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Para World Sailing Champs – Collisions and chaos in tough conditions

by Bernie Kaaks on 30 Nov 2015
Day 3 - 2015 Para World Sailing Championships Teri Dodds http://www.teridodds.com
Broken masts, collisions and a tough old day for the sailors at the Para World Sailing Championships as Port Phillip showed its wild side on the third day of competition in Williamstown, Melbourne, Australia.

A warm northerly breeze lured the sailors out of the comfortable surroundings of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria to their respective course areas with no sign of what was to follow.

The first race for all fleets was run in a breeze of 15 knots or so, with gusts to 20 knots and the wind direction swinging wildly in each gust. It was challenging but enjoyable sailing. In the second race however, the breeze built quickly. Strong gusts, reported at 30 knots, caught many crews unawares, with spectacular results.

Israeli and American SKUD18 sailors fell victim to the second race gusts as their masts snapped whilst Puerto Rico's Julio Reguero collided with the committee boat on the 2.4mR race track.

On the SKUD18 course, conditions were trying for all crews in the first race, which was won by Australians Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch ahead of their team mates Amethyst Barnbrook and Brett Pearce, with the Netherlands crew of Rolf Schrama and Sandra Nap third.



In the race that followed, conditions were frightening, with vicious gusts sweeping down the course. Americans Ryan Porteous and Maureen McKinnon launched their spinnaker after rounding the windward mark, only to watch it fill instantly as a gust hit, and snap the mast neatly at the spreaders.

Soon afterwards, the Israeli crew of Hagar and Moshe Zahavi suffered a similar fate, both boats being towed back to the marina. The Australian crew, having established a good lead by the final lap, delayed the deployment of a spinnaker until after they had gybed, and kept a close watch on the Canadian boat closing in behind them. They went on to score another win, with Canada's John McRoberts and Jackie Gray second and the Netherlands' Rolf Schrama and Sandra Nap third.

Total points after dropping the worst are now Australia on six points, Great Britain on 17 and Italy on 21.

At one point during the final race, Julio Reguero (PUR) in the 2.4mR fleet was unable to keep clear of an anchored committee boat during a particularly strong gust, while down the course there were four boats in the hands of support craft. For these little boats with their low freeboard, just keeping then afloat was challenging, and bilge pumps were being used by everyone to pump out water that had swept over them in the high winds. France's Damien Seguin showed his versatility today by winning followed by Australia's Matt Bugg, who was third in both races. Canadian Brian Miller was third in race six.



After six races, dropping the worst, Damien Seguin leads with nine points, from Germany's Heiko Kroeger on 14 and Australian Matt Bugg on 19.

On the Sonar course, the predicted tightening of the competition was clear when the first three boats crossed the finish line almost together, each overlapped with the boat ahead. The Australian crew of Colin Harrison, Jonathan Harris and Russell Boaden started soundly in the centre of the fleet and narrowly led at the first mark from the British and French crews. During the final downwind leg, French skipper Bruno Jourdren broke away from the Australian and British boats, favouring the left as they closed on the finish line. The Australians held their nerve, and with the British boat closing fast behind them, kept the French boat out wide until they gybed back, leaving the Frenchmen to lament what might have been. The finishing order was Australia, France and Britain.

In much stronger conditions during the second race, the British turned the tables, leading the Australians home with the New Zealand crew of Richard Dodson, Chris Sharp and Andrew May in third place. The French boat had their worst result for the series so far, finishing eighth.



Total scores, now incorporating the dropping of each boat's worst score, shows the Australians leading on seven points, ahead of the British crew of John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas on 13 points and the French crew on 22.

With severe conditions forecast for tomorrow, teams are already discussing their strategy after today's carnage on the race course.





Full results

 2.4m

Place Sail No Boat Name Skipper From Sers Score Race 6 Race 5 Race 4 Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 FRA13 ERDF Damien Seguin FRA 9.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 5.0 1.0 [6.0]
2 GER1 AUDI SAP M`POL V`NAS Heiko Kroeger GER 14.0 [8.0] 4.0 4.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
3 AUS36 MOSHI Matt Bugg AUS 19.0 3.0 3.0 2.0 3.0 8.0 [9.0]
4 NOR1 NOR1 Bjoernar Erikstad NOR 27.0 5.0 5.0 10.0 [12.0] 4.0 3.0
5 GBR121 THE BRAIN Megan Pascoe GBR 31.0 15.0 6.0 6.0 [16.0] 3.0 1.0
6 GBR75 GBR 75 Helena Lucas GBR 31.0 4.0 9.0 3.0 10.0 [49.0U] 5.0
7 CAN39 LIFE OF BRIAN Bruce Millar CAN 41.0 19.0 2.0 [19.0] 1.0 12.0 7.0
8 USA7 KANALOA Dee Smith USA 43.0 [17.0] 7.0 9.0 6.0 10.0 11.0
9 GER44 AUDI SAP EWE Lasse Kloetzing GER 46.0 2.0 13.0 13.0 [15.0] 6.0 12.0
10 ITA104 ITA104 Antonio Squizzato ITA 46.0 7.0 10.0 14.0 4.0 11.0 [16.0]
11 AUT1 AUT1 Sven Reiger AUT 53.0 12.0 [49.0R] 12.0 14.0 7.0 8.0
12 FRA5 NAPPY BOAT Kevin Cantin FRA 54.0 9.0 20.0 5.0 7.0 13.0 [22.0]
13 FIN173 VOITTO II Niko Salomaa FIN 60.0 6.0 14.0 11.0 [22.0] 14.0 15.0
14 CZE7 CZE7 Daniel Bina CZE 62.0 10.0 17.0 16.0 [18.0] 5.0 14.0
15 PUR14 NONE Julio Reguero PUR 79.4 21.4G [49.0R] 7.0 17.0 21.0 13.0
16 ESP7 SAMBA PATI Antonio Maestre ESP 81.0 13.0 15.0 [28.0] 26.0 9.0 18.0
17 SWE1 SKOTA HEM Fia Fjelddahl SWE 86.0 11.0 18.0 21.0 [25.0] 16.0 20.0
18 GBR3 GBR 3 Will Street GBR 91.0 [49.0F] 26.0 8.0 29.0 18.0 10.0
19 ESP15 FUNDACIO DAMM Montes Vorcy Arturo ESP 94.0 [49.0F] 23.0 18.0 13.0 17.0 23.0
20 AUS40 MORNA 7 Peter Thompson AUS 100.0 25.0 [35.0] 20.0 23.0 28.0 4.0
21 ESP914 RFEV - IBERDROLA Rafa Andarias ESP 100.0 27.0 [29.0] 24.0 11.0 19.0 19.0
22 ARG2 ARG2 Tomas Saez Raffaelli ARG 102.0 22.0 11.0 [29.0] 19.0 23.0 27.0
23 AUS38 ROCKY Neil Patterson AUS 102.0 18.0 19.0 15.0 21.0 [49.0U] 29.0
24 MAS33 MAS33 Matrin Al Mustakim MAS 104.0 16.0 21.0 27.0 [27.0] 15.0 25.0
25 ARG1 NO NAME Juan Ocampo ARG 106.0 23.0 22.0 17.0 20.0 24.0 [24.0]
26 NZL105 NZL105 Paul Francis NZL 108.0 49.0Q 8.0 25.0 9.0 [49.0U] 17.0
27 RUS8 VLADIVOSTOK Dmitrii Khonich RUS 111.0 14.0 [37.0] 23.0 28.0 25.0 21.0
28 POR5 VELA SOLIDARIA Joao Pinto POR 122.0 [49.0F] 27.0 36.0 8.0 20.0 31.0
29 RUS4 VORONEJ Nikolai Uliashev RUS 123.0 20.0 31.0 26.0 24.0 22.0 [49.0Q]
30 GRE1 GRE1 Paterakis Nikos GRE 139.0 21.0 25.0 33.0 32.0 [35.0] 28.0
31 ESP16 PUERTO SHERRY Borja Melgarejo ESP 151.0 49.0O 12.0 22.0 38.0 [49.0Q] 30.0
32 POR2 FITAS Manuel Soares POR 151.0 31.0 16.0 38.0 37.0 29.0 [49.0U]
33 JPN1 JPN1 Takumi Niwa JPN 152.0 26.0 24.0 40.0 30.0 [49.0R] 32.0
34 CZE4 VIKTOR I Alexander Sadilek CZE 157.0 34.0 [42.0] 30.0 41.0 26.0 26.0
35 EST1 EST1 Anre Nomme EST 160.0 24.0 34.0 35.0 [40.0] 33.0 34.0
36 POL8 JOWITA Andrzej Puchalski POL 163.0 28.0 28.0 [45.0] 42.0 32.0 33.0
37 POR1 TRETAS Fernando Pinto POR 165.0 29.0 [40.0] 34.0 36.0 31.0 35.0
38 AUS25 PATCH Mark Durnan AUS 169.0 30.0 36.0 [41.0] 34.0 30.0 39.0
39 RUS2 SEVEN FEET Egor Kamalov RUS 171.0 [49.0F] 41.0 31.0 31.0 27.0 41.0
40 MAS22 MAS22 Ani Azmi MAS 174.0 [49.0F] 30.0 39.0 33.0 34.0 38.0
41 ITA107 ITA107 Gianluca Raggi ITA 174.0 33.0 33.0 37.0 35.0 36.0 [49.0F]
42 POL7 ZEBRA Piotr Nowak POL 176.0 32.0 38.0 32.0 [39.0] 37.0 37.0
43 HKG6 THE KAPLAN Yuen Wai Foo HKG 184.0 35.0 32.0 [44.0] 43.0 38.0 36.0
44 KOR2 2.4MR Lee Changhoon KOR 202.0 36.0 39.0 42.0 44.0 41.0 [45.0]
45 HKG5 SWIRE FLYER Kin Wah Lam HKG 208.0 38.0 45.0 43.0 [45.0] 40.0 42.0
46 HKG7 INSPIRATION Chi Yeung Puk HKG 212.0 39.0 44.0 46.0 [46.0] 39.0 44.0
47 HKG1 VICTORIA 1026 Ping Cho HKG 213.0 37.0 43.0 47.0 [47.0] 43.0 43.0
48 GUA165 KEEP GOING Rodolfo Quezada GUA 216.0 40.0 46.0 48.0 [48.0] 42.0 40.0

 Skud 18
Place Sail No Skipper Crew From Sers Score Race 6 Race 5 Race 4 Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 AUS047 Daniel Fitzgibbon Liesl Tesch AUS 6.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 [2.0]
2 GBR077 Alexandra Rickham Niki Birrell GBR 17.0 7.0 4.0 [13.0] 1.0 2.0 3.0
3 ITA054 Marco Gualandris Marta Zanetti ITA 21.0 6.0 3.0 [8.0] 3.0 4.0 5.0
4 AUS044 Amethyst Barnbrook Brett Pearce AUS 23.0 4.0 2.0 3.0 5.0 [18.0S] 9.0
5 NED69 Rolf Schrama Sandra Nap NED 24.0 3.0 8.0 [9.0] 4.0 3.0 6.0
6 POL082 Monika Gibes Piotr Cichocki POL 26.0 5.0 [10.0] 6.0 6.0 8.0 1.0
7 CAN058 John Mcroberts Jackie Gay CAN 27.0 2.0 6.0 [10.0] 7.0 5.0 7.0
8 USA071 Ryan Porteous Maureen Mckinnon USA 29.0 [18.0F] 7.0 2.0 10.0 6.0 4.0
9 NED70 Vera Voorbach Jan-Rein Van Essevel NED 41.0 10.0 [12.0] 5.0 8.0 7.0 11.0
10 NZL076 Tim Dempsey Gemma Fletcher NZL 44.0 8.0 11.0 4.0 11.0 10.0 [14.0]
11 USA074 Sarah Skeels Cindy Walker USA 45.0 9.0 [13.0] 7.0 12.0 9.0 8.0
12 SIN083 Jovin Tan Desiree Lim SIN 47.0 12.0 5.0 11.0 9.0 [14.0] 10.0
13 ISR062 Hagar Zahavi Moshe Zahavi ISR 66.0 [18.0F] 9.0 15.0 15.0 12.0 15.0
14 NZL060 Paul Webber Amanda Beaver NZL 66.0 11.0 15.0 16.0 13.0 11.0 [16.0]
15 ESP039 Sergio Roig Violeta Del Reino ESP 69.0 18.0F 14.0 12.0 [18.0Q] 13.0 12.0
16 MAS037 Nurul Amilin Balawi Junell Mustafah MAS 69.0 13.0 [16.0] 14.0 14.0 15.0 13.0
17 AUS030 Russell Phillips Kim Ballantyne AUS 84.0 18.0C [18.0F] 17.0 16.0 16.0 17.0

 Sonar
Place Sail No Skipper Crew Crew. Sers Score Race 6 Race 5 Race 4 Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 AUS1 Colin Harrison Jonathan Harris Russell Boaden 7.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 [2.0] 1.0 1.0
2 GBR748 John Robertson Hannah Stodel Steve Thomas 13.0 1.0 3.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 [9.0]
3 FRA1 Jourdren Bruno Flageul Eric Vimont-Vicary Nicola 22.0 [8.0] 2.0 1.0 6.0 7.0 6.0
4 NZL1 Richard Dodson Chris Sharp Andrew May 25.0 3.0 [11.0] 5.0 10.0 5.0 2.0
5 CAN835 Paul Tingley Logan Campbell Scott Lutes 26.0 5.0 5.0 8.0 4.0 4.0 [8.0]
6 NOR1 Aleksander Wang-Hans Marie Solberg Per Kristiansen 27.0 9.0 6.0 [19.0Q] 1.0 8.0 3.0
7 IRL844 John Twomey Ian Costelloe Austin O'Carroll 30.0 4.0 4.0 [12.0] 7.0 11.0 4.0
8 USA1 Rick Doerr Bradley Kendell Hugh Freund 31.0 6.0 [8.0] 7.0 5.0 6.0 7.0
9 ISR1 Dror Cohen Arnon Efrati Shimon Ben Yakov 35.0 10.0 9.0 [11.0] 8.0 3.0 5.0
10 GER11 Jens Kroker Siegmund Mainka Robert Prem 42.0 7.0 10.0 6.0 9.0 10.0 [11.0]
11 GBR747 Craig Wood Steven Palmer Liam Cattermole 48.0 11.0 [15.0] 3.0 12.0 12.0 10.0
12 ITA720 Cristiano Dagaro Fabrizio Solazzo Gian Bachisio Pira 55.0 12.0 7.0 10.0 [14.0] 13.0 13.0
13 USA810 Andrew Fisher Dan Evans Thomas Brown 56.0 13.0 13.0 9.0 [13.0] 9.0 12.0
14 ESP1 Francisco Llobet Hector Garcia Manuel Gimeno 67.0 [17.0] 14.0 13.0 11.0 14.0 15.0
15 AUS716 Jason Elwes Lindsay Mason Stephen Churm 70.0 14.0 12.0 15.0 [16.0] 15.0 14.0
16 ISV3 David Flaherty James Kerr Antonio Sanpere 78.0 15.0 17.0 14.0 [17.0] 16.0 16.0
17 JPN3 Shinya Yamamoto Junichi Ohnuma Koji Ishii 80.0 16.0 16.0 16.0 15.0 17.0 [17.0]
18 KOR1 Yun Dongjin Kang Cheonsik Choi Kibum 89.0 18.0 18.0 17.0 18.0 18.0 [18.0]
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