Ashby, Brewin and Landenberger A-Cat Worlds top three

by Rob Kothe & Gemma Noon on 9 Jan 2009 Six time A-Cat World Champion Glenn Ashby was a relaxed spectator for the final race, Race 9, in the 2009 A-Cat World Championship today. The conditions were challenging today as they had been all week.

On the left hand side of course, a small rain cell was bending the wind left and up the first beat Germany’s Bob Baier had stepped out on the fleet.

Australia's 1996 Olympic Tornado Bronze medalist Andrew Landenberger was second, just ahead of Thomas Paasch (Den), followed by dual Laser World Champion Tom Slingsby, then four more Australians Wayne Mercer, Brad Collett, Dave Brewer, Dave McKenzie and Mike Drummond (NZL).

Down the first run Landenberger sailed through Baier. At the top mark the second time he was still leading Baier, with Queenslander Brad Collett in third place ahead of Tom Slingsby, New Zealander Mike Drummond and Dave Brewer.

But the lead changes continued as the eventual winner Brad Collett explained ashore.

‘Downwind my medium wind battens paid off. I climbed to third then downwind I was doing very well. I got to the lead on the second downwind; fell back to fourth again on the upwind then flew home for a win. Overall it was a very good regatta. I had a bit of bad luck in a few races which put me back in the points, but nice to win the last race.’

Second across the line was Baier, then Tom Slingsby and Andrew Landenberger.

Ashore Slingsby had a big grin. ‘I can do the upwind thing; it’s just like Lasers, big fleet start. Still a lot of work to do on downwind technique, but it’s a lot of fun.’

Landenberger finished third overall in the regatta. He led twice but fell back to fourth but was still pleased with the results.

‘Today there were big oscillations in the course. Two boats would go one way and one would go the other. At the end I was set up for heavy wind and the breeze softened so I lost my lead. Then it was Port/starboard on the finish line, so Slingsby just got me,’ Landenberger said.

Wandering through the boat park, shaking hands with sailors, Glenn Ashby commented ’It’s been a busy week. It’s been a fantastic event; we’ve had some excellent conditions. We’ve had a lot of great sailing and we’ve got in every race of the series on schedule.

'To get through the races in the Nationals bar one and a whole series of the Worlds, I think they’ve certainly got the bang for their buck. They should be happy,' Ashby said.

The Worlds will be held in Italy in 2010 and possibly Germany in 2011.

‘There’s a couple of good venues to look forward to and with the European Championships in the middle. The A-Class is going very strong,’ Ashby said.

Swiss sailor Luc Du Bois summed up. ‘It’s a great venue with good organisation, so I’m very happy that I came here. The next two Worlds are in Europe, so I don’t know if that will put the balance back on our side; it’s always the same guy who wins anyway.

‘It’s a difficult time to be racing with Glenn Ashby out there. He’s a tough guy and tough competition and he’s proving year after year, that sailing well is the most important thing.’

Overall Results

Place Sail No. Bow No. Skipper Origin Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7 Race 8 Race 9 Points
1 AUS 1 1 Glenn Ashby VIC 3 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 dns 8
2 AUS 4 11 Steve Brewin NSW 1 8 5 4 3 6 2 5 dns 26
3 AUS 24 35 Andrew Landenberger NSW 13 7 6 3 10 21 3 2 4 35
4 ESP 11 87 Manuel Calavia ESP 2 11 11 8 4 5 6 3 7 35
5 GER 14 70 Bob Baier GER 17 5 9 27 2 1 11 7 2 37
6 AUS 938 53 James Spithill NSW 4 9 2 6 16 10 9 4 8 42
7 SUI 202 89 Luc Du Bois SUI 8 2 7 23 9 4 8 8 5 42
8 AUS 902 2 Scott Anderson NSW 23 6 3 2 5 9 5 17 15 45
9 AUS 908 10 Dave Brewer VIC 6 10 4 10 6 3 32 11 9 48
10 AUS 10 17 Brad Collett QLD 35 4 OCS 9 18 8 4 9 1 53
11 AUS 822 45 Nathan Outteridge NSW 11 16 10 7 8 13 16 12 11 72
12 DEN 1 64 Thomas Paasch DEN 9 12 14 13 32 19 13 33 12 92
13 AUS 321 58 Andrew Williams NSW 24 15 24 11 11 11 14 15 19 96
14 AUS 832 52 Tom Slingsby NSW 28 3 dnf 22 7 38 7 29 3 99
15 NZL 245 82 Mike Drummond NZL 18 55 20 18 13 OCS 18 6 6 99
16 AUS 924 18 Ben Deed VIC 7 23 22 5 37 15 12 23 28 107
17 AUS 13 5 Jack Benson NT 14 27 16 33 12 20 15 21 17 115
18 AUS 889 47 Graeme Parker VIC 15 13 12 14 30 14 26 30 26 120
19 AUS 900 42 Wayne Mercer VIC 12 20 15 49 15 26 31 24 10 122
20 GBR 007 67 Chris Field GBR 10 24 8 30 36 32 21 16 18 127
21 NZL 1 83 Murray Philpott NZL 16 14 18 20 17 25 20 28 dnf 130
22 AUS 893 22 Dave Ellis VIC 36 19 19 29 19 dnf 17 20 13 136
23 NED 28 79 Pieter Jan Dwarshuis NED 33 29 21 24 14 7 29 14 32 138
24 AUS 907 40 Dave McKenzie VIC 20 17 25 25 38 12 19 26 dnf 144
25 AUS 865 50 Stuart Scott VIC 29 25 13 17 29 28 22 18 22 145
26 AUS 37 37 Bruce McArthur NSW 38 22 29 19 31 22 30 19 20 161
27 NED 3 80 Sjoerd Hoekstra NED 61 35 17 15 dnf dnf 10 13 14 165
28 AUS 936 7 Stephen Brayshaw VIC 39 31 36 DSQ 24 18 43 10 16 174
29 GER 599 72 Matthias Dietz GER 5 28 30 12 26 dnf 41 39 36 176
30 AUS 923 41 Simon McKeon VIC 21 21 23 RDG 35 30 24 31 35 176
31 ITA2 91 Eugenio Calabria ITA 40 30 dnf 28 27 23 23 25 21 177
32 AUS 8 8 Graeme Harbour VIC 22 18 27 46 28 34 33 34 40 196
33 AUS 844 30 Richie Howells VIC 64 58 28 39 20 17 40 27 39 210
34 BRA5 62 Clinio Swan de Freitis BRA 31 32 39 21 43 36 50 37 29 225
35 GER 79 74 Klaus Raab GER 75 64 43 40 23 16 RDG 40 31 225.4
36 GER 12 71 Donald Beike GER OCS 44 56 45 21 24 28 35 34 231
37 GER 76 76 Helmut Stumhofer GER 30 26 32 36 51 50 RDG 51 23 235.5
38 FRA 7 65 Jean Louis Le Coq FRA 19 56 33 37 40 41 34 48 38 242
39 AUS 922 31 Mark Johnston NSW 49 43 34 dnf 39 47 36 22 24 245
40 AUS 7 51 Hamish Sinclair VIC OCS 41 26 32 60 54 37 32 27 249
41 AUS 19 19 Russell Denholm VIC 48 45 31 34 34 35 39 44 37 254
42 AUS 880 56 Gavin Vize NSW 37 37 35 40 dnf 58 35 36 42 262
43 AUS 916 54 Andrew Steenhuis VIC 57 52 37 59 22 29 58 41 25 263
44 ITA1 94 Guido Longhi ITA 70 36 41 26 47 44 38 50 47 279
45 ITA31 90 Luigi Blancato ITA 50 33 52 16 49 42 47 55 dnf 289
46 AUS 864 23 Matt Firth VIC 62 38 47 42 52 59 42 38 33 292
47 AUS 021 24 Ben Geisker NSW 56 42 51 58 50 27 27 42 dnf 295
48 GBR 33 68 Nigel Lovett GBR 25 49 65 57 45 31 44 52 58 303
49 AUS 831 46 David Parker VIC 47 46 38 52 46 49 48 62 30 304
50 ESP 42 86 Mariano Martinez Pina ESP 34 dnf 46 50 42 40 56 47 51 310
51 SUI 216 88 Sergio Vela SUI 44 57 dnf 56 41 53 25 52 41 312
52 AUS 9 20 John Dowling QLD 63 48 53 47 44 33 45 54 56 324
53 AUS 913 29 Brian Hooper QLD 58 34 42 dnf 59 45 54 46 46 325
54 GER57 69 Andras John GER 27 47 75 53 57 46 61 58 43 331
55 ITA64 93 Roberto Casadei ITA 26 53 44 43 33 37 dns dnf dns 331
56 NZL 233 84 Ken Urquhart NZL 55 54 40 69 65 52 52 43 48 344
57 AUS 836 28 Zac Breaden NSW 71 51 48 74 54 39 RDG RDG 53 357.3
58 GER 21 73 Marco Goetz GER 53 50 50 54 48 51 59 dnf 52 358
59 AUS 824 55 Ken Symonds QLD 67 62 49 48 61 43 53 56 49 359
60 AUS 914 36 Dave Loutit VIC 43 59 dnf 55 53 61 51 45 dnf 367
61 AUS 935 9 Steve Breaden NSW 68 60 59 63 58 57 49 58 59 400
62 ESP 9 85 Juan Antonio Ladron de Guevara ESP 52 78 66 38 55 dnf 66 69 55 401
63 AUS 934 12 Peter Bradbury QLD 72 61 45 60 64 60 70 RDG RDG 413.4
64 AUT 1 60 Klaus Schober AUT 54 63 58 61 76 68 67 63 54 420
65 GER 56 75 George Reutter GER 32 71 73 51 69 75 62 65 dnf 423
66 AUS 911 33 Michael Kopp VIC 77 70 68 66 63 63 57 57 50 424
67 ITA946 92 Rosario Cangemi ITA 41 77 71 dnf dnf 56 55 68 61 429
68 AUS 883 3 Christopher Batenburg NT 78 76 63 dnf 77 72 60 49 45 442
69 NED 1 81 Piet Saarberg NED 46 dnf 55 dnf 56 55 dns dnf 44 446
70 AUS 788 95 Julian Jenkins NSW 91 74 70 71 67 48 75 61 65 456
71 BRA 6 63 Roger Wright BRA 42 72 57 68 62 62 dnf dnf dnf 458
72 AUS 857 38 Lucas McDonald QLD 87 39 dnf 31 25 dnf dnf dnf dns 467
73 AUS 939 43 Campbell Miller VIC 83 66 61 64 75 79 65 dnf 63 473
74 GER 95 77 Ekke Von Selzam GER 74 73 64 dnf 78 71 72 64 57 475
75 AUS 912 16 Vic Collett QLD 51 69 69 65 70 67 dns dnf dnf 486
76 AUS 862 4 David Bee