Underway

The Star and Tornado fleets got racing started at the ISAF World Championship in Cascais

Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson got British sailors off to a solid start on day one of the ISAF World Sailing Championships in Cascais, Portugal, on Tuesday (3 July).

Percy – the gold medallist in the Finn class at the Sydney 2000 Games – and new crew Simpson won their opening race of the Star event, crossing the finish line with a minute's lead over nearest rivals, Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada of Brazil, before posting an eighth in their second race to end the first day in fifth place overall.

French duo Xavier Rohart-Pascal Rambeau currently top the Star Worlds standings, with a five point margin over Percy and Simpson.

The Skandia Team GBR sailors are competing in just their third regatta together since forming their partnership in January, and after a disappointing America’s Cup campaign with +39 Challenge, their hungry for a successful return to Olympic classes sailing at the Cascais Championships – a key event in the selection process for Beijing 2008.

“We sailed well in the first race, read the shifts well and had some great pace.  It was just one of those races where the rich got richer.” Percy explained.

“But we were brought back down to earth a bit in the second race where we were a little bit too obsessed with the right hand track and the shift came in from the left.

“So, there were a few missed opportunities, but the key for today was just to avoid making any big and costly mistakes which we’ve done so we’re pretty happy.”

Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams (NZL) kicked off their Sailing World Championships with a third and a first to have a share of the lead at the end of day one.

For the defending Star World Champions this is their first major event together this season, due to William’s Americas Cup commitments.

“Since the Americas Cup we have been rekindling our boat handling and teamwork,” said Pepper speaking after the first day. “It’s an easy transition because Carl is incredibly talented at jumping from boat to boat.”

Conditions were cloudy and shifty and Pepper and Williams were able to make solid gains by taking advantage of the favoured right hand side of the course.

In the Tornado class – the only other class scheduled to race on Tuesday – British sailors endured mixed fortunes.  Rob Wilson and Mark Bulkeley had the most consistent performance of the British crews with 12,17 seeing them into 14th place on the leaderboard, while development squad sailors John Gimson and Stuart Bithell posted a notable sixth in their opening race after leading at the second windward mark rounding.  A 32nd in their second race sees them in 19th overall.

Wednesday sees further action in the Star and Tornado classes, with the Laser and Laser Radial classes getting their regatta underway.  World number one Paul Goodison will be in the hunt in the Laser class, boosted by his gold medal-winning performance at the recent Laser European Championships.

The shifty and challenging conditions of course four saw some different Tornado teams holding the top positions for a change after two races.

The right hand side of the course was the way to go in the first race. The German brothers Tino and Niko Mittelmeier made the right decision and got to the weather mark right behind the new British team of John Gimson and Stuart Bithell. The Germans took the lead on the second upwind to win a very difficult race. The British got caught without pressure and dropped to sixth.

“We like the light conditions and didn’t make any mistake on the first race despite the very shifty conditions. Unlike the second race where we went to the completely wrong side and finished 22nd” explained Tino.

The French teams of Billy Besson and Arnaud Jarlegan and Yann Guichard and Alexandre Guyader went the right way and hold on throughout the race to finish second and third consecutively.

Argentinian Santiago Lange and Carlos Espinola came back in great style after being away from the Tornados due to Santiago’s involvement with the America’s Cup on Victory Team. They finished fourth and fifth and are currently second overall.

“It was not an easy day, very shifty and difficult but we got it right. It was a very busy week putting it all together and I am very happy to be sailing back on a Tornado with Carlos”, said Santiago.

The left was favored for race two of the day. The USA team of John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree, FRA Olivier Backes and Paul Ambroise and GER Johannes Polgar and Florian Spalteholz were the top three boats from start to finish.

It was a close finish between the French, who stole the lead on the last downwind, and the Americans.

“The funny thing is that Olivier lost the countdown right before the start and we put him back in action giving him the time. It was a great race for us anyway, especially after finishing 23rd on the first one”, said Charlie.

Not a good day for some of the top sailors that struggled to get it right, or left, for that matter. Defending World Champions AUS Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby finished 19th on both races. Double Gold Medalists AUT Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher 18th and 23rd.

Results:

Tornado

Star