February 16, 2009

Olympic Silver & Archived News

Filed under: AshbySails, Sailing, Tornado — Glenn @ 11:18 pm

Ashby and Bundock Claim Olympic Silver!

World champions Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby have finished second to the Spanish crew of Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz in the Tornadoes.

olympic silver

In the Medal race the pair admitted they erred at the race start, costing them all hope of grabbing the gold medal that had eluded Bundock in two previous Games appearances.

“It’s my first Olympics so to come away with a silver medal I’m happy,” Ashby said.

“We’re a little bit disappointed . . . with the start we had, we just got too far back.”

In the windy conditions off Qingdao Bundock and Ashby were 9th at the first marker and a shattered rotation arm on their mast only aggravated their desperate attempt to make up the required points difference.

They finished fifth, with Spain - holding off the challenge in fourth - winning gold and Argentina taking bronze.

“We came here to win gold, but sometimes things don’t always go the way you like,” Ashby said.

“Spain were very strong all week long, they hardly made any mistakes.”

Bundock says he and Ashby were not able to get to the front, but they are pleased with securing silver.

The medal is Australia’s third for sailing in the Beijing Games, after gold in the men’s and women’s 470 class.

Olympic Sailing Information

For results and live feeds on all the Olympic racing, head over to www.isaf.org or www.sailing.org

Logo

With the countdown well and truly underway for the 2008 Olympic Games, to keep you up to date please click here to download the racing schedule (excel file). The Tornado fleet will commence racing from the 15th of August.

I have been told live internet footage of the racing will be available from the following site.

http://www.sailing2008.org/en/

More news from Ashby Sails:

2008 is certainly a big year for Mel and I. With the Olympics this year in August, this is certainly going to be a big challenge both on and off the water. I would like to take the opportunity to thank friends, customers and family for your ongoing support during the past year.

With spending hundreds of hours designing, testing and working on our Tornado sail, I have been able to implement many of the design aspects and developments into a range of classes.

I am excited to release my new 2008 designs for the 2008/09 Australian World Class Championships.

Click on the headings below for more information on Ashby Sails special offers.

2008/09 A Class Big Head Main Sail

Ashby Sailcraft Gel-Tek Flyer MkII

Ashby Sailcraft in conjunction with Gel-tek are gearing up for an exciting time with the
2008/09 A Class World Championships in Belmont Australia later this year.

A Class Promotional Video

Click to launch flash video, or go to the video page for more formats.

Coaching

Glenn is offering customers of Ashby Sails (main sail) / Ashby Sailcraft (platform) the opportunity to be involved in a half day coaching clinic to be held prior to the World Championships at Belmont (location for the Worlds). An excellent opportunity to prepare yourself for the World Championships and in the conditions you will compete in. More

Continue to read more sailing blog posts….

June 23, 2008

2008 European Championship/Mats Nyberg Trophy

Filed under: Sailing, Tornado — admin @ 10:10 pm

Thessaloniki - Greece 21 June 2008

The Greeks have won the European Championships - Again!

Local heroes Iordanis Pachalidis and Kostas Trigonis have triumphed on home waters. The Greeks were treated to horns and sirens from the spectators as the crossed the finish for the last time ahead of the French teams to seal victory.

It was a tough day on the water with the top 4 all having their worst race on the final day.

Racing got underway after a postponement of 1 hour 40 minutes on the water as the seabreeze was late to fill in and settle down. The first race of the day started in 6 knots of breeze and it proved to be more pressure on the right hand side of the course. Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher lead from the right corner with the Italians Marcolini/Bianchi in second place throughout the race.

The real interest was between the Pashalidis (GRE), Guichard (FRA) and Besson (FRA) who finished 6,8,9 respectively to bring the 3 within one point for the overall lead.
The second race of the day once again got away in 6 knots of breeze, minutes within the 1600hr final cut off.

The trend for the day seemed to be the right hand side of the course paying despite the left being better all week.

The top 4 on the score sheet found themselves on the left hand side of the course for the first upwind which was to play into the Greeks hands as they had the best drop race. The young German Mittelmeier brothers won the race followed by Santiago Lange & Carlos Espinola (ARG). The Italians Marcolini/Bianchi came in 3rd.

In the fight for the European Championship the Greeks were defending off the French for the final lap to clinch victory.

Event Website: www.tornado2008.gr