Borg, Mariani joint Optimist winners
Valentino second, Aquilina one race away from gold
The GSSE sailing organisers yesterday decided to award more than one gold medal in the Optimist Class after the two competitors who dominated this category throughout the week finished on the same number of points when the seventh and eighth races were held in very light winds.
Malta's Benji Borg and Matthieu Mariani, of Monaco, completed their five-day programme on the 10-point mark to finish joint first, ahead of Matthew Fleri Soler who was a distant third on 25 points.
Racing yesterday was delayed by a couple of hours due to lack of winds. In fact, only one Laser Standard race was held with the other postponed for this morning. The presentations ceremony will be held in the afternoon at the Dolmen Hotel.
Peter Valentino, who had a second and seventh placing yesterday, was a silver medal winner in Laser Radial to earn Malta a third medal in this sport.
Mario Aquilina, in Laser Standard, is only one race away from a merited gold medal as organisers ran out of time yesterday. The eighth race will be held this morning. Aquilina is leading with 12 points, three ahead of nearest rival Damien Desprat Lerale of Monaco.
In Laser Radial, Valentino finished second on the leaderboard with 19 points, three short of Andrea Orlando's tally. The Monaco sailor was the best competitor in this class, winning three of the eight races contested. Cyprus' Angelos Coosgrove was third, a mere point behind Valentino.
Top six
Optimist: 1. B. Borg 10; 1. M. Mariani (Monaco) 10; 3. M. Fleri Soler 25; 4. K. Cremona 31; 5. S. Psaila 35; 6. S. Borg 38.
Laser Radial: 1. A. Orlando (Monaco) 16; 2. P. Valentino 19; 3. A. Coosgrove (Cyprus) 20; 4. A. Palmer (Monaco) 21; 5. S. Aquilina 34; 6. Y. Cloupet 39.
Laser Standard (provisional - one race to go): 1. M. Aquilina 12; 2. D.D. Lerale (Monaco) 15; 3. H.A. Geirsson (Iceland) 19; 4. H. Papadopoulos (Cyprus) 20; 5. 3. E. Sanchez (Monaco) 21; 6. J. Tabone 30.