Smoother sailing for San San as she moves into top 10
'She lacks a little speed in the rough conditions and will have to sail consistently in the remaining races'
Hong Kong's Olympic gold medallist Lee Lai-shan moved into the top 10 of the Mistral Class after the second day of the World Sailing Championships, recovering from what was, by her standards, a poor start to the competition.
Despite a repeat of the Levante winds of 18 to 20 knots with occasional gusts of 30 knots, San San was more at home in the flatter water conditions, recording consistent finishes of eighth and seventh places in the two races to move up to eighth position overall and her hopes of another world title alive.
'Lee Lai Shan had a better day and got off the starting line without any mishaps,' said Hong Kong coach Rene Appel in reference to the incidents prior to race one that left her with a mountain to climb in the event's opening race. 'She lacks a little speed in these rough conditions compared to the other top women but not much. What is harder to get used to is the erratic wind shifts, even though it went a lot better than the opening day.'
In an environment that is proving challenging to all the top windsurfers - even defending Olympic champion Alessandra Sensini of Italy struggled, saying: 'It was really strange, not very easy, the conditions were tough,' - Israeli teenager Lee Korsitz stole the show.
A recent convert from the Freestyle and Funboard disciplines, the 18-year-old had not finished worse than sixth in the first four races in Cadiz, leads with 14 points and has rapidly established herself as a contender for the Olympic gold next year. 'I knew she was good when I saw her performance at [last month's Pre-Olympic regatta in] Athens,' exclaimed Sensini. 'She [Korsitz] will need watching.'
Sensini has been nothing like the force she was in Greece in August where she led throughout.
Although she finished second in race three she went on to record her second 12th place and is now sixth overall, just ahead of another traditional rival Faustine Merret of France.
However, Sensini (33 points), Merret (41) and San San (43) are all likely to lose ground when the standings take into account the discard that each sailor is allowed.
'The majority of the women have got at least one bad race, some including San San have two bad races,' explained Appel.
'Only Korsitz has so far sailed consistent top placings. San San will have to sail consistently in the remaining seven races. She can discard her 16th place but will still have to count her 12th place from race two.''
China's Lai Mingshuang lost a little ground, despite two top-10 finishes on day two, and dropped to fifth place overall behind New Zealand's Barbara Kendall in second, Australian Jessica Crisp in third, and another teenager, 17-year-old Zofia Klepacko of Poland, in fourth.
Hong Kong's other competitor, Vicky Chan Wai-kei, improved two places overall to 30th, but her 43rd place in race three ended her hopes of a finish to match her 13th place in last year's championship that guaranteed Hong Kong a representative in Athens.
Hong Kong's men have not secured an Olympic berth yet and must do so either in this, or next year's World Championships.
A top-30 finish in Cadiz would probably make sure of a trip to Athens, but neither Ho Chi-ho nor Chan King-yin improved markedly on the second day with 34th and 28th, and 25th and 23rd places respectively.
They now lie in 51st and 53rd, close to the cut-off point of 59th which will determine who continues to sail in the 'gold fleet' after the third day of racing.
At the top of the men's standings Joao Rodriguez of Portugal moved into a tie for first place alongside overnight leader Przemek Miarcynski from Poland. Julien Bontemps slipped down into third overall.
