Big guns in town

An update from Ian Grant as to who has just stepped off the plane in Mooloolaba for the Etchells Worlds

The name of specialist Etchells sailor Dirk Kneulman is well known in his homeland of Canada following his outstanding win in the 1998 World Championship held on the internationally famed sailing destination of Marblehead USA.

However that is about to change in down town Mooloolaba later this week when Dirk Kneulman strolls along the Mooloolaba Yacht Club marina rigged in his racing gear.

The master Canadian One-design skipper tactician is not officially entered as a skipper in the 2004 ACE World Championship however he will be sailing as ‘the man in the middle’ with theDennis Conner skippered Menace.

Kneulman ranked 6th in the World will add some important tactical clout when the battle lines are drawn on the warm waters of the Coral Sea for what promises to be the most exciting world sailing championship ever staged on Queensland waters.

All of the ‘Big Guns’ are in town and they have a single purpose in mind and that is to be presented with the 2004 ACE World championship trophy at the end of the regatta on August 8.

Dennis Conner, Dirk Kneulman and crew mate Peter Burton are not on the Sunshine Coast for the purpose of topping up their sun tan.

The Menace sailing team would like to be the crew who wins this prestigious trophy.

However Dennis Conner a personal winner of 28 World championships including two in the highly competitive Etchells and 26 Gold Medals in a wide range of classes plus four wins in the ‘bull ring’ of the Americas Cup is officially ranked number 1 Etchells skipper in the World but even with this reputation the master helmsman understands he will be in the thick of a real tactical dog-fight on the waters off Pt Cartwright.

No Etchells skipper and crew has won the World crown on past reputations it’s what they do on the race track during every second and over every grueling metre in every heat which separates the best from the rest.

Sure Dennis Conner who won the 1993 Carlton Australian championship on the same Sunshine Coast course deserves to be included with the high profile group of skippers who are ranked as the top contenders.

When you get the quality of sailors like Dennis Conner, John Bertrand, John Savage and the ‘young gun’ Cameron Appleton who have played the ‘mind games’ in the Americas Cup arena it becomes difficult to any one of them ahead on any other.

Conner and Melbourne’s John Savage skipper of the 1983 Americas Cup Challenge 12 have a lot in common they are the only two skippers to have won two World Etchells titles.

John Savage won his first title in Toronto in 1979 and his second off Newport NSW in 1988.

Dennis Conner won his titles in San Francisco in 1991 and Balboa California in 1994.

They both deserve to be among the sentimental favourites and have the proven skills to be in the thick of the action.

The same loyalty has to apply to John Bertrand and a group of Etchells racing perfectionists like the 1999 World Champion Cameron Miles, 2002 Silver Medalist Mark Bradford, Australian champion Mark Bulka and the New Zealand deputy Americas Cup helmsman Cameron Appleton.

On paper they have the form but what counts most is how they will stand up to the unrelenting tactical racing pressure on the water to consistently finish in the top 10 will mean the difference between winning or finishing back in the pack.