Optimum win M30 Worlds

by Bunny Wayt on 5 Oct 2008 Guy Stening's Optimum has won the 2008 M 30 Worlds.

Optimum had a ten point day over the three races, which was enough to secure a very solid victory.

Stening who hails from Sydney, Australia is also the reigning Australian National Champion.

Jim Richardson's Barking Mad won all three of Saturday's races to finish second and is Boat of the Day for the second day in a row. Vincezo Onorato's Mascalzone Latino is third.

Onorato who an ISAF Sailor of the Year nominee and is the reigning and three time consecutive Farr 40 Class Champion was a strong challenger for the title, until retiring after a port- starboard collision casuing damage at the start of Race 8 Saturday.

Sydney’s Guy Stening and his team, consisting of Darren Jones (Mainsheet), Steve Maconaghy (Tactician), Tristram Eldershaw (Pitman), Curtis Florence (Bow), Steve Quigly (trim and strategy) and Tim Davis (trimmer), sailing aboard Optimum.

Optimum went into the last day with a nine point advantage over Barking Mad, with Farr 40 legend Vincenzo Onarato in third place overall. Optimum’s advantage was due to some very steady and fast sailing over the previous three days of moderate to very fresh conditions.

For the three races on the last day, the race committee opted to race in the waters of Narraganset Bay, citing concerns over a left-over sea state from yesterday’s 30 knot winds. The racing too place in winds from the west quarter at 7-14 knots. Barking Mad, being a local boat exploited this oppurtunity to impressively claim three wins today, which saw them win the final four heats of the regatta.

Optimum had a ten point day over the three races, which was enough to secure a very solid victory. It was a hard earnt win, with the difference in wind direction between max right and max left being eighty degrees over the course of the racing.

Asked of his expectations for the event, Stening commented 'We came here to win, no doubt about it. Our team has put a heap of work in since the last worlds, where we placed fourth. We are a very close team and we are absolutely over the moon at the moment. This is huge!'

Tactician Stephen McCongahy told Sail-World a few minutes ago 'We sailed conservatively today, We had really good starts and we did what we had to do. A few more grey hairs, but a great day and a great regatta. '

M30 Worlds - Final overall positions

1	AUS 7151	Optimum	Guy Stening	1	1	3	9	1	2	2	7	2	3	5	36.00
2	USA 65	Barking Mad	Jim Richardson	7	2	6	11	2	4	4	1	1	1	1	40.00
3	ITA 2121	Mascalzone Latino	Vincenzo Onorato	3	10	1	1	3	1	3	22/DNF	4	11	3	62.00
4	CAN 58	Mummy	Geoff Brown	2	9	10	3	5	8	13	2	6	7	2	67.00
5	USA 707	Groovederci 706	Deneen Demourkas	5	6	4	7	8	6	10	4	17	13(1)	4	84.00
6	USA 35	Groovederci 35	John Demourkas	14	5	2	12	9	3	8	5	11	8	8	85.00
7	USA 691	Adrenalin	Jeff Maludy	12	3	14	6	13	5	7	6	9	5(2)	12	92.00
8	USA 55	Illusion	John Podmajersky	11	8	9	4	10	7	9	12	5	4	13	92.00
9	USA 316	Team BOLD	Nelson Stephenson	16	7	7	14	12	9	11	9	13	2	6	106.00
10	AUS 6100	Southern Sun	Bruce Eddington	8	11	17	5	7	22/DNF	1	8	3	15	11	108.00
11	USA 316	Skiff Sailing	Gino Bottino / Joey Pasquali	17	16	16	2	15	10	14	11	12	10	7	130.00
12	USA 28	Coffee Grinder	Jeff Gladchun	10	18	5	15	11	15	12	3	16	16	15	136.00
13	RUS 9	Sailfish	Victor Los	20	17	15	16	4	14	6	22/DNF	7	6	10	137.00
14	USA 683	Turbo Duck	Bodo von der Wense	13	19	8	8	6	22/DSQ	5	10	14	19	14	138.00
15	USA 21	Just Plain Nutz	Norm & J. Cameron Dean	4	4	19	19	19	11	22/DNF	22/DNS	8	9	9	146.00
16	USA 53	Superfly	Lewis Perrin	19	21	11	10	14	12	15	15/RDG(3)	15/RDG	15/RDG	15/RDG	162.00
17	USA 630	Siren	Brian Connolly	6	12	18	18	16	13	16	13	18	12	22/DNS	164.00
18	USA 27	Kaizen	Moise Solomon/ Scott Baker	9	13	12	13	17	13/RDG(4)	22/DNF	22/DNS	15	18	17	171.00
19	USA 56	Snooker	Brant Russell	15	15	13	17	18	22/DNF	22/DNF	14	10	17	16	179.00
20	USA 47	Venturesome	Bob Zanetti	21	14	20	20	22	22/DNS	17	15	19	14	18	202.00