Calanova. The collaborators are the Govern de les Illes Balears, Palma City Council, Llucmajor City Council, s’Institut de Serveis Socials i Esportius de Mallorca, Trasmediterránea Acciona and Ultramar.
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