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Poland, Łeba Mayors Cup

July 18th - 20th

Pictures from Thomas Glas at Google Picasaweb

by Robert Deaves

Defending world champion stamps his authority on final event before 2007 OK Dinghy World Championship.

60 competitors sailed for the Mayor’s Cup from 18-20 July in a range of testing conditions.

Only one race was managed on Wednesday when the wind disappeared shortly after the end of race one. Current world Champion Nick Craig (GBR) was the early leader and built a useful lead before being the wrong side of a massive shift that brought Luke O’Connell (NZL) to the front. Craig recovered to second.

Sailors had a much harder time on Thursday with the more expected strong winds and big seas. Three testing races were sailed which were dominated by Craig and a selection of the strong Kiwi team. Craig won two races with Mark Perrow (NZL) winning the other.

On Friday, sailors were quite glad for the four hour postponement to rest their weary limbs to allow the wind to fill in. In the afternoon, two more races were sailed in light to moderate winds and a difficult chop. Paul Rhodes (NZL) and Greg Wilcox (NZL) won these races, although a second place in the first for Craig was enough for him to take the cup with a race to spare.

This event should provide a good indication for the world championships starting Monday, although several of the key players did not sail the pre-worlds event. However Craig has proved he is still the man to beat, although he was seriously challenged by several members of the New Zealand team, which had six boats in the top 10.

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