he seventh day of the Athens 2003 Regatta Sport Event, held in the Agios Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre, was a day of full competition activity in all Olympic classes, with the exception of competitors in the Star class, who had the day off. Around one o’clock in the afternoon wind conditions were relatively calm and there were fears of cancellations, but the experienced and highly competent persons in charge of the sport took advantage all their ‘ammunition’ in store (e.g. lane changes) and managed to complete the races in all classes, even though there were some delays in the scheduled start times.
In the Women’s Mistral class, the Italian gold medallist at the Sydney Olympics, Alessandra Sensini, continues to hold the lead in the general ranking. Today she finished 4th and 2nd respectively, and with only 9 penalty points is first in the general ranking. The German Lux finished first in today’s first race (7th overall), followed by Lee (Hong Kong) and Korsiz (Israel). In the second race (8th overall), the French Merret finished first, followed by Sensini and Lee. The Greek champion Athena (Tonia) Frey finished 17th in the 7th race, while in the 8th race she was penalised with 22 penalty points for a false start, falling to 10th place in the general ranking with 61 penalty points. http://www.athens2004.com/files/testeventsailing/SAW74A1_%20SAW001100_C74A_8_0.pdf
Nikos Kaklamanakis confirmed one more time his top class, adding two more first places on the way to winning the Gold medal, in the men’s Mistral class. After a bad start in the Athens 2003 Regatta, as he had finished 8th and 5th in the first two races, and had been penalised with a ‘disqualification’ for his now famous accident with Swiss Anja Kaeser, the Greek Olympic Gold medallist in Atlanta improved his performance dramatically, and from then on has won all the races run so far. Second in both races held today (7th and 8th) was Israel’s Fridman, who is hot on the heels of the Greek champion, with only three points between them. Third to finish in the 7th race was China’s Zhou, with Portugal’s Rodrigues finishing third in the 8th race. http://www.athens2004.com/files/testeventsailing/SAM74A1_%20SAM001100_C74A_8_0.pdf
