MUMM 30 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL DAY Maurizio Abba new World Champion

by Laura Jelmini on 7 Oct 2001 A fog bank lurking near the mountains
that surround the Bay of Angels descended across the race course at mid
day. The boats had left the dock at noon due to a lack of wind in the
morning, under a clear sky and into the promise of moderate wind. In a
most unusual weather phenomenon for the area, the thick fog hung over the
area until just before 3:00 p.m., with visibility less than 100 yards at
times. Locals could not remember the last time this had happened. The
Dutch team on Magnumm entertained themselves and spectators by flying
their bowman off the spinnaker halyard and dunking him in the water.

The cloud lifted and gave way to a shifty 8-12 knots from 120 degrees.
An I-flag was hoisted with the class flag, but it was not enough to deter
several boats at the pin end from jumping the gun. Most returned, but
two were scored OCS. Second placed Banca Finnat Euramerica had a clean
start and got the shifts right on the first beat to round the top mark in
first place. They were able to stay in the streaky wind on the run and
protect their position through to the finish line, which secured their
second place overall for the regatta. Alina sailed conservatively and
their ninth place finish kept the cushion they needed to win the fifth
World Championship of the Class.

The Mumm 30 Class extends its gratitude to the sponsors of the World
Championship in Cagliari - Champagne Mumm, Audi, Iltenet Wind, and BNL -
Banca Nazionale del Lavorno.

The 2002 World Championship has been scheduled to take place in
Annapolis, Maryland, USA, hosted by the Annapolis Yacht Club on September
25-28.


Provisional Standings (one protest pending which does not affect the top
five finishers)

1. Alina, Maurizio Abba - ITA 3 8 12 2 1 4 9 ttl 39
2. Banca Finnat Euramerica, Andrea Cechetti - ITA 7 21 1 4 15 13 1 ttl 62
3. Iltenet Wind, Pierpaolo Cristofori - ITA 17 15 4 5 12 8 5 ttl 66
4. Panther AMG, Simon Sarsfield - GBR 2 6 19 13 10 19 10 ttl 79
5. General Cargo, Antonio Monaco Masi- ITA 22 5 13 7 13 6 14 ttl 80

Complete results are posted at www.yachtclub-cagliari.com or www.mumm30.org