| 2004 LASER RADIAL EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS Ballyholme, N Ireland, 23 - 31 July 2004 (1st race 26 July) Laser Radial European Championship Laser Women's European Championship Laser Radial Youth European Championship |
Day 3
MORE WIND!
Three more races at the Laser Radial Europeans.
What started as a light breeze built only a little during the day, but enough
to get another three races on the score board, allowing the Laser Radial European
Championship organisers at Ballyholme Yacht Club breathing space after two days
of almost non- existent airs.
After four races Benoit Raphalen from Nantes in France leads with 14 points.
He gained a 2, 4, and 7 today and is 6 points ahead of Stephen Cockerill (GBR).
Stephen's best score was a 3rd in Race 4. Another GBR sailor, Keir Clarke, who
learned to sail in Northern Ireland, lies third with two reassuring first places.
He is on 26 points.
Race Officer Alan Crosbie from Cork got the first race away in just 5 knots
of wind after a postponement, and with a well behaved fleet, managed to start
all three without recall. In the difficult conditions black flag use seemed
to keep the sailors in order.
Tying on points with Clarke and in fourth slot lies Steven Le Fevre (Netherlands)
who also clocked up a first in his fleet in Race 4, and Jure Zbogar from Slovenia,
who bettered his second place yesterday with a first today. (Wed).
Twenty year old Paul McMahon who counts two fourths and an eighth holds the
best Irish position.
But the mover and shaker today has to be another Irish sailor, George Kingston
from Royal Cork. George was black flagged yesterday and after finishing second
and eighth in Races 2 and 3 today, got fired up and won Race 4 in the yellow
fleet. Provided he can hold his form, George looks a serious prize contender.
" I reckoned after two races and three hours on the water, there'd be a lot
of tired people, so I just got fired up and went for it to make up for the black
flag", he said. He recovered from a poor start and finally passed the Turkish
Sevinic on the last downwind leg to take the lead and finish first in the last
race of the day.
Among the other fleet winners today were Karol Rosner (Poland) Alexey Selivanov
(Russia), Mehmet Sevinc and Onur Derebasi (Turkey), Sean Evans (GBR) and Andrea
Airo of Italy.
After Thursday's racing the fleet will be split into Gold, Silver and Bronze divisions with the final race scheduled for Saturday.