Breeze back in

The wind returns for the penultimate day of the Hobie Tiger and Dragoon Worlds

The fifth day of the Hobie Tiger and Hobie Dragoon Worlds 2008 showed close racing on the Tiger course in the Langebaan Lagoon. The top teams played the game hard, which resulted in some tricky mark roundings.

Laruffa and Sims won the last race, but also scored an OCS in the first heat. That reduced their lead to only one point. Booth and Tiffany Baring-Gould (NED) sailed consistently and moved up to a second place overall. Heemskerk and Tentij had a troublesome day, as they retired from race one and they suffered from a split rudder blade in the third race. The Dutchmen dropped to a fourth position. Matt Whitehead and Megan du Plessis remained unbeaten and are the likely new World Champions Hobie Dragoon.

After yesterday’s calm weather, the breeze was already there at breakfast time and racing started according to schedule. It seems to become a habit, but the Tiger fleet commenced again with a general recall. At the second attempt, Duncan Ross and Rick Nankin (RSA) went off well at the committee boat. Ross: “We went straight into the beach and after we tacked, everybody was behind us. We leaded from the start to the finish.”

At every top mark rounding, the spectators cheered enthusiastically for the South Africans. Ross: “The Frenchmen caught up on us, but it was just enough to win. Finally, we got our boat set up nicely, so it was pretty much plain sailing.” At the moment Ross and Nankin are in eighth position overall. Ross, former Olympic Tornado sailor: “At all Worlds I have done, I have always finished around tenth, so it would be nice to make top five here. But it is tough, there are a lot of good guys and it is really close.” Ross also complimented his 57-year old crew: “I think he is one of the eldest competitors at these Worlds and probably one of South Africa’s best keelboat sailors. He is having a great time and he keeps going for it. It is one big adventure for him.”

At the first gate in the same race, Laruffa and Sims and Heemskerk and Tentij had a starboard-port issue. The Dutchmen rounded the mark on port, went straight for a short while and then decided to tack. They Australians came after them, so the Dutchmen had to give them water. Laruffa: “Their spinnaker pole hit our side stay, but they did not take a penalty turn.” Laruffa finished third, which turned out to be an OCS. Being back on the beach, he protested Heemskerk, who retired instead of going through the protest.

However, the Dutchmen took revenge by taking the next bullet. Heemskerk: “Allan Lawrence and Inge Schabort were leading until the last run. We got them not far from the finish.” Ross and Nankin were pretty unfortunate, as they broke their tiller extension a few second before the start of this second heat. Ross: “We tried the first beat, but at the top mark we decided to go inshore for a spare one.”

Meanwhile the wind had picked up to 20-25 knots, so heavy weather trim was needed. The fleet started clean at the very first attempt. Carolijn Brouwer and Darren Bundock, sailing for Belgium, came first at the windward mark, with Laruffa and Sims in their wake. Laruffa: “We got them on that run and leaded through the finish.” Heemskerk and Tentij had bad luck on the downwind, as their starboard rudder blade split and they had to take it up and tie it. Heemskerk: “That was pretty tricky, especially going upwind.” They finally finished 13 th and dropped to a fourth position overall. The Australians Lovig/Gibson are back in third place.

It is no surprise anymore, but Matt Whitehead and Megan du Plessis were again the stars of the course in the Dragoon fleet. In race 14, these local teenagers lead by five minutes and ten seconds. “I guess I was lucky, since I managed to stay upright and everybody else capsized”, said Whitehead modestly. They are likely to win the Hobie Dragoon World Title 2008 tomorrow. Whitehead: “That is an awesome feeling. It is great, but I am also thinking all the time and I am afraid of making mistakes.” But there is no doubt about the joy: “I love it.” Daniel Maidment, crewing for Ross Hayes, looked a bit disappointed: “We should have won the second race today, but the race committee had moved the windward mark, after which we could not make it anymore.” The Gauteng youth team finished second. Maidment, currently in eighth position overall: “We also got a tenth and ninth, which is not good enough. We like to finish top five.” Erasmus and Suttner-Scalco climbed the leader board to a second position overall.

Results:

Tiger

1 AUS M.Laruffa and D.Sims Total pts: 40 (10,3,1,1,2,7,3,9,64,3,1)
2 NED M.Booth and T.Baring-Gould Total pts: 41 (11,4,2,4,5,2,6,7,4,4,3)
3 AUS R.Lovig and L.Gibson Total pts: 48 (3,1,3,3,4,11,64,4,3,12,4)
4 NED M.Heemskerk and B.Tentij Total pts: 53 (4,11,7,2,1,5,8,1,64,1,13)
5 RSA S.Ferry and J.Van Der Vyfer Total pts: 61 (1,2,5,10,64,6,9,3,8,8,9)
6 BEL C.Brouwer and D.Bundock Total pts: 66 (17,8,6,64,16,1,2,2,6,6,2)
7 RSA A.Lawrence and I.Schabort Total pts: 87 (16,5,12,5,6,18,1,12,64,2,10)
8 RSA D.Ross and R.Nankin Total pts: 95 (6,7,8,14,18,4,12,17,1,64,8)
9 RSA B.Dodds and P.Dodds Total pts: 96 (9,16,4,17,8,20,10,10,7,9,6)
10 RSA H.Hale and S.Botes Total pts: 97 (7,13,17,7,12,10,7,13,5,11,12)

Dragoon

1 RSA M.Whitehead and M.Du Plessis Total pts: 8 (1,1,1,1,2,1,1,1,1)
2 RSA E.Erasmus and R.Suttner -Scalco Total pts: 18 (2,1,3,6,6,1,1,1,3)
3 NED G.Schouten and T.Schouten Total pts: 18 (5,2,2,3,1,2,8,3)
4 RSA P.Smith and E.Loubser Total pts: 19 (4,6,2,2,1,2,2,14)
5 RSA D.McLean and S.Du Plessis Total pts: 25,2,8,7,3,2,4,4,3)
6 RSA G.Norton and C.Norton Total pts: 31,1,14,1,1,4,6,3,4,11)
7 NED U.Vrijburg and D.Vrijburg Total pts: 33,6,2,3,5,7,5,7,5)
8 RSA R.Hayes and D.Maidment Total pts: 35 (7,3,4,5,3,3,10,2,8)
9 RSA A.Fourie and C.Lord Total pts: 36,5,5,6,2,6,7,6,6)
10 RSA S.Walker and B.Hayward Total pts: 36 (6,12,4,4,8,4,5,5)