| Germany. Sailors set for European Match Racing Championship duel |
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| Thursday, 28 September 2006 | |
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Mareike Guhr: The international Match Race contest starts on the Außenalster in Hamburg on Friday. Twelve of the European top teams will compete against each other in tactical duels to crown the best. Björn Hansen from Sweden is in the top ten of the world and is counted among the favourites on the European title. The outstanding sports event will be the first European Championship on the Hamburg Außenalster. 38 years old Björn Hansen from Stockholm is already excited about the wind conditions on the Alster: “I have never sailed in Hamburg before. But lakes are always special. The wind changes all the time which makes it an extraordinary challenge.“ The navel architect picked his crew to met the requirements of the strong fleet and the boats called Streamline which will be used during the European Championship: Pontus Meijer and Johan Qviberg have a lot of experience in Match Race sailing and feel comfortable with the trapeze. It remains to be seen if Hansen can beat the others. He already won the JP Morgan Winter Challenge in London, Great Britain, the FIM Cup in Helsinki, Finland, and the Ice Breaker Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden, this year. “I definitely want to take a medal back home“, said the friendly Swede, „but we will sail against very experienced opponents. Especially Pierre Antoine Morvan from France and Eric Monnin from Switzerland are always good for a surprise. Swiss Eric Monnin is looking forward to sail with his brothers: “We have always been sailing together“, states the 31 years old from Immensee, “our big advantage is that we know the boats very well. “ Andreas Willim, who represents Germany, just missed out on the German national title on Monday at Lake of Constance where he finishes fourth in the final. The 39 years old Willim will sail with his crew from Hamburg: Helge Homann and Carsten Happel. Last years champion Sébastien Col from France is enable to take part in the European Championship. The 29 years old professional sailor is involved in the America’s Cup Team Areva Challenge this year. |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 28 September 2006 ) |
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