Renaud de Malet takes title

The Frenchman has won the Hobie 16 European Championship

On a perfect final day, the Frenchmen Christophe Renaud de Malet and Alban Rossollin from New Caledonia won the Hobie 16 European Championship. ‘It was a real Hobie Day’, was the most quoted expression on the Gravenzande beach. Blue skies and a southwesterly force five made the competitors smile. The battle for gold was full on, as the top three pushed really hard. Le Gall and Obert (also from New Caledonia) took two bullets and moved up to the silver position, followed by Bader and Souquet from France. This year’s Hobie 16 and Hobie Dragoon Europeans concluded with happy faces and a sunny prize giving. The three French teams were honoured and they proudly sang the national anthem.

“The last day was difficult, because we could not allow ourselves any mistakes”, said Alban Rossollin afterwards. Yesterday, the Frenchmen scored two black flags, so a bad result would make them drop from the leader board. “We had to finish all races in front of Cédéric,” Rossollin explained. In the last race, the New Caledonian leaders had a bad start and had to tack to the right. The could only forfeit six points to Bader and Souquet, so it was tricky. “At the first upwind mark, we had only ten boats behind us. At the bottom mark, we were about 25th and Cédéric was far ahead of us. We thought it was over, but we caught up quite well and passed the last bottom mark just behind Cédéric. At that moment, we realized we would win,” Rossollin continued. They finished seventh and Bader and Souquet fifth. “We are very happy to win the title, since we have tried it for seven years now. Every time we were close, but now we have succeeded. It is an important victory for us, since our next event will be the South Pacific Games,” Rossolllin concluded.

Jerome le Gall returned as one of the first teams to the beach. He and his crew Enrick Obert performed strongly by taking two bullets and a third. They beat Bader and Souquet by one point. However, this was not enough for Le Gall: “I prefer to be first. The gap between us and Christophe is only three points and we lost those on the second day.” Le Gall did not take any risks on the starting line: “I crossed it four or five seconds after the signal, because of the black flag.” Despite missing the title, Le Gall did enjoy the week: “It was a good training for us. The tactic with the current is not so easy.”

“There was too much wind for us”, said Cédéric Bader after he dropped to the third position overall. “I have not had enough training this year. We did well today, but Jerome was stronger.” To the question whether they are happy with the result, two big smiles appeared on their faces. According to Bader, they will continue as a team.

Ingo Delius and Katrin Wiese-Dohse (GER) felt the heat of their fellow countrymen Ulf Hahn and Maxi Jarling. They closed the gap to the fourth position by one point, as they scored a first, third and fifth. “It was a kind of handicap sailing with my old Hobie 16. I thought it would be a good preparation for the Worlds in Fiji, but it was frustrating to lose spots every time. But nevertheless, I enjoyed the sailing conditions very much,” Delius stated.

The Coastal Sailing Club of Gravenzande enjoyed hosting this year’s Hobie 16 and Hobie Dragoon Europeans. Commodore Jan Verhagen said, “I have been a member for thirty years, but this was the biggest and nicest event so far. I am sure that everybody in the club agrees with me. It was a difficult start with the rough seas, but a beautiful conclusion. It was a great Hobie-party. This is how it is meant to be. We really enjoyed it.” Event Director Ute Vrijburg also looked satisfied: “It was a fantastic week with sun, wind and happy faces. The host wants to do it again, so I think it is a success.”

Results:

1-FRA - Renaud de Malet and Rossollin, 28 points
2-FRA - Le Gall and Obert, 31 points
3-FRA - Bader and Souquet, 32 points
4-GER - Delius and Wiese-Dohse, 74 points
5-GER - Hahn and Jarling, 75 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.