Mistakes let Germany lead at IFDS Worlds

by John Roberson on 21 Jan 2006 Silly mistakes by Skandia Team GBR, have let Germany take the lead in both classes at the 2006 Alcoa IFDS World Disabled Sailing Championships, after a tough day on the Swan River.

A penalty for Volvo for Life sailor Helena Lucas, and getting trapped on the wrong side of the course for John Robertson's Oyster Marine team, gave them both one bad result, that let the Germans through in this highly competitive fleet.

Germany's Heiko Kroeger chalked up a first and eighth places in the 2.4 Metre class, while Jens Kroker and his crew of Holger Schoenberg and Tobias Schueltz, scored a very satisfying first and second places in the Sonar. These results put the Jens Kroker/Schoenberg/Schueltz team level on points with the British team of John Robertson, Hannah Strodel and Stephen Thomas, but on a countback, the Germans take the top spot.

Heiko Kroeger's position at the top is courtesy of Helena Lucas's mistake in the second race of the day, which dropped her down through the fleet. Heiko didn't have it all his own way saying, 'The first race was good, the second race was very difficult and I lost many boats because of big wind shifts, I didn't expect that.'

Jens Kroker thoroughly enjoyed his day, 'I think it was a magnificent day,' he said through his smile, 'couldn't have been better. I think we can be very satisfied with the day, it went very well.'

It was a gutsy day on the water for the competitors in both fleets, with the breeze gusting to over 30 knots, when the Fremantle Doctor was given a helping hand by the fringe effect of a cyclone gathering off north western Australia.

Helena Lucas finished just four seconds behind Heiko Kroeger in the first race, but commenting on the second race she said, 'I was up near the front, but I ended up doing two turns, which was a bit stupid.'

It was another Brit who took the gun in the second 2.4 Metre race of the day, with Megan Pascoe surprised at her success. 'I was a bit surprised to be up there,' she admitted, 'because I just seemed to tack, and tack, and tack, and there I was at the front.'

John Robertson explained his bad result in the first race of the day, 'We just couldn't get left on that second beat in the first race, and we just lost out. The shift came in, the bend around the headland, and that was that really.'

After four races of the eleven heat series, the points at the top of both fleets are incredibly close, and with Saturday a lay day, the teams will have time to consider what they have to do to win.

2.4 Progressive Results for 2.4MR Championship

Position, Boat No, Boat Name, Skipper, Total, Nett, 19/01:AM, 19/01:PM, 20/01:AM, 20/01:PM

1 , GER1, Hari Tri Punc, Heiko Kroeger, 14, 14, 4( 4), 2( 2), 1( 1), 7( 7)

2 , GBR75, Excalibur, Helena Lucas, 15, 15, 1( 1), 1( 1), 2( 2), 11( 11)

3 , USA109, Admire The Dream, Roger Cleworth, 23, 23, 5( 5), 7( 7), 3( 3), 8( 8)

4 , CAN99, Itchy, Paul Tingley, 24, 24, 3( 3), 6( 6), 6( 6), 9( 9)

5 , NOR102, Norway, Bjornar Erikstad, 26, 26, 2( 2), 3( 3), 19(DNF), 2( 2)

6 , GBR60, Resolution, Megan Pascoe, 27, 27, 13( 13), 8( 8), 5( 5), 1( 1)

7 , NZL1, Elite, Andrew May, 31, 31, 12( 12), 5( 5), 11( 11), 3( 3)

8 , CAN39, CAN39, Bruce Millar, 32, 32, 6( 6), 17(DNF), 4( 4), 5( 5)

9 , GBR79, GBR79, Michael Cogswell, 34, 34, 7( 7), 11( 11), 12( 12), 4( 4)

10 , CAN1, CAN1, Danny McCoy, 38, 38, 8( 8), 14( 14), 10( 10), 6( 6)

11 , AUS13, Stardust, Aaron Hill, 39, 39, 10( 10), 4( 4), 7( 7), 18(DSQ)

12 , USA114, Als, Nick Scandone, 44, 44, 9( 9), 9( 9), 8( 8), 18(DNF)

13 , GRE2, Kallisti, George Delikouras, 49, 49, 14( 14), 12( 12), 13( 13), 10( 10)

14 , PUR1, PUR1, Julio Reguero Hernandez, 53, 53, 11( 11), 13( 13), 9( 9), 20(DNC)

15 , GBR80, GBR80, Brian Harding, 55, 55, 15( 15), 10( 10), 17( 17), 13( 13)

16 , AUS21, Miss Gonzales, Rachael Cox, 65, 65, 16( 16), 15( 15), 16( 16), 18(DNF)

17 , ITA19, Embe, Fabio Vignudini, 67, 67, 20(DNC), 20(DNC), 15( 15), 12( 12)

18 , ITA84, Olympia, Olmi Fabrizio, 72, 72, 20(DNC), 20(DNC), 14( 14), 18(DNF)

19 , AUS7, Advance, Maryanne Ireland, 78, 78, 18(DNF), 20(DNC), 20(DNC), 20(DNC


Sonar leading scores after 4 races:
Progressive Results for SONAR Championship

Position, Boat No, Boat Name, Skipper, Total, Nett, 19/01:AM, 19/01:PM, 20/01:AM, 20/01:PM

1 , GER11, Ares, Jens Kroker, 10, 10, 6( 6), 1( 1), 2( 2), 1( 1)

2 , GBR702, Chimera, John Robertson, 10, 10, 1( 1), 2( 2), 5( 5), 2( 2)

3 , AUS721, Noel Robins, Jamie Dunross, 18, 18, 3( 3), 5( 5), 1( 1), 9( 9)

4 , ISR1, Shellie, Dror Cohen, 18, 18, 8( 8), 3( 3), 3( 3), 4( 4)

5 , NOR1, Viking Kiwanis, Jostein Stordahl, 21, 21, 5( 5), 4( 4), 9( 9), 3( 3)

6 , ISR5, Billy, Shimon Ben Yakov, 28, 28, 10( 10), 6( 6), 7( 7), 5( 5)

7 , AUS621, Cape Bouvarde, Peter Thomson, 31, 31, 2( 2), 12( 12), 10( 10), 7( 7)

8 , IRL697, IRL697, Paul McCarthy, 31, 31, 4( 4), 9( 9), 8( 8), 10( 10)

9 , IRL694, IRL694, JohnTwomey, 35, 35, 12( 12), 8( 8), 4( 4), 11( 11)

10 , CAN644, CAN644, Ken Kelly, 40, 40, 7( 7), 11( 11), 14( 14), 8( 8)

11 , GRE1, Greek Tragedy, Vasilis Christoforou, 41, 41, 11( 11), 7( 7), 6( 6), 17(DSQ)

12 , ISR1000, Tamar, Avi Tzur, 43, 43, 9( 9), 10( 10), 12( 12), 12( 12)

13 , USA732, Sail La Vie Team, Jen French, 50, 50, 14( 14), 17(DSQ), 13( 13), 6( 6)

14 , AUS716, Slips, Stephen Churm, 50, 50, 13( 13), 13( 13), 11( 11), 13( 13)

15 , JPN1, JPN1, Hidehiro Kodaira, 59, 59, 16( 16), 14( 14), 15( 15), 14( 14)

16 , SIN99, Victory, Tan Wei Qiang Jovin, 62, 62, 15( 15), 15( 15), 17(DNF), 15( 15)