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all the signs were good for the classic thermal breeze and whilst it came later than expected three good races were held in Force 2-3 conditions. Felix Hofinger (AUT) lead the fleet away from the committee boat and immediately tacked into a lift which gave him a commanding lead. Marek Bachtik (CZK) and Al Hall (GBR) battled for the minor places with Bachtik just getting the edge downwind to secure second. The bias had changed for the second start, something which Hall was quick to take advantage of although the first three places were very close rounding the windward mark. A tight downwind leg saw Hall, Bachtik and Hofinger pull away from the remaining fleet with barely a few seconds between them. Up the final beat Hofinger dropped back leaving Bachtik chasing Hall down to the finish, they finished a few seconds apart with Hall holding out just.

Race three saw many place changes after a right wind shift on the first beat. Some new names lead by Toni Eigenstuhler were now in the top three places. However Bachtik and Hofinger had very good race pace and after the final windward mark they had re-established a one two position. Meanwhile Hall who had found himself on the wrong side of the first beat shift fought back to third place, overtaking five boats on the final downwind leg to secure third.

After three races Bachtik holds a one point lead, from Hofinger, and then Hall a further point behind. For the second day the host club provided a wonderful Austrian meal and free beer all evening. Some local "Schnaps" and dark rums were sampled on a beautiful evening on the club's terrace nearby the lake. Sunday unfortunately did not allow any more racing and the race committee ended the day after ohne starting attempt in the dying southerly morning breeze.

Winner of the D-One Austrian Open 2016 is Marek Bachtik from CZE, followed by local sailor Felix Hofinger, securing the Austrian Class Champion title and third place goes to Al Hall from England. Second place in the Austrian Championships goes to August Schram (4th overall) and third to Georg Schöffegger (6th overall) from Lake Wolfgangsee.

We want to thank the race committee, the restaurant team and especially all the international sailors who made their way to Austria. We hope you enjoyed your stay and we are looking forward to see you again in 2017. Finally, we wish good luck for all our D-One friends competing at the Gold Cup at Garda next weekend.

 

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