#420 – A Royal Cork and Malahide Yacht Club combination of Peter McCann and Cara McDowell top Irish hopes in the gold fleet of the 420 Junior Europeans in Bourgas, Bulgaria. The duo are 19th and two places ahead of Douglas Elmes and Colin O Sullivan from Howth Yacht Club.
Eight races down and the USA's Wiley Rogers/Jack Parkin have proven their mastery of the race track here in Bourgas. The team is managing the competition skillfully and has converted their 5 point lead from yesterday, to a 24 point lead today.
Giving it their best shot to displace them are Greece's Souzana-Ioli Bakatsia/Nikoletta Papageorgiou in second overall, with Will Logue/Bram Brakman (USA) also on the attack and matching the points score of the Greeks. On current form Rogers/ Parkin seem unstoppable and assured of gold, so the fight will be for silver and bronze.
Bakatsia/Papageorgiouhave racing together for four years, finishing fifth at the 2014 420 Ladies World Championships.
"Yes, we are doing pretty well, we didn't expect this," commented Bakatsia. "These conditions suit us. We are friends outside sailing and we have good teamwork and communication, which is why we do well."
The pair hold onto second overall, despite their worse performance of the series, a 16,33, which Papageorgiou put down to their poor starts.
The ninety boat 420 Open fleet is now split into equal fleets of 45 boats for the gold and silver six race final series. Leading the silver fleet are Portugal's Tomas Barreto/Joao Prierto.
Two races today for each of the gold and silver fleets.
420 Open - Provisional Top 5 Results after 8 Races
1. Wiley Rogers/Jack Parkin (USA) - 12 pts
2. Souzana-Ioli Bakatsia/Nikoletta Papageorgiou (GRE) - 38 pts
3. Will Logue/Bram Brakman (USA) - 38 pts
4. Nitai Hasson/Tal Harari (ISR) - 20 pts
5. Rio Demi/Maria Coluzzi (ITA) - 44 pts
