Decisive moments at Rolex Ilhabela Sailing Week

by Alex Bocage/ Marina Kienitz (KPMS) on 15 Jul 2007 Sailors racing in Ilhabela, Brazil have had to face extremely diverse conditions at the 34th edition of the Rolex Ilhabela Sailing Week.

The week began with fabulous weather and an offshore race to Alcatrazes Island, with the entire city of Ilhabela stopping to watch the start of the 55-nautical mile race. While no records were broken, the Alcatrazes Race proved once again to be a great welcome for the 187 boats competing in this weeklong event that is the largest and most traditional regatta in South America. The week is composed of six windward-leeward races and two distance races.

The weather maintained a summer-like ambience for Monday and Tuesday's races and boats from Brazil managed to maintain their overall lead in the IMS 500, IMS 600 and ORC Club classes, all three of which are eligible for Rolex timepieces.

However, everything changed with the 30-knot winds that shook up all of the standings in Ilhabela, also blowing snow into Buenos Aires for the first time in 89 years. After a gruelling day on the water on Wednesday, sailors once again had to readjust when Thursday's race was postponed due to a lack of wind. The constant changes have made this year's Rolex Ilhabela Sailing Week a continuous challenge, and the number of talented sailors on the water have raised competition levels here off of São Paolo.

Although two races were scheduled for Friday, most classes only raced one as the breeze only reached 6 knots. The ORC Club class was the only class to finish the second race of the day, completing seven races overall.

In the IMS class, Eduardo Souza Ramos' Mitsubishi/Gol had their first win in yesterday's race. 'Technically it was a perfect race and we did all the manoeuvres correctly. The win at the end was beautiful,' said Souza Ramos.

Even with Mitsubishi/Gol taking first, it is Argentinean Personal who has the most constant results after finishing second in Friday's race and who is now first overall in the class after one result for each of the boats was discarded. 'We maintained regular results but there is still one day of racing to come and nothing is guaranteed,' said Personal's Jose Estevez. The Brazilian boat Sorsa III, with helmsman Lars Grael, is second overall in the IMS Class followed by Cristabella in third and Mitsubishi/Gol in fourth.

With a second place in Friday's race and the throwout of their 11th place from the first racing day, Handycam, skippered by Marcos Ferrari, has now moved into the lead of the IMS 600 Class. 'We made a lot of progress- we began the regatta in 11th place and now we are in first because we didn't give up after our unlucky start,' said Ferrari.

Saturday is the last day of the Rolex Ilhabela Sailing Week and two windward-leeward races are scheduled to start at noon, though only one race may be completed depending on wind conditions. Directly following the last race, there will be a closing party and prize-giving ceremony at the Yacht Club Ilhabela. For the first time, three Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner timepieces will be awarded to the winning boats in the IMS 500, IMS 600 and the ORC Club classes.

Results after 6 races (after discard)

IMS-500
1- Personal (ARG/Jose Estevez Samela), 9 points (7-1-1-4-1-2)
2- Sorsa III (BRA/Celso Quintella), 13 points (1-4-2-1-6-5)
3- Cristabella (BRA/Dario Galvão), 13 points (3-2-3-3-2-4)
4- Mitsubishi Motors/Gol (BRA/Eduardo Souza Ramos), 14 points (4-3-4-2-7-1)
5- Cutty Sark (BRA/Jorge Zarif), 21 points (2-5-7-5-3-6)
6- Loyal/Polijohn (BRA/Marcelo Massa), 25 points (5-6-6-6-5-3)
7- Asa Alumínio (BRA/Mário Martinez), 29 points (6-7-5-7-4-7)

IMS-600
1- Handycam (Marcos Ferrari), 11 points (11-3-1-2-3-2)
2- CapinCanela (BRA/Marcos Soares), 12 points (7-1-3-3-4-1)
3- Mer.K2 (ARG/Carlos Oliva Vélez), 19 points (3-5-2-5-14-4)
4- Ventaneiro (BRA/Renato da Cunha Faria), 21 points (2-14-4-6-1-8)
5- Bijupirá (BRA/Escola Naval), 21 points (6-4-5-4-2-10)

Results after 7 races (after discard)

ORC CLUB
1- Matrero (ARG/Toribio de Achaval), 24 points (4-9-5-1-1-19-4)
2- Manos Champ (BRA/Avelino Alvarez), 30 points (1-1-17-8-9-8-3)
3- Ângela Star (BRA/Peter Siemsen), 43 points (14-2-20-10-2-13-2)
4- Catuana Kum (BRA/Paulo Cocchi), 51 points (16-5-13-3-4-10-30)
5- Mahalo (BRA/Ricardo Silveira Filho), 52 points (11-4-6-13-16-2-30)

Focus on Brazilian Sailors

Although the number of people who sail in Brazil is low, they are a competitive and successful group, bringing Brazil the most Olympic gold medals compared to other sports. The success of Brazilian sailing began almost 50 years ago, when North American and European immigrants introduced the sport. Sailing has always been represented by technically-advanced athletes in the Olympics, World Championships and the Pan American Games. Since 1948, Brazil has qualified for every Olympic games in sailing and has finished in the top ten in all of them.

Robert Scheidt is an ideal example: a six-time Laser World Champion, 2007 Star World Champion, ISAF Rolex Sailor of the Year winner in 2001 and 2004, three-time Olympic medallist (2 Gold, 1 Silver). 'I feel bad that I am not in Ilhabela competing because it the biggest sailing event in South America and because Ilhabela is the ideal place to host a regatta. This year I had a very conflicting schedule, but I know already that for 2008 I will be there,' said Scheidt, the most recent Star World Champion (Cascais 2007). 'Ilhabela is a wonderful place where you can combine training and tranquillity. Many of the steps I take in my training program happen in Ilhabela,' Scheidt added.

In total Brazil has won 14 Olympic medals, 55 Pan American medals and some 77 World Championship medals. The Rolex Ilhabela Sailing Week brings all of the best Brazilian sailors together for the biggest and most traditional regatta in all of South America.

'Ilhabela is a great event because it has both a competitive aspect and a social aspect. On land there is a great ambiance for families, while on the water the competition is fierce. Ilhabela has a perfect geographic location, and it attracts all the sailors from Santos, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro as it is right in the middle of the country,' said Lars Grael, helmsman of Brazilian boat Sorsa III. 'It's great to participate this year and I believe that Rolex coming to this regatta will really help leverage the event,' Grael added.

Another recognized sailor sailing on Sorsa III is gold medallist Eduardo Penido. 'The nice thing about Ilhabela is that even though it is a small city, it lives and breathes sailing. Here you find a sort of sailors' Mecca, and no matter where you go you will find a connection with sailing.'

The first Ilhabela Sailing Week took place in 1973, and the event has continued to grow since. Today there are over 1600 sailors taking place in the 34th edition of South America's biggest regatta. Top sailors that compete against one another on the water come together on land to celebrate and enjoy the week of sailing that takes place in Ilhabela for the 2007 Rolex Ilhabela Sailing Week.

Further information about the Yacht Club Ilhabela and the Rolex Ilhabela Sailing Week may be found at www.risw.com.br