7:28 PM Fri 2 Apr 2010 GMT
France and Great Britain led the new edition of the Sofia Mapfre with five medals for each country. Besides, the French returned home with two golds, one in 470 men and the other in 49er. Spain and The Netherlands also won four medals.
Once again, the absolute winner of the event is an RS:X women sailor. Italian sailor Alessandra Sensini, with a clear dominance throughout the event, she has become the class and absolute winner followed in second place by 2009 World and European Champion, Spanish sailor, Marina Alabau. Third place on the podium is for Bryony Shaw from Great Britain. Sensini, who had not participated in any event since the 2008 Olympics did not expect to win 'I started training again not so long ago', said the Italian sailor whose goal was to be among the Top 5 and 'surprisingly, I have won'.
Big changes in the RS:X men with Israeli sailor Shahar Zubari stepping of the podium and finishing fourth overall at only one point from third classified, Dutch sailor Dorian Van Rjsselberghe. The victory was for Byron Kokkalanis (GRE) with 37 points followed by Tom Ashley from New Zealand.
The winner in Laser Radial has been Croatian sailor Tina Mihelic followed by Veronika Fenclova from the Czech Republic. Third overall and adrift of the two top classified in Spanish sailor Susana Romero.
Remarkable victory for Spanish sailor Javier Hern?ndez in Laser Standard after a tight battle in the medal race with Croatian sailor Tonci Stipanovic who is second overall. Javier Hern?ndez said 'this is like a dream; it is the first World Cup event I win. I wish to dedicate this victory to Kim Lythgoe, I will be thinking of him when I collect the trophy and it will be an honour to meet the King. I was very tense during the race because I knew it was going to be tough but I battled to the end. The last downwind leg was very exciting because we were all sailing in a close group. Finally, 'I managed to finish fourth and guarantee the victory in the class'
A close battle was seen in the 470 women between Italian team Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol and French team Ingrid Petitjean and Nad?ge Douroux with the Italians finally stepping up to the top of the podium. Petitjean was happy with the result but said 'it is a shame' to have finished at one step from victory. In any case, the French sailor was happy and took the opportunity for thanking the organisation 'and specially the Race committee' for their good decisions. Third place overall was for French sailors Emmanuelle Rol and H?l?ne Defrance.
France also steps on the podium in 49er. Emmanuel Dyen and Sth?pane Christidis had a great performance and finished with 10 points advantage over second classified Chris Draper and Peter Greenhalgh from Great Britain. Third place on the podium was for another British team, Stevie Morris and Ben Rhodes.
The victory in the Star class was for Swedish team Fredric L??f and Johan Tillander at only one point from second classified, Swiss sailors Flavio Marazzi and Enrico de Maria. Third place overall was for German team Alexander Schlonski and Frithjof Kleen
A tight victory was also seen in the Finn class with Edward Wright winning over Croatian sailor Ivan Kljakovic for just one point. A tough battle also took place for bronze between French sailors Jonathan Lobert and Le Breton who finished third and fourth with 53 and 54 points respectively.
The Medal Race helped Spanish 470 men team On?n Barreiros and Aar?n Sarmiento to climb to the third place of the podium. The victory was for French sailors Pierre Leboucher and Vincent Garos with a comfortable 18 point advantage over second classified sailors Kliger Gideon and Sela Eran from Israel.
In the Women Match Racing Final, Renee Groeneveld's Dutch team defeated Nicky Souter's Australian team. Third and fourth places were for Sally Barkow's US team and Lucy MacGregor's British team.
The 41 Trofeo Princesa Sof?a Mapfre comes to and end and gives way to the Semaine Olympique Fran?aise in Hy?res, next stop of the ISAF Sailing World Cup at the end of April. The Trofeo Sofia will be back next year with new dates, from 2 to 9 April 2011, to adapt to the ISAF Sailing World Cup calendar.
For full results see
www.trofeoprincesasofia.org
by Neus Jordi - Prensa Sof?a
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