Excitement guaranteed for the Medal Races at the Sofia Mapfre

8:32 PM Thu 1 Apr 2010 GMT

'Womens Match Racing in the Princess Sofia Trophy in the Elliott 6, with Spar by Southern Spars and Sails by North Sails' Nico Martinez &copy Click Here to view large photo

Another day of changing winds in the bay of Palma decided the top 10 sailors that will sail the medal race

Sailors were faced again with difficult weather conditions in the bay of Palma. NW conditions, 8 to 12 knots, and many wind shifts put all competitors to the test.

The most exciting race tomorrow will probably be in the 470 women in the battle for victory between French team Ingrid Petitjean and Nad?ge Douroux and Italian sailors Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol, tied in first and second place respectively. Petitjean said 'tomorrow will be a great day'. The French sailor who would have liked to sail another race today is aware it will be difficult to beat the Italian team. Giovanna Micol hopes that after 'a long day' like today, there will be more wind tomorrow to enjoy good racing and be able to win.

French sailors Pierre Leboucher and Vicent Garos lead the 470 men fleet followed closely by Israeli team Gideon and Eran who still stand a chance of being the winners of the class. Spanish pre-Olympic team Onan Barreiros and Aar?n Sarmiento, at only 3 points from the podium, will try their best position to try and take third place from Austrian competitor Belcher.

Womens Match Racing in the Princess Sofia Trophy in the Elliott 6, with Spar by Southern Spars and Sails by North Sails - Nico Martinez &copy Click Here to view large photo

Javier Hern?ndez from Spain will sail tomorrow as Laser class leader with 8 points advantage over second classified Tonci Stipanovic from Croatia and 11 over New Zealand competitor Mike Bullot, in third place.

In Laser Radial, the victory will probably be decided between Croatian sailor Tina Mihelic and Veronika Fenclova from the Czech Republic while Susana Romero, in third place, still stands a chance to win.

It was not a good day for Rafa Trujillo with bad results in today's races making him drop down to fourth overall and seeing Croatian sailor Ivan Gaspic take the lead. Second place is for British sailor Edward Wright followed by French sailor Jonathan Lobert.

France and Great Britain will fight tomorrow for the top places of the podium. Emmanuel Dyen and Sth?pane Christidis and Morgan Lagraviere and Yann Rocherieux are first and fourth respectively while British teams Stevie Morris and Ben Rhodes and Chris Draper and Peter Greenhalgh are second and third.

Another close top 3 in the Star class with Italian team Negri Diego and Fernandino Colaninno still in the lead followed at only three points by Swiss team Flavio Marazzi and Enrico de Maria and four points by Swedish sailors Fredrik L??f and Johan Tillander.

Womens Match Racing in the Princess Sofia Trophy in the Elliott 6, with Spar by Southern Spars and Sails by North Sails - Nico Martinez &copy Click Here to view large photo

No races were sailed today in RS:X women and men so the overall standings remain the same as yesterday. Italian sailor Alessandra Sensini in the lead followed by Bryony Shaw from Great Britain and Italian sailor Laura Linares. And top 3 places in RS:X men for Greek sailor Byron Kokkalanis, Sahar Zubari from Israel and Tom Ashley from New Zealand.

The Women Match Race final will see Renee Groeneveld's Dutch team against Nicky Souter's team from Australia. Groeneveld won over Sally Barkow's US team and Souter beat Lucy MacGregor's team from Great Britain in the semi-finals. The victory will be tomorrow for the best of five matches.

Victory for second consecutive year for Thierry Schmitter in Paralympic class 2.4MR. Second place has been for British sailor Helena Lucas and third place for Andre Rademaker.

Complete results and further information on www.trofeoprincesasofia-mapfre.org

by Neus Jordi - Prensa Sof?a