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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
(© SSL/Gilles-Martin Raget) - Mark Mendelblatt
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Nassau (Bahamas),
04 December 2014 - Today
brought another great day’s sailing in the Bahamas for the Star Sailors
League Finals 2014. Once again the action was dominated by Americans
Mendelblatt/Fatih, who snatched the leadership from Scheidt/Prada
two-thirds of the way through qualifying. Spectators were treated to
three races, in great wind, featuring fiery duels between the 20
excellent teams invited to this top-level event. Once again, a large
following of fans watched the action live at live.starsailors.com.
They witnessed a rare spectacle indeed: up-close-and-personal sparring,
high tension manoeuvres and errors, surprise results and much more
besides. All live in HD from the water backed up by Virtual Eye 3D
sports graphics. To top it all off, the event’s main patron’s four-time
America’s Cup winner and former Star Class World Champion, Dennis
Conner, paid a visit to the studio.
15 to 20-knots of wind set the tone for the first race of Day 2
and the fourth in the Star Sailors League Finals. After an excellent
start, Mark Mendelblatt and Brian Fatih held onto their lead for the
duration. Leg 1 brought lively sparring all the way to mark between the
illustrious Germans Johannes Polgar and Markus Koy, Robert Scheidt and
Bruno Prada, and Torben Grael and Guillerme de Almeida. The Americans
rounded the windward mark first, followed by Polgar and Koy. Scheidt and
Prada missed the first turn at the top buoy, losing four positions in a
very close-knit race. In Leg 2, Mendelblatt and Fatih extended their
lead on the rest. In the end, somewhat surprisingly, the first 10 across
the line were Mendelblatt, Polgar, Loof, Kusznierewicz, Grael, Negri,
Scheidt, Stanjek, Rohart and Gapsic with provisional overall leadership
of the regatta going to the Americans.
The fleet stayed tight in this 2nd race of the day with
excitement at every mark. Negri and Lambertenghi hit the front at the
first upwind mark, as Papathanasiou and Tsotras scampered out of teh way
to avoid a collision. Melleby and Strube did a penalty turn just before
the first downwind, but recovered to finish 13th. Negri and
Lambertenghi and Rohart and Ponsot sparred for first place downwind,
with just 20 metres between them. After a poor start, Scheidt and Prada
clawed their way back to the top four in the final leg, battling hard
with Rohart and Ponsot and Gaspicand Sitic. The Croatians stayed in the
top five overall after finish 4th. Junior and Pritchard started the
final leg in 6th and hung on in the top 10 overall, while Mendelblatt
and Fatih led 150 metres at the line to take their second win of the day
and now top the qualifying ranking. I
n Race 6, the wind picked up and the current intensified. Loof
and Ekstrom started behind everyone else but then zeroed in on the top 5
after the second leg. Grael and Almeida had a great start, but could
only finish in 9th. Three of the four Brazilian teams worried the
leaders throughout. However Zarif and Boening challenged early on, this
time securing 3rd behind Mendelblatt and Fathi and Scheidt and Prada.
After a fine start, Polgar and Koy took the lead at the second buoy and
held it to the end. Adrenaline was high for the five leaders of the
pack, helping them pull away in the final legs. Szabo and Natucci
followed in 6th their best performance yet.
At the end of Day 2, the provisional rankings are topped by
Mendelblatt and Fatih, a comfortable 10 points ahead of Scheidt/Prada
and 13 in front of Polgar/Koy.
Tomorrow
evening, winner excluded, the crews ranked from 2nd to 11th will go
forward to the final phases of the event. The winner from the quaifiying
races will get a bye for the first race. Up to three races may still be
competed in the eliminators, but right now, there are six teams
separated by less than 10 points.
3 races are scheduled for
tomorrow with the first warning signal at 1100 local time with fierce competition expected to the very last.
Provisional ranking after six races with one discard:
1. Mendelblatt/Fatih (USA) - (1+[10]+3+1+1+2)
2. Scheidt/Prada (BRA) - 18 pp ([7]+1+2+7+4+4)
3. Polgar/Koy (GER) - 21 pp ([9]+3+6+2+13+1)
4. Loof/Ekstrom (SWE) - 22 pp (4+[12]+4+3+6+5)
5. Rohart/Ponsot (FRA) - 29 pp (6+2+[13]+9+2+10)
6. Negri/Lambertenghi (ITA) - 29 pp (5+5+[10]+6+5+8)
7. Kusznierewicz/Zycki (POL) - 36 pp (10+8+[12]+4+7+7)
8. Zarif/Boening (BRA) - 37 pp (15+7+1+[17]+11+3)
9. Scott/Milne (ENG) - 39 pp ([13]+4+5+11+8+11)
10. Gaspic/Sitic (CRO) - 46 pp ([14]+14+7+10+3+12)
© Copyright 2014 by thebahamasweekly.com
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