Wind and currents on the Marstrand fjord were tricky today and many took the forecast for the wind change into consideration right from the start – but it never came. Those who stayed with prevailing wind and current to the north had a clear advantage.
Three races have been completed. Overall leader is Lars Hendricson UKR8, runner up RUS27, skipper Anatoly Loginov. In third place is UKR9, skipper Werner Fritz. Best Swede after three races is KG Löhr, SWE352 in seventh place. KG Löhr , Dragon sailor for many years, has now decided to go for top placements. He has therefore engaged professional tactician Jesper Bendix as crew, invested in the best equipment and lots of training, which has all paid off.
Right now it looks as if Lars Hendricson is going to repeat his successes from 1999 and 2007 when he won the Dragon Gold Cup. “We had a nice race today and chose the right side of the race course. No major mistakes but some difficulties seeing the marks in the rain.”
Hans Wallén, best Swede today, is a highly qualified yachtsman with a Worlds in Optimist and a silver in Starboat in the 1996 Olympics. He is new as skipper in the Dragon class but has some experience as tactician for Björn Palmqvist. Four years ago they won the Swedish Championships and have also won the French and German Championships. ”Our tactics here in Marstrand has been to keep away from the big clusters, stay as ”clean” as possible and not get involved in any tricky situations. It has turned out well. Today we chose not to put our faith in a windshift , which was the right decision.”