Access Class Europeans at Arbon, Switzerland - Day 1
by Sailability.ch 10 May 2013 08:37 BST
7-12 May 2013
First races sailed in light winds
The weather forecasting really light winds for the first racing day at the Access Class European Championships. Only the one person classes could sail their first races in the morning. Due to the lack of wind, racing for the two person classes, were postponed for tomorrow.
The Liberty fleet were up on the race track first with Gérard EYCHENNE taking the lead from early on in the race and leading over Cristina RUBKE from the USA. EYCHENNE held tight onto his lead, not making an error, to claim a motivating opening win. Holland's Wilma VAN DEN BROEK overtook the American RUBKE to finish 2nd, with RUBKE in 3rd. In the 303 one person class, Hungary's Zoltan PEGAN, the 2010 World Champion, led the race from early on and clearly demonstrated his superiority in the fleet by securing a safe lead and sailed cleverly and with smart tactics to easily take the win. Damien PEYSSON finished 2nd in the race followed by Gilles GUYON close behind - no doubt these two French skippers will have some fierce battles throughout the series.
Immediately after, the wind dropped to zero and there was no other choice for the race committee than to postpone racing, and send the sailors ashore to wait for the breeze. On a positive note, the forecast is for more breeze over the coming days.
The breeze finally built up to 5-7 knots and the SKUD18 and Access 303 two person fleets went out to the race course – but only for the wind to disappear, forcing racing to be abandoned for the day. Stay tuned for more wind and more racing action tomorrow!
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