49er Worlds - Outteridge and Jensen world champions

by Jerelyn Biehl on 13 May 2012 On the final day of the 2012 49er Worlds, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen secured history by taking the win, although under not as joyful times as they would have liked. News arrived as sailors awoke in Croatia that Frank Bethwaite (91), father of Julian and an instrumental partner in the design and continued development of the 49er, had passed away overnight. While many of the current sailors may not have known Frank, they certainly were enjoying his product and more than likely many had read one of his books on high performance sailing.

Two races were held in the morning for the silver and gold fleets and the bronze fleet results stood on the previous days score. Six to eight knot winds mixed the fleet up a bit as last attempts were made to make the medal race. As a tribute, the medal race winners carried a black card in their sails in memory of Frank Bethwaite. Young guns Marcus Hansen and Josh Prebski (NZL) sailed a brilliant medal race to move them up in the standings with the medal race held directly in front of the S.C. Uskok to the delight of the crowds that had gathered on the beach and pier to cheer on the sailors.

Second overall was the team of Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) who had incredible speed and amazing ability to pick the right shifts on the water all week. Danish Olympic team members Allan Norregaard and Peter Lang moved into the bronze medal position by having two great races earlier in the day and finishing fourth in the medal race.

Silver fleet was won by Matthieu Frei and Yann Rocherieux (FRA) who maintained a consistent series. The Bronze fleet was won by Jan Hauke Erichsen and Max Lutz (GER).

The medal ceremony was held directly afterwards and began with a moment of silence by all competitors.

Although champions were crowned the Class was saddened by such a great loss. As the sun set in Zadar, friends bid farewell to see each other at another championship and Olympic teams prepared for the Games this summer.

Final Results
Rank	Nat	SailNo	Total	Nett	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q5	Q6	Q7	Q8	Q9	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5	F6	F7	F8	M
1	AUS	1	104	78	3	-11	4	3	5	2	1	1	2	2	8	6	8	4	1	-15	12	16
2	NZL	2	122	91	2	7	2	-8	7	6	3	3	4	4	19	2	7	1	3	-23	9	12
3	DEN	5	140	106	5	7	-11	7	9	8	2	10	4	9	-23	1	13	12	2	7	2	8
4	FRA	1161	144	106	-12	6	3	2	1	10	6	3	10	8	7	10	4	2	(BFD)	4	16	14
5	DEN	1242	153	116	2	4	12	4	8	1	7	2	-18	5	6	18	18	5	11	9	-19	4
6	NZL	110	159	123	5	5	8	8	10	6	2	-19	10	14	10	7	3	7	12	-17	14	2
7	GER	100	165	123	-18	5	17	3	4	2	10	2	11	13	3	3	5	9	16	10	-24	10
8	FRA	1230	159	127	-15	1	7	8	3	3	9	13	1	-17	15	14	6	16	6	16	3	6
9	BER	1293	188	136	6	1	4	(BFD)	5	16	2	3	7	16	2	15	1	3	(BFD)	14	23	18
10	ESP	1220	192	162	6	-8	1	4	6	4	1	4	2	10	14	-22	14	13	4	19	8	OCS

 

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