Greek power !!!!

Some nationalism doesn't hurt from time to time, quite the contrary. The Platu25 World Championship started earlier today in Alicante with the participation of 76 boats from 12 countries and in this first day of racing, unfortunately, the fleet had to face a very light breeze that barely topped 7 knots. The clear leader of the day was Greece's Modus Vivendi that scored a bullet and a third.

The Greek Platu 25, owned by Kostas Karageorgiou and helmed by Takis Mantis, is in Alicante as the favorite, having won the 2008 Worlds and being runners up last year. Mantis together with Pavlos Kagialis, trimmer of Modus Vivendi, are the Greek 470 Olympic team, among the top ten in the world, and finished 5th in last week's World Championship in the Hague.

Quotes

Kostas Karageorgiou, owner: "It was a great day for us. A sailor can't ask for more than a bullet in the 1st race of a world championship. This is exactly what we hoped for. The conditions were very difficult. 5 to 7 knots and the course was full of patches.

The experience of Panagiotis Mantis who steers the boat together with the fine tuned crew work of the team led the boat to the finish line by quite a margin.

Takis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis just arrived from the heat of the 470 W/C that took place in Hague where they finished 5th.

We are very optimistic about the championship. We have won it back in 2008 and we finished second last year. We have just started the regatta and we have to keep our cool because our opponents are among the best sailors in the world.

We'll do our best to keep this lead for the rest of the World Championship".

Greece's Modus Vivendi leads the Platu 25 World Championship, after the first day of racing. Alicante, 20 July 2010. Photo copyright Jesús Renedo

Greece's Modus Vivendi leads the Platu 25 World Championship, after the first day of racing. Alicante, 20 July 2010. Photo copyright Jesús Renedo