Flying Dutchman World Championships - Magyars are the Masters

by Alan Henderson on 21 Jul 2014 One race was sailed on the final day of the Flying Dutchman Worlds at Largs to seal the Championship. Competitors enjoyed a lay day on Thursday, with many taking a trip on the Paddle Steamer Waverly around the island of Arran. Friday was scheduled to be a racing day, but 35 knots of winds prevented any sailing.

Saturday was the final day, and the start time was brought forward to try to fit in two races, but in the event only one was possible as the winds died.

So battle resumed with Hungarians Szabolcs Majthenyi and Andras Domokos in the driving seat, with a lead of six points. In a mostly windy Championship, they took big leads in windy races, but managed to keep at or close to the front in the lighter and shiftier races too. Their leading challengers in this 42 boat fleet were current World Champions Enno Kramer and Ard Geelkerken, from the Netherlands.

The championships concluded with the Hungarian pair of Szabolcs Majthenyi and Andras Domokos taking first place in the final race and continuing their series of great results throughout the week long regatta. It wasn’t all plain sailing, though, as they reached the first windward mark in sixth place but their superior boat speed helped them battle their way to the front, finishing ahead of Italian brothers Nicola and Francesco Vespasiani by almost half a minute. Third place in the last race went to defending World Champions Enno Kramer and Ard Geelkerken from the Netherlands. This final race was sailed in 15knots with gusts up to 20, but as the last boats finished the breeze faded to a shifty five knots, making the start of another race impossible.

Overall Majthenyi and Domokos dominated the regatta counting five first places and one third to win by a comfortable margin of 8 points ahead of defending world champions Kramer and Geelkerken. The Vespasiani brothers of Italy took third on tiebreak with the German pairing of Kay-uwe Ludke and Kai Schafers on points.

Among competitors from other continents, the best sailors include respectively Edward Cox and Peter Bevis from Australia, the host country of next year’s FD Worlds, Paul Hemker and Richard Phillips from USA, and Javier and Pablo Valdes from Mexico.

A number of ladies are competing in this Championship, both as helms and crews. Top female sailor was helm Elisa Koenig of Germany who with crewman Alexander Schmidt, took 20th position overall.

For the host country, the top crew were Jon Williams and Alex Rogers in 18th place.

The FD Class thanked its event sponsors Clamcleats, Design Berlin, Banks Sails, Ronstan, Magill & Co Ltd, Old Pulteney, Allen Bros and Musto.

The next FD Worlds will be in Sydney, starting 5th January 2015.

Results, Race 7
1. Szabolcs Majthenyi and Andras Domokos, HUN
2. Enno Kramer and Ard Geelkerken, NED
3. Nicola and Francesco Vespasiani, ITA

Championship Overall
1. Majthenyi and Domokos, HUN, 8 points
2. Kramer and Geelkerken, NED, 16 points
3. Vespasiani brothers, ITA, 21 points

Full results at http://scottishsailinginstitute.com.