Star Class Eastern Hemisphere Championship - Roller-coaster day 3

by Star Sailors League on 13 Aug 2014 Another roller-coaster day was added to the 2014 International Star Class Eastern Hemisphere Championship today, race day three, with a three hour onshore postponement this morning followed by a relatively stable northerly afternoon breeze. Happily, however, competitors were able to continue the battle for the prestigious Silver Star Championship title at 3.20 pm when Race 4 finally got underway.

At the start, a majority of the Star fleet seemed to favour the Race Committee boat end of the starting line but quickly discovered the left side of the course was the best option when the major left phase wind shift reached the bottom part of the Race Course. Emilios Papathanasiou and Antonis Tsotras (GRE 8434), who proved themselves pin-end start specialists in the 2014 International Star Class World Championship this past July, were of course there at the pin ready and waiting to take advantage of the first shift of the race.

Italians Diego Negri and Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA 8491) sped along just a few metres behind and were glued to them from the very outset. In fact, according to the GPS each boat is equipped with, the Italians were also on average going the same speed of about six knots, alternating supremacy throughout the first leg, and were almost always the fastest of the leading teams. The fans watching at home were sweating while the Star fleet fought their way up the upwind leg and the leaders sailed right up on top of each other the whole time. Competitors Tom Lofstedt and Frithjof Kleen (SWE 8446) as well as Philipp Rotermund and Nils Hollweg (GER 8298) were also in the mix of the constantly changing leadership positions.

At the first windward mark, the Greek duo Papathanasiou/Tsotras (GRE 8434) rounded with a comfortable lead ahead of second place Lofstedt/Kleen (SWE 8446), and third place Negri/Lambertenghi (ITA8491). Martin Ingold and Peter Neth (SUI 7912) as well as Christoph Gautschi and Dominik Schenk (SUI 8409) followed shortly behind the leaders and had a dominating position over the next group of boats.

The first downwind leg proved difficult as well, with a brisk steady wind that made for some fine, very tight head-to-head racing within the top five leading boats.

Swedish team Lofstedt/Kleen (SWE 8446) were working their way down the left while Italians Negri/Lambertenghi (ITA 8491) sailed in the middle, and Greeks Papathanasiou/Tsotras (GRE 8434) were on the right. After countless passes back and forth, and although Negri/Lambertenghi (ITA 8491) proved to be faster, Papathanasiou/Tsotras (GRE 8434) rounded the port gate in first with the Italians close behind. Lofstedt/Kleen (SWE 8446) opted for the opposite gate mark to avoid the traffic of the remainder of the fleet approaching the leeward gate. At this stage, the first few boats began to extend on their lead on the central group.

Initially, the second upwind leg appeared to be, simple, unsurprising, and almost parade-like. The Greeks Papathanasioiu/Tsotras (GRE 8434) held on to their dominant lead with their nearest rivals once again the Swedish Lofstedt/Kleen (SWE 8446). In the meantime, however, Swiss crew Gautschi/Schenk (SUI 8409) moved up into third position until Italians’ Negri/Lambertenghi (ITA 8491) temporary struggles disappeared at the end of the third leg. A slight pressure increase on the right side of the course worked to the advantage of Negri/Lambertenghi (ITA 8491), who were able to make up a few boat lengths of lead on the fleet with just a couple of dozen metres before they reached the windward mark layline. But the best was yet to come. The last tack after layline brought the closest sailing of the day. The second time round the windward mark was genuinely pivotal with Papathanasiou/Tsotras (GRE 8434) and Negri/Lambertenghi (ITA 8491) almost neck–and-neck with just two seconds between them. It was the same scene and the same distance for Gautschi/Schenk (SUI 8409) and Lofstedt/Kleen (SWE 8446) too.

The final leg was just as exciting as the previous three down to the very last metre. The Greeks Papathanasiou/Tsotras (GRE 8434) gave no sign of defeat and continued to chase Negri/Lambertenghi (ITA 8491), allowing no more than 10 metres between them the entire leg. Behind them another blistering match race was unfoldng as Gautschi/Schenk (SUI 8409) took a commanding position ahead of Lofstedt/Kleen and Rotermund/Hollweg.

Thanks to the completion of this fourth race, the Star Eastern Hemisphere Championship title and Silver Star status can now be awarded.

The top five teams overall according to the provisional results are:

1. ITA 8491 Diego Negri and Sergio Lambertenghi. 6-1-1-1: 9
2. GRE 8434 Emilios Papathanasiou and Antonis Tsotras 3-5-3-2: 13
3. USA 8320 George Szabo and Serge Pulfer 2-2-7-15: 26
4. GER 8350 Hubert Merkelbach and Gerrit Bartel 7-7-12-7: 33
5. SWE 8446 Tom Lofstedt and Frithjof Kleen 9-14-16-4: Event website