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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
Nassau, Bahamas
Photo: © SSL/Gilles-Martin Raget
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Nassau (Bahamas),
05 December 2014 - The third
and final day of qualifying in Nassau was high-tension indeed. The
Qualifying Series winners, Freddy Loof and Anders Ekstrom will skip the
first race
tomorrow
and go directly to the semis finals. Ten crews will contest the single
race quarter final: Scheidt/Prada, Mendelblatt/Fatih,
Negri/Lambertenghi, Zarif/Boening, Rohart/Ponsot, Kusznierewicz/Zycki,
Stanjek/Olesen, Gaspic/Sitic, Scott/Milne.
The top six will then join Loof for another single race
semi-final and the top four will have a sudden death final race. Today's
final three races in the nine race qualifying stages were high octane
with over 30 knots blasting from the north east onto the race track and
later in the day, adverse current produced a significant sea state.
In Race 7, Scheidt and Prada were main contenders for pole
position but a sail problem ended their race almost immediately. Most of
the fleet chose the left off the line, but Croatians Gaspic and Sitic
chose the right-hand route, allowing them to switch left and pull in
front near the mid-leg point. The lead swapped constantly between the
top eight Stars up the leg. Greeks Papathanasiou and Tsotras and
Americans Scott and Milne stuck to the right and could only watch as all
the others pulled away on the left. The fleet spread out along the
first downwind, and Loof/Ekstrom and Negri/Lambertenghi gained a 100m
lead on the rest. Grael and Almeida came back to grab third position,
keeping it through the bottom mark. Loof/Ekstrom and Negri/Lambertenghi
had an advantage at the final turn, allowing them to hammer away an
impressive 200m lead.
Conditions changed in this second race of the day, the current
and wind coming together and rainclouds making most sailors choose the
right half of the course in the first upwind. A strong race for
Brazilians Scheidt/Prada and Zarif/Boening who stayed in the top 5
throughout and finished in 1st and 4th respectively. Scheidt/Prada and
Polish duo Kusznierewicz/Zycki sparred at length with the Brazilians
pulling away in the last leg and the Poles scoring 3rd place. Brits
Scott and Milne badly damaged Polgar and Markus’s boat, ending the day's
racing for both duos also.
Race 9 had a difficult start with two general recalls and so an
i-Flag was probably inevitable. The stakes were high and for many it
was the last chance to get into the first 11. That included the
legendary Torben Grael - a mark of the quality of the fleet. Because his
boat had keel problems, the Brazilian champion was never really in the
competition all week, only making it to the top 10 on three occasions.
The two leading teams battled for the wind and the Swedes
managed to get the upper hand just as Stanjek and Olesen slid in between
them before the downwind gate. Behind them, a tremendous battle ensued
between Scheidt/Prada and Negri/Lambertenghi, which saw the Brazilians
go forward to seize the second place.
It was not a great day for Mendelblatt, the provisional leader
on Day 2. He handed the Swedes the top spot in the qualifiers giving
them the right to skip the first race in the morning. However, it was a
very pleasant surprise to see 3 Finns qualify for the grand final:
Zarif/Boening, Gaspic/Sitic and Scott/Milne who've already achieved a
lot for the week. The first of the disappointed duos, however, was
Melleby/Strube, who began the series with a third place. Followed by
Brazilians Grael/Almeida, hobbled by major technical issues, Kiwi SSL
rookies Junior/Pritchard, Szabo/Natucci, Papathanasiou/Tsostras,
Lawrence/Revkin, Diaz/Baltins, Patience/Buchan and Fuchs/Siefert.
Quotes of the day from Dennis Conner
, the Star Sailors League patron:
"
Surprising to see Mark Mendelblatt at the leader board
yesterday.
But in the breeze today the experience of Freddy Loof and Robert
Scheidt came through, making for a very tight leader board at the top. I
think another surprise for me was I thought Robert Scheidt so dominant
downwind that he would always win these regattas but I'm very impressed
with the speed Freddy Loof has downwind. He won the first race downwind
on the second run and he won this last race with a nice lead at the top.
But he extended on the run. I noticed the distance between Freddy Loof
and Robert Scheidt was more at the end of the run than it was at the
weather mark so that means Loof extended on Robert Scheidt downwind
which is almost impossible to do."
What about
tomorrow?
"
For sure Loof is gonna be through, Robert Scheidt is gonna
be through and Mendelblatt is gonna be through. Those guys are gonna be
on the podium and the real battle is gonna be for fourth and fifth."
Final ranking of the SSL Finals 2014 qualification series after nine races with one discard:
1. Loof/Ekstrom (SWE) - (4+[12]+4+3+6+5+1+2+1): 26 pts
2. Scheidt/Prada (BRA) - (7+1+2+7+4+4+[21]+1+2): 28 pts
3. Mendelblatt/Fatih (USA) - (1+10+3+1+1+2+[11]+11+9): 38 pts
4. Negri/Lambertenghi (ITA) - (5+5+[10]+6+5+8+2+8+3): 42 pts
5. Zarif/Boening (BRA) - (15+7+1+[17]+11+3+8+4+6): 55 pts
6. Rohart/Ponsot (FRA) - (6+2+[13]+9+2+10+7+7+12): 55 pts 7. Polgar/Koy (GER) - (9+3+6+2+13+1+6+[21]+21): 61 pts
8. Kusznierewicz/Zycki (POL) - (10+8+12+4+7+7+[13]+3+11): 62 pts
9. Stanjek(GER)/Olesen (DEN) - (12+[18]+14+8+10+13+4+5+4): 70 pts
10. Gaspic/Sitic (CRO) - ([14]+14+7+10+3+12+5+13+7): 71 pts
11. Scott/Milne (GBR) - (13+4+5+11+8+11+10+[21]+14): 76 pts
A large
following of fans watched the action live at live.starsailors.com.
© Copyright 2014 by thebahamasweekly.com
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