South Africa and Puerto Rico in the lead - Hobie 16 Worlds

by Diana Bogaards on 1 Nov 2005 On day one of the semi-finals for the Hobie Cat 16 Worlds 2005 in South Africa, the competitors faced light conditions for a change. The tropical colours of Port Elizabeth area had been covered by smoke, as a fire further inland has been a spoil-sport for the last couple of days. Today’s surf did not cause any problems either.

The first race on Monday October 31st showed close racing in the top. Shaun Ferry and Michele Le Sueur from South Africa went inshore, took advantage of a lift and finished first. The current World Champion Hobie Tiger, Enrique Figueroa and his crew Carla Malatrasi from Puerto Rico, won the second race after the French guys Chichemanian/Bruges had to take a penalty.

‘We under tacked the mark and were lucky to get a lift’, said Michele Le Sueur after their victory. ‘We could double trapeze, as everybody else sat inside.’ Ferry and Le Sueur had a bad start: ‘We had dirty air and we were pushed up, so we were forced to tack.’ They took a flier inshore and sailed between the rocks just outside the surf towards the upwind mark. Le Sueur: ‘That paid, so we decided to go back in the second beat and this time we tacked earlier.’

That was their golden move, since it opened up a comfortable lead. At their finish, the South African people cheered for their fellow-countrymen. The French teams of Thomas Richards/Moana Trankcart and Cédric Bader/Yann Montoya sailed consistently in the top three and finished respectively second and third. Bader: ‘We did not take any risk and staid with the fleet. Our start was bad, but we went to the right side on the left. There was more wind and the waves pushed us up.’

Fleet two - Penalty takes victory

During the boat swap, the competitors showed real team spirit, as they helped each other with tuning the rig. After two general recalls, the second fleet started clearly. The wind had dropped to five knots, so it was a game of wind search. The French sailors from New Caledonia, Rudolph Chichemanian and Christian Bruges, had a good boat speed and were first at the upwind mark. Chichemanian: ‘After we rounded it, we passed another boat in front on port tack, but it was too close and we had to take a penalty.’

Enrique Figueroa and Carla Malatrasi grabbed the lead and finished first. Figueroa: ‘We were fighting with them, because they were really fast. The wind was very light and shifty, so it was difficult sailing. We came inshore and halfway we got more pressure.’ The race committee shortened the course at the bottom mark, due to a further wind drop. The South Africans Paul Lagesse and Tyran Kerford came in third.

After a postponement, the third fleet was sent out, but two general recalls later, the race was abandoned.

Hobie Beach of Port Elizabeth has changed in a playground for sailors, as the Hobie kayaks work overtime in the waves. The public enjoyed the show of people flipping over in the surf. Other competitors go out surfing in between races, like local Shaun Ferry did after his victory. Blaine Dodds has been spotted with his board as well.

Tomorrow will be the second day of the semi-finals for the 17th Hobie Cat 16 World Championships. 112 Teams are competing for one of the 56 spots in the final races on Thursday and Friday.

Top five after day one of semi-finals:
1. Figueroa / Malatrasi (PUR) and Ferry / Le Sueur (RSA)
3. Chichemanian / Bruges (FRA) and Richards / Trankcart (FRA)
5. Bader / Montoya (FRA) and Lagesse / Kerford (RSA)

Full Results: http://www.hobieworlds.com/h16-2005/results/open-semi-final_overall.html