British sailor Ed Wright leads Finn Europeans in Palamos 27/9/06

The conditions in Palamos at the Finn Europeans provided some great sailing. The sun was out, the Tramontana was blowing from 18 to 26 knots, small choppy waved combined with a forming swell made racing exciting.

British sailor Ed Wright made the most of the day winning the first race and placing 3rd in the second. The Skandia team GBR sailor is now in the lead of the championship distancing current World Champion Jonas Hoegh-Christensen (DEN) by 6 points on the overall classification. It has been a great day as well for Anthony Nossiter (AUS) who enjoyed the gruelling conditions. The team 39 sailor warmed up in the first race with a 5th place before winning the second in style, crossing the line 40 seconds in front of Spanish hope Rafael Trujillo. “I trained a lot in Valencia in my Finn” explained Nossiter, a broad grin on his face,” but only in light weather. It is a good change to have these strong breeze, that’s more like Australia!”.

Averaging 22 knots in the first race and gusting to 26 the wind was making racing tough at times. In the second race it went down to 16 knots, however, Soren Holm (DEN) saw his mast brake and fall while on the first beat.

With four sailors winning a race each so far, the championship remains open half way through the opening series. The absence of Emilios Papathanasiou, who went back to Greeceafter hurting his knee while racing on the first race yesterday, opens the games even more.

Mark Andrews is increasing the gap in the Junior division after a 7th in race 3. He has gained five places in the general classification in 21st. Andrew Mills is 34th and Piotr Kula 3rd Junior in 38th place.