Bundock and Forbes in front with two races to go at Tornado European Championships

by John Forbes and Simone Green on 15 Jun 2003 Race 7 of the Tornado European Championships in Cagliari, Italy, was held in light conditions with a few unknown teams in the top of the pack including the winners of Race 7, Semenov & Bogazkin from Russia, which lifted them to 25th overall.

The left side of the course was favoured on the first leg, and we were the first, and probably only team, to make it from the right side. We were placed 11th at the first mark, and slowly worked our way through the fleet to finish in 4th place, just one metre behind the second Russian team.

Race 8 was the race the fleet was dreading.

The first start attempt was delayed due to a General Recall as the fleet struggled in 4 to 6 knots. However, the race finally got underway, and the bulk of the heroes went left only to have the right side pay. Only Andi Hagara scraped through and then worked his way up to 6th. We, on the other hand, were 46th at Mark 1 with a big job ahead of us. We gybed at mark 1 and overtook 21 boats on the 2nd leg to be back in the game. We then continued to work through the fleet up to 16th place by the finish. Our only concern in this race was again, Andi Hagara, who finished 6th and is now 5 points behind us in the overall standings. The other main competitors had poor results. See below.

The final two races of the series are scheduled for today around 2.00pm, so it will be a nine race series, forcing the Aussie crew to work even harder and stronger as they draw closer to repeating their 2001 success, winning the 5th Mats Nyberg Trophy.

Victoria’s Robbie Lovig and Glen Douglas also struggled in the light conditions in Races 7 and 8. Just at the beginning of their Tornado sailing career together, the pair are on a steep learning curve and the opportunity to sail with the worlds best will prove a great lesson.

The last day of racing will be thrilling and tough as Bundock and Forbes are closely followed by the two Austrian crews. Andreas Hagara and Michael Seidl are currently placed 2nd, only five points behind the lead. While Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medallist Roman Hagara and crew, took over 3rd place, after the Argentineans lost their winning momentum.


1. Bundock/Forbes 1,1,10,1,12,3,4,16. (32)

2. A.Hagara/Seidl 11,9,2,21,3,1,5,6. (37)

3. R.Hagara/Steinacher 8,3,17,13,14,9,11,2. (69)

4. Lange/Espinola 4,2,24,2,7,5,27,28. (71)

59. LOVIG Robbie/DOUGLAS Glen (AUS) 350pts


www.aussailing.com.au/darrenbundock

www.yachting.org.au