Balushi slips down to 22nd spot
It was a forgettable day for Oman's Mohammed al Balushi at San Isidro in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Tuesday as the 15 year old sailor was marked DNC (did not come) in the fourth race of the Windsurfer-Techno 293+ and then failed to finish (DNF) the sixth race.
With the fifth race cancelled due to lack of breeze, Mohammed, who was overall 16th at the end of four races on Monday, slipped down to 22nd among a fleet of 24 sailors.
Mohammed had begun his campaign on a positive note finishing 12th in the first race. He followed with a 22nd place but made a remarkable comeback in the next to end up 13th. However, Tuesday’s races cost him 25 points each to push him way down the fleet ranking.
Following Tuesday’s action, the Omani has a score of 97 points with a net score of 72. He is only marginally ahead of Algeria's Imad Eddine Brighet (73 net) while Myanmar’s Saw Thaw Thi Htoo (93) sits last.
Tuesday races began with the slalom single-elimination format, where a series of heats were raced in order to rank sailors, who would then compete in different finals based on this ranking.
Coming out on top in first race was hosts' Belisario Kopp, although he took a 'U' flag dis- qualification in the second race.
Greece's Alexandros Kalpogiannakis could only finish 13th in the slalom, but a win in the fleet race later meant he kept top spot. Nicolo Renna of Italy is second, while Great Britain's Finn Hawkins is third.