Semi-finals underway

The Hobie 16 fleet get some close racing at their World Championship in South Africa

On day one of the semi-finals for the Hobie Cat 16 Worlds 2005 in South Africa, the competitors faced light conditions for a change. Today’s surf did not cause any problems either. The first race on Monday 31 October showed close racing at the top. Shaun Ferry and Michele Le Sueur from South Africa went inshore, took advantage of a lift and finished first. The current Hobie Tiger World Champion, Enrique Figueroa and his crew Carla Malatrasi from Puerto Rico, won the second race after the French guys Chichemanian and Bruges had to take a penalty. The tropical colours of Port Elizabeth area were covered by smoke today, as a fire further inland has been a spoil-sport for the last couple of days.

“We understood the mark and were lucky to get a lift”, said Michele Le Sueur after their victory today. “We could twin trapeze, as everybody else had to sit in.” Ferry and Le Sueur had a bad start: “We had dirty air and we were pushed up, so we were forced to tack.” They took a flier inshore and sailed between the rocks just outside the surf towards the windward mark. Le Sueur said: “That paid, so we decided to go back in the second beat and this time we tacked earlier.” That was their golden move, since it opened up a comfortable lead. At their finish, the South African people cheered for their fellow-countrymen. The French teams of Thomas Richards and Moana Trankcart and Cédric Bader and Yann Montoya sailed consistently in the top three and finished respectively second and third. “We did not take any risk and stayed with the fleet. Our start was bad, but we went to the right side on the left. There was more wind and the waves pushed us up,” said Bader.

During the boat swap, the competitors showed real team spirit, as they helped each other with tuning the rig. After two general recalls, the second fleet started cleanly. The wind had dropped to five knots, so it was a game of wind search. The French sailors from New Caledonia, Rudolph Chichemanian and Christian Bruges, had good boat speed and were first to the windward mark. Chichemanian commented: “After we rounded it, we passed another boat in front on port tack, but it was too close and we had to take a penalty.” Enrique Figueroa and Carla Malatrasi grabbed the lead and finished first. “We were fighting with them, because they were really fast. The wind was very light and shifty, so it was difficult sailing. We came inshore and halfway we got more pressure.” said Figueroa. The race committee shortened the course at the bottom mark, due to a further wind drop. The South Africans Paul Lagesse and Tyran Kerford came in third.

After a postponement, the third fleet was sent out, but two general recalls later, the race was abondoned.

Hobie Beach of Port Elizabeth has changed into a playground for sailors, as the Hobie kayaks work overtime in the waves. The public enjoyed the show of people flipping over in the surf. Other competitors go out surfing in between races, like local Shaun Ferry did after his victory. Blaine Dodds has been spotted with his board as well.

Tomorrow will be the second day of the semi-finals for the 17th Hobie Cat 16 World Championships. 112 Teams are competing for one of the 56 spots in the final races on Thursday and Friday.

Results:

Pos	Helm/Crew	Country	R1	R1	Tot
1	Enrique Figueroa	PUR		1	1
	Carla Malatrasi
1	Shaun Ferry	RSA	1		1
	Michele le Sueur
3	Rudolph Chichemanian	FRA		2	2
	Christian Bruges
3	Thomas Richards	FRA	2		2
	Moana Trankcart
5	Cédric Bader	FRA	3		3
	Yann Montoya
5	Paul Lagesse	RSA		3	3
	Tyran Kerford
7	Jerome Le Gal	FRA	4		4
	Siret Mickael
7	Juani Maegli	GUA		4	4
	Cristina Guirola
9	Christophe Renaud de Malet	FRA		5	5
	Albin Rossoilin
9	Tim Shuwalow	AUS	5		5
	Cameron Hooper
11	Sam Newton	GBR		6	6
	Nick Tayler
11	Fletcher Warren	NZL	6		6
	Georgia Myers
13	Pedro Colon	PUR		7	7
	Martin Roldan
13	Bob Merrick	USA	7		7
	Mike Huang
15	Micheal Butler	AUS		8	8
	Susan Etherington
15	Eric Cook	RSA	8		8
	Robert Edouard-Betsy
17	Blaine Dodds	RSA		9	9
	Roxanne Dodds
17	Juliano Viana	BRA	9		9
	Sebastiao Gomes
19	Stefan Rumpf	GER	10		10
	Kim Liedtke
19	Teiva Veronique	TAH		10	10
	Kaya Guillain