Szabo and Peters (USA) win the 2009 Star World Championship

by Lynn Fitzpatrick on 9 Aug 2009 George Szabo and Rick Peters (USA) won the 2009 Star World Championship with a third place finish in the final race of the series.

Lars Grael and Ronald Seifert (BRA) won the race by a country mile and the Junior team from Argentina, Alejo Rigoni and Juan Pablo Percossi were second in the race.

Szabo/Peters won the Star Worlds with an average score of six points for the five races in their scoreline.

The American team started to the left of a group of contenders for this year’s title and played the shifts in the breeze that swung right as it faded. They bore away on the run in sixth place. After they sorted out their sheets and the whisker pole they could look around for their competition. They weren’t trailing right behind. They weren’t even in sight.

Szabo/Peters merely had to stay clean for the rest of the race. Instead, they bettered their score and pulled into third place by the second windward mark.

Peters, who is always one for great lines said of their performance for the day and the week, 'The other guys just haven’t been to Varberg International Speedway enough. We were 54th the first day and we went the same way every day. We didn’t change a thing.'

As Szabo peeled off his spray top and guzzled down some water on the way back into the harbor, the accomplishment sunk in. Three weeks after he was born his parents had him in a Star boat and he started steering the boat when he was 16 years old.

The Quantum sailmaker from San Diego said, 'I’ve looked at all of the names on that trophy over the years and thought, ‘how am I ever going to do that?’'

The team did not change their strategy over the week, nor did they change their sails. 'Z4, P2,' said Szabo. 'Some people find their groove with other sails, but they don’t find it across all wind conditions. We sailed with the same sails for the entire regatta and it worked just fine.'

Lars Schmidt Grael and Ronald Seifert sailed as if they were leading everyone down to the 2010 Star World Championship in Rio de Janeiro.

Talented in light air, Grael steered Seifert, with whom he has been sailing for only a few weeks, to a victory the likes of which are rarely seen. They were well over two minutes ahead of the young Argentineans, who clinched the Junior Champion title with their second place finish for the day.

Many of those who were in contention for the regatta sailed their discard race today. Peters had another message for them, 'I can’t believe they sailed themselves out of the race. They didn’t go to last night’s trophy presentation and they go what they deserve. I’ll give them a hug anyway.'

Anticipating that all of the races for the World Championship would have been completed yesterday, VSS held a wonderful trophy presentation and dinner last night in which those collecting trophies also collected a lot of hugs from all of the club’s junior volunteers who were on stage to present the awards.

Anders Ekström, who had the week of his life sailing with Pelle Petterson, was the first to say how elated he was that Rick Peters won the Star World Championship. 'I’m really excited for Rick. He deserves it. He has spent so many years driving Star boats around the world for everyone and has done such a great job at helping to develop his fleet. It’s about time. Of course, I’m happy for George too. It has been a long time in coming for both of them.'

Hamish Pepper and Craig Monk (NZL) sailed their discard in the final race and finished the regatta seven points behind Szabo/Peters. By winning today’s race, Grael/Seifert moved into third place on a countback, tied with Alexander Schlonski and Firthjof Kleen (GER). 'It’s a good day for SDYC,' said Andrew Campbell (USA), who like Szabo sails out of San Diego Yacht Club.

Campbell sailed the regatta with Magnus Liljedahl. Campbell/Liljedahl were fifth for the series. Freddy Lööf and Johan Tillander (SWE), local favorites finished a respectable sixth and will have plenty of opportunities to go after Lööf’s third Star World Championship title once again.

Alejo Rigoni and Juan Pablo Percossi (ARG) were the top Junior team in the regatta and finished 9th. Andy Macdonald and Brian Fatih (USA), the top Masters, placed 14th; one point ahead of Mats Johansson and Leif Möller (SWE).

Ingvar Krook and Henrik Hasselgren (SWE) topped the five other Grand Master teams. Pelle Petterson and Anders Ekström (SWE) beat out Sune Carlsson and Dan Anders Carlsson (SWE) for the Exalted Grand Masters title.

Results are final as of 16:15 on August 8, 2009

Overall

Rank	Nat	SailNo	HelmName	CrewName	Age	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Total	Nett
1st	USA	8273	George Szabo	Rick Peters		(54)	1	3	20	3	3	84	30
2nd	NZL	8187	Hamish Pepper	Craig Monk		11	9	1	11	5	(25)	62	37
3rd	BRA	8392	Lars Schmidt Grael	Ronald Seifert		(30)	6	14	14	12	1	77	47
4th	GER	8140	Alexander Schlonski	Frithjof Kleen		9	17	11	5	(32)	5	79	47
5th	USA	8241	Andrew Campbell	Magnus Liljedahl		14	14	4	8	8	(37)	85	48
6th	SWE	8387	Fredrik Lööf	Johan Tillander		2	5	15	23	7	(54)	106	52
7th	POL	8209	Mateusz Kusznierewicz	Dominik Zycki		1	12	(50)	18	6	21	108	58
8th	SUI	8364	Flavio Marazzi	Enrico De Maria		3	3	(35)	1	20	35	97	62
9th	ARG	8211	Alejo Rigoni	Juan Pablo Percossi	J	16	16	(38)	15	16	2	103	65
10th	GER	8109	Johannes Polgar	Tim Kroeger		(31)	22	7	4	2	31	97	66
11th	BRA	8255	Robert Scheidt	Bruno Prada		26	2	(33)	13	15	11	100	67
12th	POR	8309	Afonso Domingos	Frederico Melo		38	7	10	10	(50)	4	119	69
13th	ITA	8266	Diego Negri	Valerio Chinca		(22)	11	19	22	9	9	92	70
14th	USA	8250	Andrew Macdonald	Brian Fatih	M	17	13	(64)	17	10	13	134	70
15th	USA	8267	Mark Mendelblatt	Mark Strube		8	4	2	26	(35)	34	109	74
16th	SWE	8338	Mats Johansson	Leif Möller	M	10	20	(44)	2	21	22	119	75
17th	IRL	8385	Max Treacy	Anthony Shanks		12	(32)	24	12	13	14	107	75
18th	FRA	8237	Xavier Rohart	Pierre Alexis Ponsot		43	15	(46)	3	14	6	127	81
19th	GER	8340	Robert Stanjek	Markus Koy		35	19	13	(39)	1	17	124	85
20th	CRO	8339	Marin Lovrovic Jr	Sinisa Mikulicic		18	26	27	6	11	(30)	118	88
21st	ITA	8384	Nicola Celon	Edoardo Natucci		7	21	8	25	27	(87 DNF)	175	88
22nd	GER	8299	Matthias Miller	Benedikt Wenk		5	24	31	7	(45)	36	148	103
23rd	IRL	8261	Peter O'Leary	Tim Goodbody		15	10	22	(53)	22	38	160	107
24th	BRA	8393	Horacio Carabelli	Ubiratan Matos		20	30	9	37	(76)	18	190	114
25th	DEN	8380	Benny Andersen	Mogens Just		32	25	6	28	(74)	29	194	120
26th	CRO	8280	Dan Lovrovic	Antonio Arapovic	J	(59)	8	45	30	23	20	185	126
27th	GER	8378	Johannes Babendererde	Timo Jacobs		4	34	34	9	(87 BFD)	48	216	129
28th	ARG	8381	Juan Kouyoumdjian	Steven Erickson		29	43	29	29	(47)	8	185	138
29th	GBR	8025	John Gimson	Ed Greig		19	27	12	21	(70)	62	211	141
30th	ITA	8390	Alberto Barovier	Nando Colaninno		21	42	20	40	(62)	23	208	146
31st	ITA	8290	Silvio Santoni	Fabio Toccoli		6	(54)	26	27	42	49	204	150
32nd	GER	7991	Manuel Voigt	Paul Sradnick		24	39	16	(46)	36	40	201	155
33rd	AUS	8107	Paul Mckenzie	Philip Toth		45	18	32	60	(77)	7	239	162
34th	DEN	8225	Flemming Sorensen	Niels Trysoe-Hansen		23	(82)	58	19	31	33	246	164
35th	SWE	8352	Lars Edwall	Henrik Ljungdahl		48	(52)	36	36	30	15	217	165
36th	GER	8149	Alexander Hagen	Kai Falkentahl	M	47	31	40	44	4	(87 DNF)	253	166
37th	BRA	6475	Andre Mirsky	Marcelo Jordao		60	23	51	(63)	19	16	232	169
38th	GBR	8316	Ante Razmilovic	Brian Hammersley		28	38	23	41	(72)	39	241	169
39th	JPN	8144	Kunio Suzuki	Daichi Wada		41	59	21	24	33	(68)	246	178
40th	CAN	8143	Brian Cramer	Matt Johnston	M	51	28	(63)	62	17	26	247	184
41st	HUN	8386	Tibor Tenke	Miklos Berezeti	M	25	37	18	52	(53)	52	237	184
42nd	SWE	8108	Erik Dahlén	Krister Carlsson		13	46	25	33	(87 DNF)	72	276	189
43rd	UKR	8343	Konstantin Datsenko	Bazurin Ilya		36	57	(80)	43	34	19	269	189
44th	SWE	7661	Fredrik Ljungkvist	Daniel Alm		40	(79)	37	58	18	41	273	194
45th	DEN	7575	Herluf Joergensen	Lars Wegener	M	39	49	30	51	(87 BFD)	32	288	201
46th	AUS	8121	Andrew Landenberger	Beat Stegmeier		33	(87 DSQ)	5	47	58	59	289	202
47th	ITA	7556	Andrea Fornaro	Laurent Bernaz		(65)	60	65	34	37	10	271	206
48th	CRO	8360	Mate Arapov	Ivan Misura		37	(72)	59	31	26	55	280	208
49th	SWE	8207	Calle Schröder	Stefan Hemlin	M	27	(87 DNF)	42	35	54	53	298	211
50th	SUI	7854	Roman Juchli	Philipp Juchli		(77)	51	52	66	25	24	295	218
51st	SWE	7489	Hans Oskarsson	Håkan Lundgren		(69)	67	39	48	28	42	293	224
52nd	UKR	8247	Vasyl Gureyev	Volodymyr Korotkov	M	53	(74)	70	42	49	12	300	226
53rd	SUI	8232	Henrik Dannesboe	Vincent Hagin		34	65	43	38	(80)	47	307	227
54th	SUI	7969	Kurt Scheidegger	Markus Scheidegger		46	(66)	54	45	40	50	301	235
55th	SWE	7712	Philip Carlson	Benjamin Peterson	J	(70)	63	17	70	29	60	309	239
56th	SWE	7647	Henrik Jörhov	Karl Kristensen		44	35	61	50	60	(87 DNS)	337	250
57th	SWE	7917	Tomas Franzen	Pontus Gabel	M	(78)	45	41	64	38	64	330	252
58th	NED	8263	Sander Jorissen	Erik Veldhuizen		56	36	82	16	63	(87 DNS)	340	253
59th	FIN	8004	Joni Leeve	Asko Salminen	M	58	64	55	49	(68)	28	322	254
60th	AUT	7846	Gerhard Weinreich	Alexander Kagl		(82)	40	53	56	79	27	337	255
61st	SWE	5300	Pelle Petterson	Anders Ekström	EG	50	29	75	(78)	67	46	345	267
62nd	SWE	7978	Ingvar Krook	Henrik Hasselgren	GM	62	47	(72)	57	41	69	348	276
63rd	GER	8355	Christian Paucksch	Christian Knoll		63	(73)	60	68	24	67	355	282
64th	SWE	8275	Sune Carlsson	Dan Anders Carlsson	EG	74	44	28	(76)	65	73	360	284
65th	DEN	8066	Johnny Jensen	Claus Lauritsen	M	55	55	78	55	43	(87 DNS)	373	286
66th	SWE	8126	Jan Strömbeck	Stefan Jacobsson	M	75	61	69	32	51	(87 DNS)	375	288
67th	USA	8279	Claude Bonanni	Richard Burgess		52	(62)	62	59	61	57	353	291
68th	SUI	8257	Juerg Wittich	Christian Trachsel		(72)	50	68	72	59	43	364	292
69th	GER	8016	Hubert Rauch	Chris Conrads	M	49	(87 BFD)	49	77	75	44	381	294
70th	SWE	7019	Olle Johansson	Dag Hansson	M	(73)	33	71	67	55	70	369	296
71st	SWE	7872	Fredrik Fransson	Tomas Åkerman		(81)	77	56	71	39	58	382	301
72nd	POL	7858	Arkadiusz Wierzbicki	Krzysztof Pawlowski		61	80	(84)	61	44	56	386	302
73rd	NED	7541	Peter Van Veen	Paul Goeist	M	57	68	48	(74)	73	65	385	311
74th	RUS	8359	Andrey Berezhnoy	Sergey Masalov		67	71	(85)	82	48	45	398	313
75th	AUT	8368	Roberto Tomasini Grinover	Gunnar Bahr	GM	71	69	67	54	57	(87 DNS)	405	318
76th	SUI	8329	Daniel Wyss	Urs Joss	GM	68	58	74	(87 DSQ)	69	51	407	320
77th	GBR	8254	David Tabb	Tom Peyton	M	66	70	73	69	46	(87 DNS)	411	324
78th	FRA	8075	Regis Berenguier	Laurent Bernaz	M	76	53	57	73	66	(87 DNS)	412	325
79th	SWE	8331	Anders Hoagland	Gunnar Faernert	GM	79	41	(81)	75	71	63	410	329
80th	SWE	7338	Benny Nilsson	Stefan Fagerlund Nilsson	GM	(83)	78	47	80	56	71	415	332
81st	GER	8055	Jochen Diercks	Herbert Braasch	GM	64	(81)	66	65	78	61	415	334
82nd	GER	7866	Dierk Thomsen	Philip Behn	EG	80	75	(83)	83	52	66	439	356
83rd	SWE	7513	Gösta Eriksson	Björn Beskow	M	84	56	77	(87 DNF)	64	75	443	356
84th	GER	8160	Florian von Linde	Tobias Steffens		42	76	76	79	(87 DNF)	87 DNS	447	360
85th	SWE	8031	Börje Larsson	Carl-Fredrik Larsson	EG	(85)	48	79	81	81	74	448	363
86th	POL	8170	Mariusz Modrzynski	Sebastian Moras	M	(87 DNF)	83	86	84	82	76	498	411