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Tom Slingsby and Tina Mihelic are current leaders at the Europeans
Tuesday bought the raciest sailing conditions so far to Pirita in Tallinn where the European Championships & Trophy 2010 are being held for Laser Standard and Laser Radial.
Wind was blowing from the shore at 16-24 knots throughout the day, gusty and shifty, getting a bit heavier during the first race but slowing by the second race. Overall it was an exciting mixture of wind, speed and challenge for the sailors.
The two-time Laser Standard world champion Tom Slingsby from Australia was enjoying the challenging conditions in Pirita, achieving a third and a first place in his group races. This made Slingsby the new overall leader, pushing Dutch Rutger Schaardenburg to the third overall position. The wind also favoured Austrian Andreas Geritzer, the Olympic silver medallist in Athens, who rose to the second overall place.
Philipp Bhl (GER) was the only athlete today to win both races in his group. Double-victory enabled the German to leap from his yesterday’s 34th overall place to current no 18. Bhl claimed it was an unbelievable day of racing for him. “I think there are many good sailors here and I just sailed a bit faster than the others today cause of good tactics and maybe my new hiking pants had also something to do with it. Today was really nice out on the sea – sunshine and a lot of wind. The last days we had a bit of light wind and medium winds, so overall a bit of everything – it’s really perfect here in that sense. I hope we will get more wind in the next days or like today.”
The current leaders in Laser Standard after six races are as follows:
1 Slingsby Tom (AUS) 10,0
2 Geritzer Andreas (AUT) 16,0
3 Schaardenburg Rutger (NED) 23,0
In Laser Radial, Croatian Tina Mihelic held firmly to her leader position for the third consecutive day, scoring no 2 and 8 in the races. Current world champion Sari Multala from Finland made an outstanding performance, winning one race and coming second in the other, which enabled her to rise into the current top three. British athlete Charlotte Dobson also managed to climb today to no 2.
The current leaders in Laser Radial after six races are as follows:
1 Mihelic Tina (CRO) 9,0 (3, 1, 1, 2, 2, 8)
2 Dobson Charlotte (GBR) 20,0
3 Multala Sari (FIN) 23,0
Wednesday will continue with the last two qualification races which will determine the fleets for the finals on Thursday and Friday.
Please find attached photos of current leaders Tom Slingsby (AUS) and Tina Mihelic (CRO). Photos by: Aivar Kullamaa / European Championships & Trophy 2010
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