The medal races were like an image of the whole week, sailed in light and shifty winds.
The 42nd Semaine Olympique Francaise , the fourth regatta of the ISAF Sailing World Cup tested the nerves of the sailors and the race committee. Concentration was the key to success. With racing postponed for an hour, the Men's 470 and the Star races started behind schedule and as a consequence, there was no time to race the RS:X medal races.
Byron Kokalanis (GRE) was happy to keep his title but surprisingly, Piotr Myszka in second place was not disappointed to loose his chance to race for Gold! "I am the happiest man not to have to race the medal race" declared the Polish sailor showing his hands full of blisters!
Byron Kokalanis, added a consecutive Sailing World Cup win to his results. "I like these conditions and I am in good form. I did well in Palma so I am still rolling on the same wave."
Bryony Shaw (GBR) was excited with her performance and enthusiastic to get her opponents, Blanca Manchon (ESP) and Laura Linares (ITA), on the stage for a "wet" prize giving:
"It was a shame not to get out and do the medal race, but I'm really happy with the racing this week. It's been really light winds, so hard work, but I'm dominating in the light winds and have had really consistent results this week so I'm really happy. I had the yellow jersey after day one so it was nice to keep that all week."
The 470 Men and the Star were the first to hit the water for the medal race in their respective racing areas set in front of the jetty. The team of Nicolas Charbonnier and Baptiste Meyer - Dieu were the first to win one of many medals collected by the French team this week. With nine medals including three Gold, France ended on top of the medal tally.
"This is an important victory for us because we didn't meet our expectation in the first regattas of the year. Here, we wanted to perform well. This is our first victory since one year. We always have to increase our communication onboard to be at the top. Baptiste is more and more comfortable. We are sometimes in contradiction so we have to compromise."
Continue reading 2009-10 ISAF Sailing World Cup: Winners Finally Decided in Hyeres
"This is an important victory for us because we didn't meet our expectation in the first regattas of the year. Here, we wanted to perform well. This is our first victory since one year. We always have to increase our communication onboard to be at the top. Baptiste is more and more comfortable. We are sometimes in contradiction so we have to compromise."
Continue reading 2009-10 ISAF Sailing World Cup: Winners Finally Decided in Hyeres
