Everything that could happen did happen on the first day of racing at the European Championships; but Steve Allen will be well satisfied with his first place in the overall ranking after 2 bullets in today’s three “back to back” races.[more]
A delayed start, followed by race one being abandoned, twice, led to a long postponement at the beach before racing resumed at 16.50. Rain showers throughout the day brought with it permanent wind-shifts which meant the Race Director, Bruno de Wannemaeker, having to reset the course before each race.
It was decided to go for 3 back to back races to ensure we made the most of the time, and conditions, available – and to validate the championship. This is possibly the first major championship where this rule, approved at the 2008 AGM, has been implemented.
A collision between LAT-23 and FRA-823 in race 3 led to redress for Janis Preiss and 4th place overall, and demotion from the top 10 for Valentin Brault who records a DNE!
The only OCS of the day saw Filip Korczycki (POL-555) lose out on a top ten finish in both race 3 and the overall ranking.
A long day for all concerned with the championship and despite the conditions, which made launching, and returning to the beach, tricky, most competitors started and finished all races.
At the end of the day the event is set to be a close fought championship; with at least 6 riders within a few points of the top there is no room for error.
Racing resumes tomorrow from 10.00.
Top 6 after 3 races:
1) Steve Allen (AUS-0) 6pts
2) Casper Bouman (NED-52) 9pts
3) Michal Polanowski (POL-16) 11pts
4) Janis Preiss (LAT-23) 12pts
5) Sebastian Kornum (DEN-24) 13pts
6) Arnon Dagan (ISR-1) 15pts
Full results (after protests)
Course day 1
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