A whole days racing

The Chevrolet Hobie 16 World Championships is now into the final series

On Thursday 3 November 2005, the competitors of the 17th Hobie 16 Worlds in South Africa finally got a full day of action. After yesterday’s 40 knot offshore wind in Port Elizabeth, there was a nice and steady breeze all day long. The semi-final series of ten races were completed. Brazil took three bullets and Australia two. Both teams Tim Shuwalow and Cameron Hooper (AUS) and Juliano Viana and Sebastiao Gomes (BRA) won twice. The Aussies are in first position after the semi-finals, followed by the South African teams Ferry and Le Sueur and Dodd and Dodd. The battle for gold is tied, so it is going to be an exciting final day.

Today’s conditions have arrived right in time, as the Hobie 16 Worlds 2005 are coming to an end and the weather has been very tricky. The fourth semi-final race had to be cancelled again on Wednesday, due to a 40 knot offshore wind that all of a sudden came in during the starting procedure. This morning, the race committee decided to use short courses (upwind, downwind, finish), in order to catch up on the schedule. Blaine and Roxanne Dodds from South Africa were in the lead at the first windward mark, followed by the British youngsters Tom Phipps and Andrew Taylor. Both of them choose the left side of the course. Tim Shuwalow and Cameron Hooper (AUS) went to the right. The finish was close, but the Aussies caught a puff and beat father and daughter team of the Dodds at the line.

All teams swopped their boats quickly and sailed out again. The Germans Wiese-Dohse and Versi Gehrmann took the lead from the beginning and sailed a conservative fifth race. They went inshore after the windward mark and increased their lead. “It was nerve-racking”, said Gehrmann afterwards. Blaine and Roxanne Dodds finished second. Race six showed exciting competition between Australia and South Africa. Shaun Ferry and Michele le Sueur (RSA) were heading from the seaside of the course towards the finish, as Shuwalow and Hooper came from inshore. The South Africans got a header and fell back to a second position. Shuwalow, who works for the Volvo Ocean Race organization, took advantage of a lift and won “We had a nice pressure on the run downwind,” he later said.

The blue, green and yellow colours of the mainsails symbolized the Brazilian colours today, as Brazil took three bullets. Juliano Viana and Sebastiao Gomes won the seventh and ninth race, Robert Bezerra and Sergio Nottingham the eighth. After his first victory, Viana explained his success: “We come from a place with strong winds, so we know what to do with the breeze that was picking up. And we always went out on the ocean, because it was better there.” Hilton Hale and Kim Rowlands (RSA) grabbed the second position on the finish line In race eight, Robert Bezerra and Sergio Nottingham had a port tack start at the committee boat. Bezerra said: “We had clean air and went off, but we watched the other competitors all the time.” However, there was more Brazilian fortune, as Bernardo Arndt and Bruno Aliveira finished second. All of them received a warm and enthusiastic welcome back on the beach by their fellow countrymen. Juliano Viana and Sebastiao Gomes had to fight for victory in race nine, after rounding the first upwind mark in third position. “On the downwind reach, we looked for wind and gibed several times in the center of the course. Sometimes for catching puffs and sometimes aggressively on others,” commented Viana. It paid and they finished far ahead of the runners up, Paul Lagesse and Tyran Kerford from South Africa.

South African Colin Whitehead, second Hobie 16 World Champion ever, has been elected as the new president of the International Hobie Class Association. At yesterday’s non-cut party, he was introduced to all competitors. “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you all”, spoke Colin. A day after, he had already lead the fleet by far. He and his 12-year old son Matthew won race ten, followed by Jerome Le Gal and Siret Mickael from France.

The top 56 teams will be announced this evening at the yacht club. They will compete in the final round for the 2005 Hobie 16 World Championship.

Results:

Pos	Helm/Crew	Country	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	Tot
1	Tim Shuwalow	AUS	5			1		1	21			4	32
	Cameron Hooper
2	Shaun Ferry	RSA	1			5		2	3			10	21
	Michele le Sueur
3	Blaine Dodds	RSA		9		2	2			4		7	24
	Roxanne Dodds
4	Paul Lagesse	RSA		3	3			28		10	2		46
	Tyran Kerford
5	Jerome Le Gal	FRA	4			17		3	9			2	35
	Siret Mickael
6	Ingo Delius	GER	32		1		4		6		8		51
	Katrin Wiese-Dohse
7	Juliano Viana	BRA	9		31		11		1		1		53
	Sebastiao Gomes
8	Juani Maegli	GUA		4		3	10			5		35	57
	Cristina Guirola
9	Tom Phipps	GBR		13		6	6			9		5	39
	Andrew Tayler
10	Cédric Bader	FRA	3		12		5		10		9		39
	Yann Montoya
11	Micheal Butler	AUS		8		9	21			7		6	51
	Susan Etherington
12	Bernardo Arndt	BRA		12	7			11		2	24		56
	Bruno Oliveira
13	Christophe Renaud de Malet	FRA		5	25			19		3	7		59
	Alban Rossollin
14	Stefan Rumpf	GER	10			4		5	15			21	55
	Kim Liedtke								RDG
15	Bob Engwirda	AUS	15		6		12		11		6		50
	Anna Wenmmo
16	Enrique Figueroa	PUR		1	4			15		28	16		64
	Carla Malatrasi
17	William Edwards	RSA	11		2		34		14		10		71
	Lucinda Edwards
18	Jerome Binder	AUS		11	22			9		6	11		59
	Adrian Fawcett
19	Sam Newton	GBR		6	23			30		11	3		73
	Nick Tayler
20	Ulf Hahn	GER	13			19		43	8			3	86
	Maxi Jarling
21	Rudolph Chichemanian	FRA		2	21			14		8	21		66
	Christian Bruges
22	Andrew Ward	RSA	31		17		3		16		12		79
	Steve Arnold
23	Allan Lawrence	RSA	20			57		17	4			8	106
	Nicola Francis					DSQ
24	Thomas Richards	FRA	2			18		16	15			22	73
	Moana Trankcart
25	Eric Cook	RSA	8		15		19		23		13		78
	Robert Edouard-Betsy
26	Gordon McGillivray	RSA	14			10		18	43			14	99
	Inge Schabort
27	Colin Whitehead	RSA		22		27	9			29		1	88
	Matthew Whitehead
28	Robert Bezerra	BRA		27		11	24			1		23	86
	Sergio Nottingham
29	Bob Merrick	USA	7		57		14		13		29		120
	Mike Huang				OCS
30	Thorin Zeilmaker	NED	22		11		44		7		26		110
	Cassandra van Raaij
31	Thomas Normand	FRA	19		28		26		5		18		96
	Brice Lemaitre
32	Fletcher Warren	NZL	6			25		48	24			13	116
	Georgia Myers
33	Stefan Wiese-Dohse	GER	36		33		1		31		4		105
	Versi Gehrmann
34	Yamil Saba	VEN	34			28		6	20			16	104
	Gonzalo Cendra
35	Alban Bruno	FRA		40		24	7			13		26	110
	Jean Bernaz
36	Shane Peterson	AUS	17		36		32		18		5		108
	Jesse Dobie
37	Maxime Clercq	FRA	29			35		8	17			20	109
	Yoann Bonte
38	Jorge Murrieta	MEX	16			7		12	40			57	132
	Andres Akle											DSQ
39	Arne Dransfeld	GER		52		20	28			16		11	127
	Kathrin Velfe
40	Teiva Veronique	TAH		10		34	31			24		12	111
	Kaya Guillain
41	Darren Smith	AUS		21	29			25		14	17		106
	Natalie Hill
42	Knud Jansen	GER	21		30		15		26		15		107
	Susanne Hahn
43	David Kruyt	NIG		17	27			4		31	30		109
	Janine Kruyt
44	Toby Orpin	GBR		14		41	17			23		24	119
	Ricky Heasman
45	Morgane Laurancy	FRA	24			16		20	27			18	105
	Marion Pennaneach
46	Carlos Sodre	BRA		19		13	33			15		33	113
	Marcella Sodre
47	Jesper Kjer	DEN	55			31		7	12			31	136
	Thomas Poulsen
48	Mike Montague	USA		15	14			27		34	27		117
	Kathy Ward
49	Sébastien Eyssartier	FRA		42		15	8			19		57	141
	Lea Jeandot											DNS
50	Hylton Hale	RSA	30		41		41		2		14		128