Day 1 of the 470 Mixed European Championships produced a stunning double winner – Theresa Loffler and Christopher Hoerr of Germany and an upset for defending champions – Anton Dahlberg and Lovisa Karlsson of Sweden.
With everyone looking to the Paris 2024 Olympics and the selection process in full swing, any dip in performance is a possible black-mark on the selection scoresheet.
So the back-to-back wins for Germany’s Loffler and Hoerr were a great start, with their compatriates, reigning World Champions Luise Wanser and Philipp Autenrieth (GER) down in 13th with an 8 and 10.
Jordi Xammar and Nora Brugman of Spain (5, 2) take second place, with France’s Camille Lecointre (2, 7) with Jérémie Mion trapezing in third place, just one point ahead of Hippolyte Machetti and Aloise Retornaz (6, 4).
Defending European Champions Dahlberg and Karlsson did take a win in their first race but then a 22 set them down in 18th overall.
The other winner on the day was Israel’s Gil Cohen and Liam Faytlovich which added to their earlier 13 finish put them ninth overall.
Leading the non-European competitors are Palma winners, Keijo Okada and Miho Yoshioka (3, 8) of Japan in sixth in the Open event.
For the British Sailing Team members it was not a great start, none making the top 30 on the Day 1 leaderboard.
Best placed are Vita Heathcote and Ryan Orr in 35th with a 33 and 6 place.
36th are Haydn Sewell and Faye Chatterton with 34 and 21, and 37th Hannah Bristow and James Taylor with 34 and 17.
Even further back are Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris in 42nd place.
Qualifying races in yellow and blue fleets continue on Tuesday, with the first gold and silver fleet finals races set to take place on Wednesday 17 May.
470 Mixed European Championship – Leaders after Day 1, and 2 races (67 entries)
1st GER 50 23 Theresa LÖFFLER and Christopher HOERR – – 1 1 – – 2 pts
2nd ESP 44 10 Jordi XAMMAR HERNANDEZ and Nora BRUGMAN CABOT – – 5 2 – – 7 pts
3rd FRA 1 21 Camille LECOINTRE and Jeremie MION – – 2 7 – – 9 pts
4th POR 21 11 Diogo COSTA and Carolina JOÃO – – 3 6 – – 9 pts
5th FRA 3 7 Hippolyte MACHETTI and Aloïse RETORNAZ – – 6 4 – – 10 pts
6th JPN 8 12 Keiju OKADA and Miho YOSHIOKA – – 3 8 – – 11 pts
7th GRE 7 58 Ariadne-Paraskevi SPANAKI and Odysseas-Emmanouil SPANAKIS – – 8 4 – – 12 pts
8th POR 25 19 Beatriz GAGO and Rodolfo PIRES – – 7 6 – – 13 pts
9th ISR 311 28 Gil COHEN and Liam FAYTLOVITCH – – 13 1 – – 14 pts
10th ITA 3 18 Giacomo FERRARI and Bianca CARUSO – – 7 7 – – 14 pts
11th GER 11 5 Simon DIESCH and Anna MARKFORT – – 12 3 – – 15 pts
12th FRA 16 44 Cassandre BLANDIN and Anna MARKFORT – – 16 2 – – 18 pts
13th GER 10 4 Luise WANSER and Philipp AUTENRIETH – – 8 10 – – 18 pts
14th GER 20 15 Theres DAHNKE and Matti CIPRA – – 18 3 – – 21 pts
15th SUI 3 1 Yves MERMOD and Maja SIEGENTHALER – – 10 11 – – 21 pts
16th AUT 1 30 Lara VADLAU and Lukas MAEHR – – 5 17 – – 22 pts
17th ESP 18 22 Silvia MAS DEPARES and Nicolás RODRÍGUEZ GARCÍA-PAZ – – 10 12 – – 22 pts
18th SWE 349 6 Anton DAHLBERG and Lovisa KARLSSON – – 1 22 – – 23 pts
19th ISR 15 16 Nitai HASSON and Noa LASRY – – 18 5 – – 23 pts
20th ITA 7 17 Benedetta DI SALLE and Alessio BELLICO – – 14 9 – – 23 pts
Best GBR:
35th GBR 11 25 Vita HEATHCOTE and Ryan ORR – – 33 6 – – 33 pts
36th GBR 895 46 Haydn SEWELL and Faye CHATTERTON – – 34 21 – – 34 pts
37th GBR 9 50 Hannah BRISTOW and James TAYLOR – – 34 17 – – 34 pts
42th GBR 55 20 Martin WRIGLEY and Bettine HARRIS – – 39 11 – – 39 pts
