Star World Championship Day Five

by Lynn Fitzpatrick - www.worldregattas.com on 7 Aug 2009
2009 Star World Championship. It was Robert Stanjek's and Markus Koy's (GER) turn to lead the 86-boat fleet around the race course. The fleet started under a black flag, lots of sunshine, flat water and wind that clocked right, right, right throughout the afternoon.

Stanjek and Koy were on pins and needles trying to protect their position against fellow German teammates Jojo Plogar and Tim Kroeger; two-time Star World Champion, Alexander Hagen and Kai Falkentahl. Americans George Szabo and Rick Peters and Kiwis Hamish Pepper and Craig Monk were also a threat throughout the race.

The rest of the fleet was well behind the leading cluster of five, but some of the boats that took a couple of hitches to the left up the final beat threatened to scramble the standings. Big gains and big loses were the story of the day. The most significant come-backs on the day were made by the teams with gold stars who had placed extra emphasis on light air training last year in preparation for the Olympics in Qingdao, China. Swedish favorites, Freddy Lööf and Johan Tillander recovered from a low teens first mark rounding to seventh place. Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki (POL) were barely in the top quarter of the fleet and recovered to sixth, and Xavier Rohart and Pierre Alexis Ponsot (FRA), who could easily count the boats behind them during the first weather mark rounding, pulled out a 14th.

'We are so happy,' said Robert Stanjek following the race. 'We didn't have any extra special speed. It was a very tactical race and we were fortunate that there was only one way to go on each upwind and downwind.' Stanjek was also very happy for Jojo Polgar who finished second in the race and is in sixth overall going into the final race. 'It was just like ideal Tornado sailing conditions,' said Stanjek. 'You hit the corner and do one tack. You can't afford to make unnecessary tacks in conditions like these.'

The 2009 Star World Championship will be decided in the last race. The 2006 Star World Champion, Hamish Pepper and his crew, Craig Monk have a single point advantage over Americans George Szabo and Rick Peters and Swiss sailors, Flavio Marazzi and Enrico De Maria. Three points behind the Kiwis are the Swedes, Lööf/ Tillander. Andrew Campbell and Magnus Liljedahl (USA) and Polgar/Kroeger are less than 10 points behind the leaders. Pepper/Monk go into the final race with the most consistent scores and the lowest discard (11 points) and are assured of a finish of seventh or better overall.

Throughout the regatta, the Americans have shown strength as a team. They will line up for the deciding race in the series in third, fifth and eighth place overall. Andy Macdonald and Brian Fatih (USA) will have to have an exceptional race to make it into the top 10, but are in a close race against Mats Johansson and Leif Möller (SWE) to win the Masters Trophy.

Star

Place	Boat	Skipper	Crew	Sail #:	Fleet	1	2	3	4	5	Total
1	NZL 8187	Hamish Pepper	Craig Monk	8187	Isol	11.0	9.0	1.0	11.0	5.0	26
2	USA 8273	George Szabo	Rick Peters	8273	SDB	54.0	1.0	3.0	20.0	3.0	27
3	SUI 8364	Flavio Marazzi	Enrico De Maria	8364	TB	3.0	3.0	35.0	1.0	20.0	27.0001
4	SWE 8387	Fredrik Loof	Johan Tillander	8387	BK	2.0	5.0	15.0	23.0	7.0	29
5	USA 8241	Andrew Campbell	Magnus Liljedahl	8241	SDB	14.0	14.0	4.0	8.0	8.0	34
6	GER 8109	Johannes Polgar	Tim Kroeger	8109	Ess	31.0	22.0	7.0	4.0	2.0	35
7	POL 8209	Mateusz Kusznierewicz	Dominik Zycki	8209	Isol	1.0	12.0	50.0	18.0	6.0	37
8	USA 8267	Mark Mendelblatt	Mark Strube	8267	TaB	8.0	4.0	2.0	26.0	35.0	40
9	GER 8140	Alexander Schlonski	Frithjof Kleen	8140	Lub	9.0	17.0	11.0	5.0	32.0	42
10	BRA 8392	Lars Schmidt Grael	Ronald Seifert	8392	Par	30.0	6.0	14.0	14.0	12.0	46
11	SWE 8338	Mats Johansson	Leif Moller	8338	Kat	10.0	20.0	44.0	2.0	21.0	53
12	BRA 8255	Robert Scheidt	Bruno Prada	8255	Gua	26.0	2.0	33.0	13.0	15.0	56
13	USA 8250	Andrew Macdonald	Brian Fatih	8250	NH	17.0	13.0	64.0	17.0	10.0	57
14	CRO 8339	Marin Lovrovic Jr	Sinisa Mikulicic	8339	KV	18.0	26.0	27.0	6.0	11.0	61
15	ITA 8384	Nicola Celon	Edoardo Natucci	8384	SG	7.0	21.0	8.0	25.0	27.0	61.0001
16	ITA 8266	Diego Negri	Valerio Chinca	8266	VE	22.0	11.0	19.0	22.0	9.0	61.0002
17	IRL 8385	Max Treacy	Anthony Shanks	8385	Isol	12.0	32.0	24.0	12.0	13.0	61.0003
18	ARG 8211	Alejo Rigoni	Juan Pablo Percossi	8211	BA	16.0	16.0	38.0	15.0	16.0	63
19	POR 8309	Afonso Domingos	Frederico Melo	8309	CP	38.0	7.0	10.0	10.0	50.0	65
20	GER 8299	Matthias Miller	Benedikt Wenk	8299	UB	5.0	24.0	31.0	7.0	45.0	67
21	GER 8340	Robert Stanjek	Markus Koy	8340	BF	35.0	19.0	13.0	39.0	1.0	68
22	IRL 8261	Peter O Leary	Tim Goodbody	8261	Isol	15.0	10.0	22.0	53.0	22.0	69
23	FRA 8237	Xavier Rohart	Pierre Alexis Ponsot	8237	NI	43.0	15.0	46.0	3.0	14.0	75
24	GBR 8025	John Gimson	Ed Greig	8025	SOL	19.0	27.0	12.0	21.0	70.0	79
25	GER 8378	Johannes Babandererde	Timo Jacobs	8378	Moh	4.0	34.0	34.0	9.0	87.0 [BFD]	81
26	DEN 8380	Benny Andersen	Mogens Just	8380	DF	32.0	25.0	6.0	28.0	74.0	91
27	BRA 8393	Horacio Carabelli	Ubiratan Matos	8393	RdJ	20.0	30.0	9.0	37.0	76.0	96
28	ITA 8290	Silvio Santoni	Fabio Toccoli	8290	NG	6.0	54.0	26.0	27.0	42.0	101
29	CRO 8280	Dan Lovrovic	Antonio Arapovic	8280	KV	59.0	8.0	45.0	30.0	23.0	106
30	GER 7991	Manuel Voigt	Paul Sradnick	7991	BF	24.0	39.0	16.0	46.0	36.0	115
31	SWE 8108	Erik Dahlen	Krister Carlsson	8108	Bk	13.0	46.0	25.0	33.0	87.0 [DNC]	117
32	GER 8149	Alexander Hagen	Kai Falkentahl	8149	KF	47.0	31.0	40.0	44.0	4.0	119
33	JPN 8144	Kunio Suzuki	Daichi Wada	8144	Isol	41.0	59.0	21.0	24.0	33.0	119
34	ITA 8390	ALBERTO BAROVIER	Nando Colaninno	8390	SG	21.0	42.0	20.0	40.0	62.0	123
35	GBR 8316	Ante Razmilovic	Brian Hammersley	8316	NFB	28.0	38.0	23.0	41.0	72.0	130
36	ARG 8381	Juan Kouyoumdjian	Steven Erickson	8381	LAR	29.0	43.0	29.0	29.0	47.0	130
37	DEN 8225	Flemming Sorensen	Niels Trysoe Hansen	8225	DF	23.0	82.0	58.0	19.0	31.0	131
38	HUN 8386	Tibor Tenke	Miklos Berezeti	8386	Ore	25.0	37.0	18.0	52.0	53.0	132
39	AUS 8121	Andrew Landenberger	Beat Stegmeier	8121	Isol	33.0	87.0 [DSQ]	5.0	47.0	58.0	143
40	SWE 8352	Lars Edwall	Henrik Ljungdahl	8352	Kat	48.0	52.0	36.0	36.0	30.0	150
41	SWE 7661	Fredrik Ljungkvist	Daniel Alm	7661	BK	40.0	79.0	37.0	58.0	18.0	153
42	BRA 6475	Andre Mirsky	Marcelo Jordao	6475	RdJ	60.0	23.0	51.0	63.0	19.0	153
43	CRO 8360	Mate Arapov	Ivan Misura	8360	Dal	37.0	72.0	59.0	31.0	26.0	153
44	AUS 8107	Paul McKenzie	Philip Toth	8107	Isol	45.0	18.0	32.0	60.0	77.0	155
45	CAN 8143	Brian Cramer	Matt Johnston	8143	WLOC	51.0	28.0	63.0	62.0	17.0	158
46	SWE 8207	Calle Schroder	Stefan Hemlin	8207	Kat	27.0	87.0 [DNF]	42.0	35.0	54.0	158
47	DEN 7575	Herluf Joergensen	Lars Wegener	7575	DF	39.0	49.0	30.0	51.0	87.0 [BFD]	169
48	UKR 8343	Konstantin Datsenko	Bazurin Ilya	8343	Ukr	36.0	57.0	80.0	43.0	34.0	170
49	NED 8263	Sander Jorissen	Erik Veldhuizen	8263	Med	56.0	36.0	82.0	16.0	63.0	171
50	SWE 7712	Philip Carlson	Benjamin Peterson	7712	Kat	70.0	63.0	17.0	70.0	29.0	179
51	SUI 8232	Henrik Dannesboe	Vincent Hagin	8232	H	34.0	65.0	43.0	38.0	80.0	180
52	SWE 7489	Hans Oskarsson	Hakn Lundgren	7489	PN	69.0	67.0	39.0	48.0	28.0	182
53	SUI 7969	Kurt Scheidegger	Markus Scheidegger	7969	TB	46.0	66.0	54.0	45.0	40.0	185
54	SWE 7917	Tomas Franzen	Pontus Gabel	7917	Kat	78.0	45.0	41.0	64.0	38.0	188
55	SWE 7647	Henrik Jorhov	Karl Kristensen	7647	Kat	44.0	35.0	61.0	50.0	60.0	189
56	SUI 7854	Roman Juchli	Philipp Juchli	7854	Bod	77.0	51.0	52.0	66.0	25.0	194
57	ITA 7556	Andrea Fornaro	Riccardo Capociuchi	7556	LdB	65.0	60.0	65.0	34.0	37.0	196
58	SWE 7978	Ingvar Krook	Henrik Hasselgren	7978	AR	62.0	47.0	72.0	57.0	41.0	207
59	DEN 8066	Johnny Jensen	Claus Lauritsen	8066	DF	55.0	55.0	78.0	55.0	43.0	208
60	SWE 8275	Sune Carlsson	Dan Anders Carlsson	8275	RS	74.0	44.0	28.0	76.0	65.0	211
61	SWE 8126	Jan Stromeck	Stefan Jacobsson	8126	Kat	75.0	61.0	69.0	32.0	51.0	213
62	UKR 8247	Vasyl Gureyev	Volodymyr Korotkov	8247	Ukr	53.0	74.0	70.0	42.0	49.0	214
63	GER 8355	Christian Paucksch	Christian Knoll	8355	Sta	63.0	73.0	60.0	68.0	24.0	215
64	SWE 5300	Pelle Petterson	Anders Ekstrom	5300	Kat	50.0	29.0	75.0	78.0	67.0	221
65	SWE 7019	Olle Johansson	Dag Hansson	7019	Kat	73.0	33.0	71.0	67.0	55.0	226
66	FIN 8004	Joni Leeve	Asko Salminen	8004	Fin	58.0	64.0	55.0	49.0	68.0	226
67	AUT 7846	GERHARD WEINREICH	Alexander Kagl	7846	H	82.0	40.0	53.0	56.0	79.0	228
68	USA 8279	Claude Bonanni	Richard Burgess	8279	TaB	52.0	62.0	62.0	59.0	61.0	234
69	SWE 7872	Fredrik Fransson	Tomas Akerman	7872	SwB	81.0	77.0	56.0	71.0	39.0	243
70	POL 7858	Arkadiusz Wierzbicki	Krzysztof Pawlowski	7858	Isol	61.0	80.0	84.0	61.0	44.0	246
71	NED 7541	Peter Van Veen	Paul Goeist	7541	Hol	57.0	68.0	48.0	74.0	73.0	246
72	AUT 8368	Roberto Tomasini Grinover	Gunnar Bahr	8368	AU	71.0	69.0	67.0	54.0	57.0	247
73	SUI 8257	Juerg Wittich	Christian Trachsel	8257	Bod	72.0	50.0	68.0	72.0	59.0	249
74	FRA 8075	Regis Berenguier	Laurent Bernaz	8075	FdeM	76.0	53.0	57.0	73.0	66.0	249
75	GER 8016	Hubert Rauch	Chris Conrads	8016	And	49.0	87.0 [BFD]	49.0	77.0	75.0	250
76	GBR 8254	David Tabb	Tom Peyton	8254	Isol	66.0	70.0	73.0	69.0	46.0	251
77	SWE 7338	Benny Nilsson	Stefan Fagerlund Nilsson	7338	RS	83.0	78.0	47.0	80.0	56.0	261
78	SWE 8331	Anders Hoagland	Gunnar Faernert	8331	SwB	79.0	41.0	81.0	75.0	71.0	266
79	RUS 8359	Andrey Berezhnoy	Sergey Masalov	8359	Vol	67.0	71.0	85.0	82.0	48.0	268
80	SUI 8329	Daniel Wyss	Urs Joss	8329	ZU	68.0	58.0	74.0	87.0 [DSQ]	69.0	269
81	GER 8160	Florian Von Linde	Tobias Steffens	8160	ZuW	42.0	76.0	76.0	79.0	87.0 [DNF]	273
82	GER 8055	Jochen Diercks	Herbert Braasch	8055	Lub	64.0	81.0	66.0	65.0	78.0	273
83	SWE 7513	Gota Eriksson	Bjon Beskow	7513	Kat	84.0	56.0	77.0	87.0 [DNF]	64.0	281
84	SWE 8031	Boje Larsson	Carl Redrik Larsson	8031	RS	85.0	48.0	79.0	81.0	81.0	289
85	GER 7866	Dierk Thomsen	Philip Behn	7866	KF	80.0	75.0	83.0	83.0	52.0	290
86	POL 8170	Mariusz Modrzynski	Sebastian Moras	8170	Isol	87.0 [DNF]	83.0	86.0	84.0	82.0	335