A Class Cat World Championship at the WPNSA

A Class Cat World Championship at the WPNSA - Day 3

by Gordon Upton 28 Aug 2019 04:41 PDT 18-21 & 24-30 August 2019

Tymo Bendyk flies to the finish in fine style on day 3 of the A Class Cat Worlds at the WPNSA © Gordon Upton / www.guppypix.com

GBR Olympian Adam May, gets airtime on day 3 of the A Class Cat Worlds at the WPNSA © Gordon Upton / www.guppypix.com

The third day of competition at the Worlds really just continued where the last one left off. David Campbell-James was keen to get the race numbers evened out and back on track for a full series as we'd promised Weymouth could deliver.

Day three saw three open fleet and one Classic fleet races in a light 5-8 knots, getting under way after a 2hr postponement.

The Open class first race went off with little fuss, recalls at this level are not frequent, especially in these winds and with the minimal tide effects in Portland harbour. Again, the left looked favoured in the Westerly wind direction and the fleet largely took off in that direction. Upwind foiling was not possible in that wind speed, so it was in low-rider model that they reached the top mark. There, Manuel Calavia ESP 11, just had the lead over Mischa Heemskerk NED 7 and Tymu Bendyk POL 41 in close persuit. They, and the rest of the fleet all set of on the cavalry charge that is 'A' Class Catamaran downwind foiling. These modern boats, with their Z shaped foils and adjustable rudder rake, have become much more docile to sail than they used to be. Far fewer pitch-pole crashes happen now, especially in these light winds and it is remarkable how little wind these top sailors can get airborne in.

The three laps unwound at a good pace until at the finish, it was a real neck and neck racing with Manuel just pipping Mischa, and the NZL sailor Dave Shaw NZL 230, in third only seconds behind. The next race was a similar exciting finish only with Mischa, who had narrowly missed a jury boat on the final few yards of the run-in, got his first bullet of the championship. But this time with Tymu second and Manuel, who was rather angry with himself, after he'd led Mischa on the last leg, in third.

Their last race of the day was a somewhat tame affair wind-wise, however, the mental workout of a minimum condition race cannot be underestimated in these boats. The leaders are with ones capable of stringing together the bits of breeze. This time, it was the Swiss lake sailor Nils Palmieri who just beat Mischa on the line by a length. And our GBR sailor Tom Phipps is creeping up the field after his first race miss today with a broken downhaul, and is currently in 13th position.

Then the Classics had a go. This was much more their territory as with less drag underneath, they can be faster in the light stuff. The race was won in great tactical style by Scott Anderson AUS 31 with the Aussie Wunderkind Andy Landeberger AUS 300 next, and the ever present Alberto Farnasi SWE 56 on his trusty old Marstrom.

Now, after five races, we have a slim little Aussie cowboy leading the Classics, and a big flying Dutchman leading the Open. They could hardly be more different, showing that this boat is for everyone. Tomorrow however, may be a very different bucket of haddock. Stiff winds are forecast, promising some spectacular, if marginally controlled action. We can't wait to see how this rather fascinating championships in developement will play out.

Results after Day 3:

Pos	Nat	Sail No	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
Classic Fleet
1	AUS	300	Andy Landenberger	3	2	‑6	2	2	9
2	AUS	308	Andrew Landenberger	4	‑18	2	1	5	12
3	SWE	59	Alberto Farnesi	5	‑6	1	3	3	12
4	GBR	18	Hugh Macgregor	1	‑7	4	4	4	13
5	AUS	31	Scott Anderson	6	1	‑7	6	1	14
6	SUI	56	Bruno Biedermann	7	‑11	3	5	11	26
7	ESP	5	Enrique Cornejo	‑14	5	11	12	6	34
8	AUS	9	John Dowling	‑9	9	8	9	8	34
9	ESP	29	Francisco Javier Acosta Medina	11	3	14	‑16	7	35
10	ESP	7	Michael Todd	2	14	‑15	10	10	36
11	SUI	310	Valente Jacques	‑17	8	5	11	13	37
12	AUS	992	Mark Capel	‑20	4	10	14	12	40
13	FRA	483	Antoine Riet	8	12	12	‑17	14	46
14	ITA	99	Marco Gaeti	‑21	17	9	7	16	49
15	GBR	72	Owen Cox	15	(UFD [25])	17	13	9	54
16	AUS	27	William Michie	12	19	16	8	‑20	55
17	GBR	1963	Peter Boxer	10	15	‑19	15	17	57
18	BEL	17	Astrid Janssens	13	13	‑18	18	18	62
19	ESP	129	Javier Acosta Morales	16	10	13	(RET [25])	DNC [25]	64
20	ESP	42	Mariano Martinez	(RET [25])	16	20	19	15	70
21	GBR	2	Colin Bannister	18	20	‑22	20	21	79
22	GBR	30	Daniel Brzezinski	‑23	21	21	21	19	82
23	GBR	77	Francis Marshall	19	23	‑24	22	23	87
24	GBR	14	Anthony Wykes	22	22	‑23	23	22	89
Foiling Fleet
1	NED	7	Mischa Heemskerk	‑61	2	1	1	2	6
2	USA	311	Bruce Mahoney	‑38	4	9	4	3	20
3	ESP	11	Manuel Calavia	‑27	1	3	3	14	21
4	POL	15	Tymoteusz Bendyk	1	7	16	2	‑17	26
5	AUS	1035	James Wierzbowski	4	6	11	‑13	5	26
6	AUS	4	Steven Brewin	‑13	10	7	5	4	26
7	POL	41	Jakub Surowiec	11	8	2	7	(UFD [65])	28
8	NZL	270	Dave Shaw	‑21	3	10	10	7	30
9	FRA	207	Benoit Marie	(SCP [47])	5	4	15	8	32
10	SUI	87	Nils Palmieri	2	14	24	‑36	1	41
11	POL	1	Jacek Noetzel	9	17	8	12	‑25	46
12	ITA	3	Paolo Penco	‑22	13	6	20	11	50
13	GBR	22	Tom Phipps	12	21	(DNC [65])	14	6	53
14	POL	17	Maciej Zarnowski	‑32	12	12	9	20	53
15	GER	6	Rainer Bohrer	8	‑24	14	16	16	54
16	SUI	1	Sandro Caviezel	16	18	13	8	‑26	55
17	ESP	19	Juan Luis Paez	3	‑30	15	18	23	59
18	NED	207	Thijs Visser Visser	10	22	17	‑38	13	62
19	FRA	2	Emmanuel Dodé	‑28	15	5	26	22	68
20	POL	111	Michal Korneszczuk	6	‑36	27	21	18	72
21	SUI	7	Maeder Robin	7	‑37	19	31	15	72
22	AUT	96	Michael Mödlhammer	18	‑27	26	11	21	76
23	NED	28	Pieterjan Dwarshuis	‑35	16	18	17	29	80
24	NZL	555	Phil Robertson	25	(DSQ [65])	23	25	10	83
25	NED	95	Roeland Wentholt	17	25	39	6	(UFD [65])	87
26	AUS	51	Paul Larsen	5	32	‑41	22	31	90
27	ESP	93	Rafa Gomez	43	9	20	19	‑47	91
28	GBR	57	Adam May	‑57	23	22	24	28	97
29	ESP	16	Marc Verdaguer	14	33	21	‑34	30	98
30	POL	101	Andrzej Senkus	23	26	25	‑35	27	101
31	DEN	20	Peter Boldsen	29	‑34	31	33	12	105
32	ESP	74	Abdon Ibanez	19	29	29	RDGaR1235 [29]	‑39	106
33	ESP	75	Toni Ballester	30	20	35	23	‑49	108
34	GBR	599	Oscar Lindley‑Smith	15	38	28	29	‑42	110
35	AUS	100	Simon Nelson	‑46	11	34	28	38	111
36	POL	7	Marcin Kaminski	33	28	‑36	30	24	115
37	GER	15	Katrin Brunner	20	‑55	49	50	9	128
38	DEN	77	Tom Bøjland	36	31	‑44	27	36	130
39	GER	85	Guido Schulte	31	35	33	‑40	33	132
40	ITA	72	Giuseppe Colombo	47	19	30	37	‑48	133
41	AUS	63	Mark Griffith	26	51	32	32	(RET [65])	141
42	SUI	17	Dominik Peikert	(DNC [65])	42	48	47	19	156
43	NED	44	Wiro Zijlmans	40	39	42	39	‑52	160
44	GER	40	Manfred Syrowy	42	45	‑46	43	32	162
45	POL	3	Jaroslaw Betkowski	44	‑48	43	42	35	164
46	SUI	33	Heiko Maier	39	41	40	‑46	44	164
47	GBR	21	Richard Hargreaves	‑53	46	38	49	34	167
48	NED	111	David van Aart	‑52	47	37	44	40	168
49	SUI	65	Charles Bueche	41	44	47	‑48	43	175
50	CZE	1	Vladislav Ptasnik	‑56	40	45	41	51	177
51	ESP	48	Oscar Quirante	37	‑52	50	45	50	182
52	BEL	32	Gagliani Olivier	45	‑57	51	55	37	188
53	BEL	19	Wim Deca	48	53	‑56	51	41	193
54	GER	75	Joern Knop	50	49	53	‑54	46	198
55	SUI	61	Jean‑Yves Delaite	SCP [37]	56	‑59	52	54	199
56	GBR	111	Mike Bawden	49	50	52	56	‑57	207
57	ITA	7	Stefano Sirri	54	54	‑58	53	53	214
58	DEN	19	Felix Jacobsen	(SCP [65])	DNF [65]	54	58	45	222
59	POL	197	Maciej Trocha	51	59	55	(DNF [65])	59	224
60	AUS	1067	Joseph Randall	(DNC [65])	43	DNS [65]	57	RET [65]	230
61	SUI	60	Delaite Francois	58	60	57	(DNF [65])	56	231
62	SUI	88	Yves Thelininck	59	58	60	(DNF [65])	55	232
63	GBR	25	Sam Heaton	60	(DNF [65])	61	DNF [65]	58	244
64	SUI	9	Daniel Caviezel	(DNC [65])	DNC [65]	DNC [65]	DNC [65]	DNC [65]	260