Star Worlds, Brazil- Practice race is anything but practice

by ZDL - João Pedro Nunes on 14 Jan 2010 The 81 teams entered in the Star World Championship Race will have a first class training opportunity this Friday. The teams will compete in the 66th Darke de Mattos Regatta, the oldest Star sailing race of the country. This special promotional course will start in front of the Yacht Club of Rio de Janeiro and takes the boats out to Copacabana beach and back to the club in Urca, covering a distance of 11 nautical miles (approx. 19.3 km).

Of the 65 Darke de Mattos Regattas held so far, no fewer than 11 have been won by helmsman John King, one of the most experienced Star sailors in Brazil. Entered in this World Championship with crew member Norman MacPherson, he will be going for his 12th win. Torben Grael, owner of five Olympic medals and eight Star World Championship podium finishes, is a four-time winner of the most traditional Rio de Janeiro regatta. The winner conquers the Darke de Mattos Cup. Mattos wasn’t a sailor, but an aviator. He died near one of the ICRJ ramps in a water plane crash. Commodore Jorge de Mattos named the regatta after his brother, in honor of his memory.

The first official race of the Star World Championship will take place this Saturday at 1 p.m., in Guanabara Bay, the same location as where the last race of the world championship will take place on January 22. The race is approximately 8.5 to 10 miles in length (15.7-18.5 km) and takes approximately 2,5 hours. The other four regattas will be sailed outside the bay, in open sea, close to Rasa Island, across from Copacabana beach.

Measuring of the boats and athlete registration started this Tuesday morning at the Yacht Club of Rio de Janeiro, kicking off the competition’s calendar of events. The first Star World Championship took place in 1923 in the United States Since then, there has only been one year, in 1968, when the competition didn’t take place.

The first boat to be measured was that of Lars Grael and Ronald Seifert, serving as the model for all other measurers, who accompanied the work led by Brazilian Gunther Muller.

The Star World Championship 2010 is sponsoring by Banco do Brasil, Transpetro, Governo Federal, Gol Linhas Aéreas, Santa Constanza, Wollner and Secretaria Estadual de Turismo, Esporte e Lazer do Rio de Janeiro. The event is organized by Iate Clube do Rio de Janeiro, International Star Class Yacht Racing Association (ISCYRA), Confederação Brasileira de Vela e Motor (CBVM) and Federação de Vela do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FEVERJ).

www.starworlds2010.com