Oceanbridge Racing reports on Final of the Platu 25 World Championship

by Oceanbridge Racing on 4 Oct 2009 Simon Dickey and the Oceanbridge Racing Team reports on the final two days of the Platu 25 World Championships:

The final two days of the Platu 25 World Championship saw some fresher breezes for Punta Ala which made us feel right at home. This is what we were hoping to see as we did a lot of training in these wind conditions at home over the winter months.

We started well in most races in a good position off the line but quickly got spat out as we lacked speed and height. It was very frustrating as we were always in search for clear air.

We put this down to not knowing how to setup the European rig (mast) for these wind conditions. At home our mast section is very stiff in comparison to the rig we were sailing with in Punta Ala.

Going forward we need to look at getting one of the European mast down to NZ and learn what settings we need to make so we can be fast and capitalize on getting off the line in a strong position.

Overall we had 3 placings in the top 5 which was mostly in lighter winds. Overall we finished 22nd out of 92.

We would like to congradulate 'Vilagarcia', the Spanish team from Galizia with Anton Paz at the helm.

It was interesting to note that many of the top teams are fully professional. The Spanish had nearly 30 teams competing in this event and have the upperhand running large fleet regattas back in their country.

Going forward we have been in discussions with the Platu 25 Association on the possibility of New Zealand running the World Platu 25 Championship in Auckland in 2012. The Association is keen to have a World Championship event out of Europe and NZ could be an option along with Thailand or Japan.

This could be a great opportunity to grow the class in New Zealand and have a world recognise keel boat fleet. New Zealand needs this.

Simon Dickey thanks to my dedicated team. Martyn Baker on bow, Dave Cosgrove on Pit, Fredrik Green on trim and Andrew Baron on tactics.

I would like to send a huge thank you to everyone that helped us get here. Firstly for Oceanbridge for sponsoring us and helping to make it all possible. Russ from Qantas in giving us a great deal on the Quantas flights, Ralph Roberts for sharing his enourmous amount of knowledge with us, Graeme Robbins from Evolution Sails for coaching and sail development, Evelyn and Grant from Takapuna Boating Club and for all our supporters. Thank you!

Our next event is the New Zealand Keel Boat Championships in early November.