First Champions crowned

Competitors at the Hobie 16 and Dragoon European Championships have seen big breeze.

On Sunday July 29 2007, the first Champions of this year’s Hobie 16 and Hobie Dragoon Europeans were crowned on the Gravenzande beach (NED).

Detlef Mohr and Karen Wichardt from Germany won the Masters’ title. Belinda Zanesco and Jesse Dobie from Australia and representing France, are the new European champs in the Women's class. As expected, the northwest wind picked up strongly to about 25 knots and challenged the sailors to the utmost. Many boats capsized and several teams gave up. The conditions required good seamanship. Especially the last races in the afternoon were rough, but everybody returned safely to the beach. “Well, that is also a way to land”, joked Ingo Delius while a Hobie 16 capsized in the surf.

Today, the Master's fleet completed three races. After the first two, Delius and Wiese-Dohse were leading by one point. The German teams put up an exciting competition for the highest position on the leader board. “We had a second, first and DNF," Delius commented. "We had to win the third race in order to secure the overall victory, but Detlef was already gone. That is why we lost our concentration, which resulted in a capsize.”

It was not an easy win for Mohr and Wichardt though. “At the beginning it was hard, due to the combination of medium wind and high waves," explained Detlef Mohr. "In the end it was extremely windy and wavy. There were many capsizes. It was on the edge, but it was a perfect training for the Open Europeans.” Mohr and Wichardt took two firsts and a third today. The German domination is not really unexpected, since the class is still pretty big in Germany, with 50 or 60 boats at their National Championship. It is Mohr’s tenth European Master title. Delius and Wiese-Dohse won silver, followed by Jansen and Jarling.

“Here is your Champaign, you deserved it”, said Andy Dinsdale from Hobie Cat Europe. He handed over the bottle of victory to the Italian Sitouri sisters. At that point, they did not know whether they finished first or second overall. Crew Lara Sitouri while unrigging the mainsail said; “We had good results. We were leading in the last race, but we capsized twice, so Belinda passed us. The second finish was very close, so we might be first or second.” It turned out to be a second place. “We had a good battle with them”, said Lara Sitouri. Belinda Zanesco and Jesse Dobie won, followed by the Sicouri sisters and the French girls Marie Caroline and Mathilde Passet.
 
The youth crews on the Hobie 16 with spinnaker had a tough day out on the North Sea, especially the last race which turned into a battle field. Yesterday’s leaders, Richards and Kersuzan, from France were unlucky and capsized just before the finish line. Richards looked briefly back on a disappointing second day: “We started this morning with an OCS, won the second race and then we capsized in first position.” Despite all of this, they are still leading by one point. The French team Antoine Lauriot-Prevost and Alix Pervier was more fortunate with the best score of the day. They performed consistently with two seconds and a third, which put them in second place in the provisional ranking. “It was very difficult for all of us," explained Lauriot-Prevost. "We had good starts and went through the centre of the course, which paid off. We are very happy.”

Dutchmen Sprij and Frank Rob Sprij were also happy: “The first race was all right, the second became harder and I was exhausted after the last one. It was more surviving than sailing tactically, so it was chaos out there. We managed to perform consistently, which I think is really good in this weather. And we finished before the World Champions.” The Dutchmen are in fourth position overall with a fourth a sixth and a seventh. The Italians Bissaro and Cesari maintained their bronze position.

The Hobie Dragoon sailors were the first to finish their four races on the second day. Once again, the British talents Butler and Sutcliffe were unbeatable and took all bullets. According to the race committee, the competition was much closer than yesterday. The podium positions did not change though.

Results:

Hobie 16 with spinnaker

1-FRA - Richards and Kersuzan, 21 points
2-FRA - Lauriot-Prevost and Pervier, 22 points
3-ITA - Bissaro and Cesari, 26 points

Hobie Dragoon

1-GBR - Butler and Sutcliffe, 7 points
2-NED - Rowles and Sprij/Karrenbeld, 19 points
3-FRA - Bezile and Le Tallec, 24 points

Women's Fleet

1-ITA - Sicouri and Sicouri, 9 points
2-AUS - Zanesco and Dobie, 12 points
3-FRA - Passet and Passet, 15 points

Final Masters

1-GER - Mohr and Wichardt, 8 points
2-GER - Delius and Wiese-Dohse, 10 points
3-GER - Jansen and Jarling, 19 points

The Hobie 16 & Hobie Dragoon Europeans 2007 are sponsored by: I-Drukker.nl, Carrier Airconditioning, the Greenery, Autobedrijf Schoenmeijer, Vakantiepark Vlugtenburg aan zee, Tomselect, Ernst Olieman BV, Hogenboom vakantieparken, AfvalisHipenSexy.nl, Wealco Systemen BV, Westland Energie Services, ProfMedia BV, Rabobank, Boekestijn Transport Service, De Parel, Center Line, Hoeve de Viersprong, Colour XL, IkSloopGoedkoop.nl, Kwekerij Rozenhof, Ariën Hofman MD, Combifleur, Hobie Cat Holland BV, Westland Workwear, Woodfever, Veenman, Gemeente Westland, Arditio fotografie, Valere ICT Strategies, Vrijwillige Reddingsbrigade 's Gravenzande, Jessica emotions& flowers, Venvo Zonwering and van Spronsen, b.v.