Tempest Worlds to Germany at 2012 Olympic venue

by Event media on 30 Aug 2008 The Tempest, the former Olympic twoman keelboat, raced their 43rd Tempest World Championships at the venue for the next Olympic Games in 2012 - the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy.

Thirtythree Tempests representing eight countries battled through a nine race series. Victory went to the German team of Frank Weigelt and Christian Rusitsch.

Over the six days, Principle Race Officer (PRO), Frank Newton had to cope with wind strengths from 12 knots to 35 knots. This proved too much for safety on day one of the Championships and racing was abandoned.

Day two saw 18 to 25 knots and the fleet had the Olympic triangle/ windward leeward course configurations set within the Portland harbour to battle out the first two races.

First at the windward mark in race one proved to be a good omen for the German team of Frank Weigelt and Christian Rusitsch, last years runners up. They took the first bullet and ultimately the overall Championship, but not before they were forced into a must win race nine to take the title away from the French 2007 winners team Philippe Boite and Reges Viateur.

Race 2 saw the wind strengthen with gusts up to 27 knots making the down wind legs, with spinnakers set, a real muscle aching battle for all the crews, some of which demonstrated just how difficult it is to keep a Tempest upright when flat out with the kite. The British team of Mike Adams and Paul Adams were clocked at 14.4 knots by the RaceTrax race/spectator monitoring GPS system. Ultimately race two went to Boite/ Viateur.

Race three also went Biote/ Viateur with the North and Mader works team of Christian Schafer and Andreas Mader taking second place and reminding the fleet of their multi title wining dominance before the French team challenged successfully in 2006.

Race four saw a change in fortune for the eventual German winners with team Weigelt and Rusitsch disqualified for a racing rule infringement which opened up the title race to all three leading teams. Races 6, 7 and 8 were scheduled for Thursday and the winds duly lightened to the point the PRO were able to set the courses out of the Portland Harbour in Weymouth Bay. The reducing wind strength saw teams retuning for the new conditions with most of the fleet selecting their first choice sail configurations.

During races 6, 7 and 8 the lead was shared, as was the potential to win the Championship between the two German and French teams, ensuring that the final race of the 2008 World Championships would go to the wire.

The race 9 course was laid out in Weymouth Bay. The finale was set to be a tense 5 lap, two plus hour battle between teams Boite/Viateur and Weigelt/Rusitsch. Which ever team led at the finish would be the Champions. For team Schafer/Mader to win the title they needed to win and the other two contenders be at least third or fourth.

After the start, the second sound signal indicated a number of boats OCS. As some teams returned to restart, the battle for the Championship saw team Boite/Viateur match racing Weigelt/Rusitsch and keeping the German team in second place while in third place was the British team of Modral/Higgens.

At the start of lap 4 the shortened course signal led to a fight for overall places on the last beat, with team Schafer/Mader placed in the fleet, it looked like a two way race for first place between Boite/Viateur and Weigelt/Rusitsch.

While teams from Antigua, Hart/Gill and Martinique, Lotaut/Albut had a brilliant last beat to take second and fourth from the Austrian team of Schumi/Frampton in third.

A short time after the finish, the race winning French team learnt they were over the start line and the OCS result handed the 43rd Tempest World Championships to the German team of Frank Weigelt and Christian Rusitsch.

During the mid-series dinner, competitors were treated to a entertaining speech and slide show by Frank Newton on the Tempest Class at the Kiel and Montreal Olympic venues.

During the prize giving, competitors acknowledged the excellence of the race organization by Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy and in particular the PRO, Frank Newton. The prizes were presented by Ken Proctor, the son of the Tempest designer, Ian Proctor.

The fleet looks forward to returning to the venue post 2012 Olympic Games and after future World Championships in Europe and the Caribbean.

The world championships were organised in the UK by John and Sheila Robinson and Mike and Lilian Adams. Special thanks go to Alan Curtis, the UK President of the Tempest Association for all the support and fund raising.

Tempest Worlds - Final overall positions

1st GER1087 Frank Weigelt Christian Rusitsch DTYC 1 2 -3 (34.0 DSQ) 3 2 1 1 1 48 11
2nd FRA 1182 Philippe Boite Reges Viateur C.V.St Quentin 2 1 1 2 1 3 -4 2 (34.0 OCS) 50 12
3rd GER 1187 Schafer Christian Mader Andreas BYC -3 3 2 1 2 1 3 3 (34.0 DNF) 52 15
4th GER 1128 Rolf Bahr Thomas Olbrich VSAW 4 6 -7 3 4 4 2 5 (34.0 DNF) 69 28
5th SUI1136 Mario Suter Andreas Hochuli SC Hallwill 6 -12 6 -9 9 8 7 6 5 68 47
6th GER 1180 (1060) Dr G Trimpl Dr G Trimpl SRV -16 8 4 5 7 7 8 9 (34.0 DNF) 98 48
7th GER 1142 Michael Schmohl Ralph Ostertag YCAT 8 4 8 6 6 9 -14 7 (34.0 DNF) 96 48
8th ANT 1121 Jim Hart John Gill Antigua SC -18 5 5 11 8 12 6 -19 2 86 49
9th FRA 1147 Allan Lotaut Jean-Charles Albut CNS 10 9 9 7 11 -16 5 -14 4 85 55
10th GBR 1114 Ian Modal Robin Higgens Ullswater Yacht Club 7 -14 13 10 5 6 -15 12 6 88 59
11th GBR 1161 Jonathan Modval Colin Meadows London Corinthian YC -14 -13 10 4 10 13 10 4 10 88 61
12th SUI 1157 Samir Saydjari Muri Christoph CVB 5 7 11 (34.0 DNF) (34.0 DNF) 14 11 22 8 146 78
13th GBR 1181 Mike Adams Paul Adams Ullswater Yacht Club 9 11 -22 12 13 5 17 -20 12 121 79
14th AUT 1151 Manfred Schumi Nick Frampton KYCO 13 (34.0 DNF) 12 17 24 (34.0 DNF) 16 10 3 163 95
15th GBR 1089 Peter Bower Katie Bower Carsington 17 -22 -23 16 16 17 12 8 9 140 95
16th GBR 1134 Nick Stewardson Ray Stiles Ullswater Yacht Club 12 17 16 -25 15 (34.0 DSQ) 9 15 11 154 95
17th GBR 1111 John Robinson Lindsay Whitehead Ullswater Yacht Club -23 -25 19 14 17 10 13 11 13 145 97
18th FRA 1143 Jean Marie Thierry Geraud Lafortune CVSP 19 15 14 18 12 11 -20 16 -20 145 105
19th GBR 1077 K Dunston Philip Munton Carsington 11 10 15 8 14 (34.0 DNF) (34.0 DNF) 34.0 DNF 15 175 107
20th GBR 1123 Graham Donkin David Lyons Ullswater Yacht Club 15 (34.0 DNF) (34.0 DNF) 13 20 18 18 13 14 179 111
21st FRA 1177 Patrice Rouanet Agnes Rouanet CNSR -22 19 17 15 22 15 22 -24 7 163 117
22nd GER 1078 Christoph Gassner Bernhard Gassner SRV 20 20 (34.0 DNF) 20 21 20 19 -23 19 196 139
23rd GBR 1075 James Hayden David Haughton BUSC (old boys) (34.0 DNF) 18 20 23 18 21 -27 27 18 206 145
24th GBR 1109 Michael Egan Keith Mcdermot Ullswater Yacht Club -26 -26 24 26 23 25 21 17 17 205 153
25th GBR 1069 (105) John Turley John Wilson Smith Ullswater Yacht Club 24 16 18 19 19 (34.0 DNF) (34.0 DNF) 34.0 DNF 26 224 156
26th GBR 11078 David Simpson Chris Angell UYC 21 24 21 21 -28 -26 26 21 25 213 159
27th FRA 1125 Francois Blondel Victor Blondel SRVA 25 21 -27 22 -29 24 25 25 22 220 164
28th SUI 1119 Christoph Lauber Jochen Nitsche RVB (34.0 DNF) (34.0 DNF) 26 27 27 27 29 18 16 238 170
29th GBR 910 Derek Budden Kathryn Budden Hornet SC 27 23 25 -28 -30 23 28 28 21 233 175
30th NED 1139 Erik Smit Marc Wegter WSV 28 (34.0 DNF) (34.0 DNF) 24 26 19 23 34.0 DNF 23 245 177
31st GBR 1054 William Hurlstone Richard Lawson Carsington SC (34.0 DNF) (34.0 DNF) 34.0 DNF 29 25 22 24 26 24 252 184
32nd GBR 625 Caron Budden Sarah Keeley Arun YC 30 27 28 30 -31 29 -31 29 28 263 201
33rd GBR 813 Ralph Budden Paul Keeley Arun YC 29 (34.0 DNF) (34.0 DNF) 34.0 DNF 34.0 DNF 28 30 30 27 280 212

1 Women’s team GBR 625 Caron Budden and Sarah Keeley 201 points.
Best place British team GBR 1114 Ian Modral and Robin Higgens 59 points