ILCA 6 & 7 - European Olympic Qualifier -Vilamoura POR - Day 1

In a light initial 6kn Seabreeze increasing to 20kn, the qualifiers for the last European Olympic berths (2 per class) began yesterday in Vilamoura. ----- The ILCA 6 women opened the competition in light winds, freshening up to 12kn for the second race of the day. With two race wins each in their groups, Vasileia Karachaliou GRE and Anne-Marie Rindom DEN took the lead. Marie Barrué FRA follows with two 4th places on rank 3. The open Olympic berth positions are held by Carolina João POR (rank 21) and Ebru Bolat ROU (rank 56). ----- Paige Railey USA (St Francis YC) follows in 16th. Maura Dewey CAN (RVYC) is 24th, Sarah Douglas CAN (Ashbridge YC) 37th, and Emma Oetling Ramirez MEX (Secretaria de Marina) 71st among the 89 starters. ----- In the ILCA 7, Robert Scheidt BRA leads with two 2nd places ahead of Maxim Nikolaev RUS (2/3). Tonci Stipanovic CRO and Stefano Peschiera PER are tied for 3rd place. The fight for the two Olympic berths at stake is tight with Joao Rodriguez ESP (rank 8), William De Smet BEL (rank 10), and Eliot Merceron SUI (rank 14). ----- Charlie Buckingham USA (NHYC) occupies rank 13, Liam Bruce CAN (Port Credit YC/CSDS) is 88th, and James Juhasz CAN 101st among the 139 participants. ----- All rankings and the daily report.