470 women ninth at Olympics / Star crew on five

QINGDAO. In moderate winds at the back of a deep depression weather system on Monday (18 August) Steffi Rothweiler and Vivien Kussatz stepped up by one place in the final medal race of the 470 class. They finished the Olympic Games 2008 as ninth overall. The Star class crew Marc Pickel and Ingo Borkowski had to go through an up and down of feelings. After the first race of the day they took the overall lead but dropped down to place five afterwards.

At the end of the racing days the Star boat was hauled out by crane and is cleaned and inspected by the crew.

“It wasn’t meant to be“, was the balance drawn by Steffi Rothweiler about her second Olympic appearance after 2004, “our goal was much higher but we could not realise it.” The two times European Champions had been among the pre-event favourites in the light winds of Qingdao, but could not really step into the game from the beginning on. Rothweiler: “It was very tricky sailing because of the many shifts and wind holes. We did not find the right solution for our tactics.” The duo started the regatta in the middle of the ranking and scored also place six in the medal race.

The difficulties on the race courses were confirmed by Pickel and Borkowski. “It is very hard to see the gusts before they arrive”, the helmsman said, “often it is too late for a reaction then.” No wonder there are so many position changes to be watched during the mark roundings. On the other hand the races are never decided before the finish line.

In race number five the Germans could profit from this up and down. They where eighth at the first mark but had a very good run on the downwind leg to suddenly lead the fleet of 16 boats. “We started to cover the competitors in the middle of the course then, which was successful with the second and third placed. But Hamish Pepper and Carls Williams from New Zealand on rank four took a sharp turn right after the rounding and snatched the lead with this risky action. At the finish the Australian team crossed the line four seconds ahead too.

“Private little gusts are decisive, we lacked two or three in the end”, said the 36 year old Pickel from Kiel. After an eighth place in race six, where Pickel/Borkowski could even gain some points, the end of the day was not too good. With a 14th they slipped from the podium down to rank five only four points behind “bronze”. The leading Swedish team Fredrik Lööf and Anders Ekström is 13 points ahead. Pickel: “When two of the tactical concepts don’t pay off, you are thrown back very quickly to the tail of this world class fleet.” But nothing is lost yet, “we will continue to fight for every metre.”

For further information please go to www.sailing.org/Olympics.

Results of the Olympic sailing competition

Overall results oft he Star class after seven races:

1 Fredrik Lööf/Anders Ekström (Sweden, 1/4/(15)/3/6/1/8) 23 points
2 Iain Percy/Andrew Simpson (Great Britain, 7/(13)/3/5/8/2/1) 26
3 Xavier Rohart/Pascal Rambeau (France, (12)/1/5/4/7/6/9) 32
4 Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Dominik Zycki (Poland, 5/6/8/2/(10)/9/3) 33
5 Marc Pickel/Ingo Borkowski (Kiel/Babelsberg, 2/(14)/1/8/3/8/14) 36
6 Afonso Domingos/Bernado Santos (Portugal, 3/3/10/(OCS)/13/3/5) 37
7 Hamish Pepper/Carl Williams (New Zealand, 4/9/2/11/1/(12)/11) 38
8 Robert Scheidt/Bruno Prada (Brasil, 10/(11)/6/1/9/10/2) 38

Final results of the 470 women

1 Elise Rechichi/Tessa Parkinson (Australia) 43 points
2 Marcelin de Koning/Lobke Berkhout (Netherlands) 53
3 Fernanda Oliveira/Isabel Swan (Brasil) 60
4 Nike Kornecki/Vered Bouskila (Israel) 66
5 Giulia Conti/Giovanna Micol (Italy) 75
6 Christina Bassadone/Saskia Clark (Great Britain) 82
7 Lenka Smidova/Lenka Mrzilkova (Czech Republic) 83
8 Sylvia Vogl/Carolina Flatscher (Austria) 84
9 Steffi Rothweiler/Vivien Kussatz (Munich/Berlin) 90
10 Natalia via Dufresne/Laia Lluisa Tutzo (Spain) 92