ISAF World Sailing Games at Lake Neusiedl, Austria - Day 6

Gold and Silver final fleets determined

After 5 days of racing, the sailors making the cut to the gold fleet have been determined. The gold fleet sailors now have the chance to qualify through to the Final Medal Race and a place on the podium, but they will need to deliver a top performance for the next four scheduled race days for any chance of qualifying.

Last night Lake Neuiesdl played host to the prize giving for the qualification series, with prizes presented to the leading sailors across each of the ten events.

Today, Monday 15 May is a lay day, with racing underway again tomorrow with the leading sailors from the qualification series sailing in the gold fleet, and others in the silver fleet.

The world's best

Joining the pre-qualified sailors in the gold fleet are many of the top ten in the Olympic Classes. The pre-qualified sailors, who did not need to sail in the qualification series, were given an automatic entry to the World Sailing Games. These included the top 10 sailors in the ISAF World Sailing Rankings of 9 February, except for the windsurfing events where the ISAF World Rankings of 12 December 2005 were used. With the recent introduction of the RS:X into the world rankings in January 2006, using the December 2005 rankings ensured the world’s top sailors who competed on the previous Olympic equipment had an equal opportunity for automatic entry. Alongside the top 10 ranked sailors, the reigning World Champions in each of the classes contested here in Austria were also invited.

With the cut now made between the gold and silver fleets for the final series of racing, those sailors in the gold fleets can look forward to some increased competition as the world’s best sailors join the fleet. Many of the pre-qualified sailors have spent the past few days at the venue familiarising themselves and assessing the competition.

However, the qualified sailors have the advantage of experience and familiarity with the unique weather conditions of Lake Neudiesl. Whether this will be enough to beat the world’s best will be determined as the final series gets underway on Tuesday 16 May.

Lack of experience on the lake is of little concern to world number two in the Laser Class, Paul GOODISON, who arrived at the venue this morning. 'I don't think it will give any advantage to the other sailors that they have spent several days racing and experiencing the lake conditions,' commented GOODISON. 'These light conditions are good for me and I feel confident.'

The pre-qualified sailors set to be on the start line on Tuesday are:

Women's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial
Paige RAILEY (USA) - 1
Anna TUNNICLIFFE (USA) - 2
Laura BALDWIN (GBR) - 3
Lisa ROSS (CAN) - 4
Krystal WEIR (AUS) - 5
Elizabeth VICKERS (GBR) - 6
Jennifer SPALDING (CAN) - 7
Andrea BREWSTER (GBR) - 8
Solene BRAIN (FRA) - 9
Keamia RASA (CAN) - 17

Men's One Person Dinghy - Laser
Paul GOODISON (GBR) - 2
Andreas GERITZER (AUT) - 3
Vasilij ZBOGAR (SLO) - 4
Mate ARAPOV (CRO) - 5
Gustavo LIMA (POR) - 6
Felix PRUVOT (FRA) - 8
Bernhard LUTTMER (CAN) - 10
Matias DEL SOLAR GOLDSMITH (CHI) - 12

Women's Two Person Dinghy - 470
Ingrid PETITJEAN and Nadege DOUROUX (FRA) - 1
Sylvia VOGL and Carolina FLATSCHER (AUT) - 3
Jennifer PROVAN and Carol LUTTMER (CAN) - 8
Maria Fernanda SESTO and Paula REINOSO (ARG) - 14

Men's Two Person Dinghy - 470
Gideon KLIGER and Ehud GAL (ISR) - 1
Alvaro MARINHO and Miguel NUNES (POR) - 2
Gabriel ZANDONA and Andrea TRANI (ITA) - 3
Benjamin BONNAUD and Romain BONNAUD (FRA) - 4
Dmitri BEREZKIN and Alexander ZYBIN (RUS) - 6
Matthias SCHMID and Florian REICHSTÄDTER (AUT) - 9
Sven COSTER and Kalle COSTER (NED) - 11

Men's Multihull - Hobie Tiger
Xavier REVIL and Christophe ESPANGNON (FRA) - 2
Johannes POLGAR and Florian SPALTEHOLZ (GER) - 3
Mitch BOOTH and Herbert DERCKSEN (NED) - 4
Oskar JOHANSSON and Kevin STITTLE (CAN) - 6
Roland GÄBLER and Gunnar STRUCKMANN (GER) - 7
Darren BUNDOCK and Glenn ASHBY (AUS) - 10

Men's Windsurfer - RS:X
Ivan PASTOR LAFUENTE (ESP) - 5
Maxim OBEREMKO (UKR) - 10
Riccardo GIORDANO (ITA) - 22
Ricardo SANTOS (BRA) - 23
Andreas CARIOLOU (CYP) - 31
Ho Chi HO (HKG) - 32
King Yin CHAN (HKG) - 40
Kowk Fai CHEN (HKG) - 45

Women's Windsurfer - RS:X
Marina ALABAU (ESP) - 1
Antonia FREY (GRE) - 3
Blanca MANCHON (ESP) - 5
Olga MASLIVETS (UKR) - 6
Flavia TARTAGLINI (ITA) - 12
Wai Kei CHAN (HKG) - 17
Lee KORZITS (ISR) - 43

Skiff - 49er
Pietro SIBELLO and Gianfranco SIBELLO (ITA) - 2
Nico DELLE-KARTH and Nikolaus RESCH (AUT) - 3
Rodin LUKA and Georgiy LEONCHUK (UKR) - 4
Iker MARTINEZ and Xabier FERNANDEZ (ESP) - 5

Today's lay day sees the venue empty, as the sailors spend time relaxing and enjoying the facilities on the lake. For the leading crew in the skiff, Nathan WILMOT and Ben AUSTIN (AUS), this means rest. 'We have nothing planned – but will definitely have a day off – and prepare ourselves for the finals,' commented WILMOT.

Final series format

The final series will be sailed in a gold and silver fleet, with only the sailors in the gold fleet in contention to proceed through to the Final Medal Race. The gold fleet do not carry their points from the qualification series, so earlier form has no impact as they proceed through to the crucial final series. With all crews starting from zero points – those sailors who have already completed five days of racing will need to maintain their consistency against the freshness of the pre-qualified crews who received the automatic entry.

Saturday 20 May will host the Medal Race, which will see the top 10 sailors from the gold fleet battle for medal honours.

Eight races are scheduled for each of the gold fleets, with ten races for the skiff gold fleet. Two races must be sailed to constitute a series. In the silver fleets, four races are scheduled, and six for the skiff. Boats in the silver fleets will count their points from the qualification series and the races completed in the final series, for their overall series total.

There is no racing on the final day for those boats not in the Medal Race, so there will be plenty of spectators on the shore waiting to applaud victory and console those not making it to the podium.

Continuing the format for the qualification series, racing is scheduled to start at 1100 hours each day, except for the Women’s Multihull with racing starting at 1200 hours. The latest racing can get underway each day is 1900, except for the Final Medal Race when the latest time will be 1600 hours.

More Information:

• ISAF World Sailing Games website