Star Worlds - Marazzi and De Maria win Race 2

by Lynn Fitzpatrick - WorldRegattas on 18 Jan 2010
Flavio Marazzi and Enrico de Maria (SUI) are a step closer to their dream after winning Race 2 of the 2010 Star World Championship. With everyone starting conservatively, the Swiss positioned themselves in a line sag during the start under the black flag and had clear air during the first beat. Their start did not win them the race, but it put them among the leaders at the first windward mark.

Marazzi/DeMaria and Alexander Schlonski and Frithjof Kleen (GER) made their gains during the second beat and Marazzi/DeMaria stepped into the lead. They extended during the remaining windward-leeward while Schlonski/Kleen mixed it up with Alan Adler and Guiherme Almeida (BRA), Andrew Campbell and Brad Nichol (USA) and Jojo Polgar and Markus Koy (GER). Schlonski/Kleen edged out Campbell/Nichol on the finish line to take second and third place, respectively.

With today’s eighth place finish, Johannes Babenderede and Timo Jacobs (GER) remain low point in the regatta. Two points back are Adler/Guiherme, who have shown consistency during the first two days of sailing. They followed yesterday’s sixth place finish with a fifth today. Olympic Gold Medalists, Iain Percy and Andrew Bart Simpson (GBR) are two points behind Adler/de Almedia and are in third place overall with 13 points. Andrew Campbell and Brad Nichol (USA) moved into fourth place overall by passing boats on the final beat and pulling into third at the finish line.

Out on the ocean, the wind was light and the current was strong enough to push the stern of the race committee boat upwind. The 73-boat fleet got off to a clean start under the black flag. According to Adler who rounded the weather mark first, 'We saw a left shift two minutes before the start and moved down the line. We went left too hard. We were so far ahead and lost so much, because we overstood the windward mark.' More than half of the fleet overstood the port tack layline to the mark.

Marazzi/DeMaria, Polgar/Koy and Adler/Guilherme went down the run in different lanes, and as they approached the first leeward gate, Marazzi/DeMaria crossed behind the other two leaders. Schlonski/Frithjof Kleen, Percy/Simpson, Campbell/Nichol, Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland Pedersen (NOR) and Gastao Brun and Gustavo Kunze (BRA) were intent on climbing to the front. Said Babandererde, 'We overtook boats on the 2nd upwind leg. We did not go left like the others because there was less wind there. We caught Iain Percy on the second run because he had a problem with the jib. From then on we shortened the distance to the leaders, but there were no gains to be made.'

The white caps made random appearances during the final beat and the leading edge of an offshore cloud that had had a defined edge all afternoon finally became ragged.

It was a race to the finish for the top seven boats and Andrew Campbell, who came out of the fray with a third place finish for the day described the top-place American team’s final beat, 'We went to the right gate and made a big gain immediately. We split with the four boats ahead of us and caught three of them. We sailed to the right of the group and knew that we had to catch Alan Adler on boat speed.'

On a sad note, Marcoa Lagoa (BRA) was taken to the hospital after a shackle on a lifting bridle failed and the boat fell off of the hoist. Logoa's toes were injured and the boat was damaged.

Results following Race 2 of the 2010 Star World Championship in Rio de Janeiro

1 Johannes Babendererde /Timo Jacobs (GER) – 1, 8 - 9
2 Alan Adler / Guilherme de Almeida (BRA) – 6,5 -11
3 Iain Percy / Andrew Simpson (ING) – 2, 11 - 13
4 Andrew Campbell / Brad Nichol (USA) – 12, 3 - 15
5 Fredrik Loof / John Tillander (SUE) – 8,9 - 17
6Eivind Melleby / Peter Pedersen (NOR) – 9, 10 - 19
7Robert Scheidt / Bruno Prada (BRA) – 3, 19 - 22
8 Ross MacDonald / André Lekszycki (CAN) – 10, 13 - 23
9Alexander Schlonski / Frithjof Kleen (GER) – 24, 2 -26
10 Robert Stanjek / Philipp Stanjek (GER) – 14, 12 - 26

Full results: http://www.starworlds2010.com/results-table/

http://www.worldregattas.com/