#420 – Building on the experience of this summer's 420 Worlds in Valencia, Howth pairing Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove feature in the top 20 of a 96-boat 420 Youth European Championships in Pwllheli, Wales this morning. The leading Irish pair, who were pipped for the Irish title in Cork Harbour last week, are counting a consitent 12,10,16 and 12 in their first four qualifiying rounds. Irish champions, brothers David and Hary Whitaker from Royal Cork are in the top half in 47th. Seven Irish boats are competing. Royal Cork club mates Peter McCann and Anna Walsh are 54th. Royal St. George pairing Adam Hyland and Bill Staunton are two places further back in 56th position. Full Results here.
Two more races for the yellow and blue fleets, who were re-seeded for today's racing based on their leaderboard positions from day 1 of racing. Different winners in each race goes to show the depth of talent in this fleet, with teams pushing all the time and pouncing on every advantage around the track. Make a mistake and you plummet down the pack and it is a tough road to regain valuable points.
The girls' teams still dominate in the top 5 of the fleet, with Poland's Ewa Romaniuk/Katarzyna Goralska continuing to hold the overall lead after another stunning pair of 2,1 scores to retain the yellow leader vests for tomorrow. The Polish 420 team all raced at the front of the yellow fleet today, with teammates Kamil Cesarski/Benjamin Waszkiewicz claiming the win in the first race of the day.
But it was a day of extremes for Cesarski/Waszkiewicz, as they went from a race win to finishing virtually at the back of the pack in 42nd, and their smooth moves in race 3 only managed to accelerate them up the leaderboard from 49th going into the day to 46th by the end. In a demonstration of strength, it was almost a Polish 1,2,3 procession across the race 3 finish line with Romaniuk/Goralska crossing in second and Tomasz Wawerek/Antoni Banas only losing their third place in the fleet after mark three.
Cesarski said, "In the first race we had a good start and went to the right side of the course and everything just went well. But in the second race we just went to the left and looked out for the shifts that had come in the first race, but it didn't happen so we were far, far away from the front. In the second upwind we went to the right and we lost out even more and we ended up so bad."
Commenting on the current success of their teammates Romaniuk/ Goralsk, he added, "I am proud of them and we are all happy to be sailing so well."
Portugal's Diogo Pereira/Pedro Cruz move up one place to second overall, as do France's Marie Soler/Laura Pebrier who move up to third, with space being made by the ISAF Youth Worlds bronze medallists Ilaria Paternoster/Benedetta di Salle of Italy who drop from 3rd to 9th.
Spain's National 420 Champions Silvia Mas/Nuria Miro sailed a solid 4, 7 to end their day in fourth overall, as they focus on making amends for what they declared a disappointing performance at the 420 Worlds last month.
"Yes, we were really tired and we don't know what happened in Valencia," explained Mas. "But now we come with another mentality and this is another Championship and it is a new world." The success of the girls is not going unnoticed here, "I think the girls this year are really, really good at sailing," Mas added.
There is evident focus on the top placed British team of Scott Wallis/Josh Voller who are aiming to finish as the first British pair and be in the mix for a top ten finish overall, particularly after they won the silver medal at the British 420 Nationals last week.
"It definitely helps a little bit," said Voller on their familiarity with the sailing area. "We know in certain wind directions it is going to be wavier or flatter, like in the morning. When we are out on the water it helps and we know which side is going to pay at the top, if there is a little headland or something. Other than that everyone is fairly even."
With a few girls teams higher up the leaderboard, Voller said, "I guess the slightly lighter air suits them, but it also suits us, so we won't complain! We want to be the first British boat and hopefully top ten overall."
Expect some change in the leaderboard tomorrow as the discard kicks in from race 5 and teams discard their worst score, and the gold and silver fleet splits for the final series are set.
420 Open – Top 10 Leaderboard
1. Ewa ROMANIUK/Katarzyna GORALSKA (POL) - Female - 7 pts
2. Diogo PEREIRA/Pedro CRUZ (POR) – 16 pts
3. Marie SOLER/Laura PEBRIER (FRA) – Female – 18 pts
4. Silvia MAS/Nuria MIRO (ESP) – Female – 29 pts
5. Scott WALLIS/Josh VOLLER (GBR) – 31 pts
6. Bart LAMBRIEX/Philip MEIJER (NED) – 35 pts
7. Renier EENKEMA VAN DIJK/Spencer MCDONOUGH (USA) – 38 pts
8. Thomas FELLERER/Marino MUELLER (AUT) – 41 pts
9. Ilaria PATERNOSTER/Benedetta DI SALLE (ITA) – Female – 43 pts
10. Pedro MARTÃNEZ/Luis BUGALLO (ESP) – 43 pts
Racing is scheduled to start at 1300 hours for the 420 and 470 fleets, and the forecast is for another glorious day of racing with a lighter breeze fluctuating between 9-13 knots.
