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Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands ruled the first racing day of the 2015 29er European championships in Medemblik, Netherlands. Emil Järudd and title defender Julius Olsen from Sweden performed most consistently with two firsts and two seconds in the red group, which lifted them to the leading position in the qualifying series after 4 races. The shifty conditions on the IJsselmeer off the coast of Medemblik caused some worries across the two courses. Some took benefit from these challenging circumstances, others struggled more with 'reading' the shifts.
The Danish duo Daniel Nyborg and Sebastian Olsen knew how to play this game and finished 1-1-2-4, which placed them second overall, two points behind the leaders. Locals Pieter van Leijen and Richard Schuurmans 'liked' this type of weather and claimed the third podium position on equal points (10) with Peter Lin Janezic and Anze Podlogar from Slovenia, and with Crispin Beaumont and Tom Darling (GBR). Mimi El-Khazindar and Emma Loveridge (GBR) are best placed girls' team in 14thposition.
Early afternoon on Saturday July 18, a total of 130 boats, representing 19 countries, lined up for the first start after a short postponement. They eventually competed in 4 groups and finished each 4 races in about 15 knots breeze, choppy water and sunny skies. Due to the great sailing conditions, the race committee decided to add one more race to the original schedule of 3.
Danish domination in Blue group
The winners of this year's Dutch Youth Regatta (DYR), Peter Lin Janezic and Anze Podlogar from Slovenia, must like the IJsselmeer, as they grabbed the first victory today. Their Danish fellow competitors Jens-Philip Dehn-Toftehoej and Christoffer Langballe took the following two bullets. 'We really enjoy this weather. We saw how the wind shifted and tacked at the correct places. We were just able to get free wind and to position ourselves where we wanted to be. We won most by going to the right places", said Dehn-Toftehoej. They also scored two fifths, which results in a 7th place overall.
Dutchmen Pieter van Leijen and Richard Schuurmans built up their performance, by scoring a 3-2-4 and finally a first. Van Leijen: 'The breeze came from the west and we have trained a lot with this direction. In addition, the wind speed reached 15 knots plus, which means that people can no longer keep their boat completely upright. Weight trim comes into place and pumping is playing an important role as well. That is exactly what we are good at. Of course we know this place pretty well, but we had to deal with an oscillating breeze, which means that you have to keep your eyes out on the course."
Denmark versus Netherlands in yellow fleet
Denmark and the Netherlands dominated the yellow fleet, with both two wins. Daniel Nyborg and Sebastian Olsen commenced with two consecutive victories, followed by Odile van Aanholt and Quinten Bramervaer. Despite their score of 2-1-1 in the final 3 races, Van Aanholt called it an 'ok day'. 'We could have done better. We finished 8th in the first race, which was not good. We started off well, tacked to the right, but carried on too long into a header and from there we had to catch up." The Curacao born sailor lighted up as she learned about her 22-year old sister Philipine van Aanholt, who qualified for the 2016 Olympics today at the Pan-Am Games in Canada. 'Really? I have to see my mum", she shouted with joy. Van Aanholt and Bramervaer are sixth overall, only 2 points away from the podium.
Four different winners in Green group
The green group showed more variety at the front of the fleet. All four races saw a new winner, respectively Nielsen Baad/Jensen from Denmark, Beaumont/Darling from Great-Britain, Mathisen/Mathisen from Norway and Neal/Tydgat from France. French helm, Gwendal Nael, responded: 'It was difficult with all the boats on the course and shifty conditions. We started at the committee boat. There was a big shift to the right and we were first to tack. We led at the top mark and did not give up our lead."
Top 5 after 4 races without discard:
1. SWE 1713, Järudd/Hallstrom, 6 points
2. DEN 2125, Nyborg/Olsen, 8 points
3. NED 2104, Van Leijen/Schuurmans, 10 points
4. SLO 6, Janezic/Podlogar, 10 points
5. GBR 1967, Beaumont/Darling, 10 points