Last Olympic multihull worlds

Mitch Booth takes us through the form for the Tornado World Championships

Starting on Monday, the Tornado World Championships represents teams’ final chance to compete on the global stage before the Olympic Games themselves in the summer of this year. But this World Championship could also be the last of any significance given the present situation where in the ISAF’s wisdom, the catamaran is to be dropped from the Olympic roster for 2012. Given this situation it is likely the class will wain in the face of the extraordinary popular and cheaper Formula 18.

The worlds are due to take place a short distance from Takapuna Beach, New Zealand and are officially sailed from, and under the banner of, Takapuna Boating Club. The regatta was immediately preceded by the Sail Auckland regatta, which concluded earlier this week, also in Takapuna, which was in turn, preceded by the New Zealand Tornado National Championships. As a result of this, many Tornado crews have been out in New Zealand for several weeks and have got to grips with the venue fully. “It is proving to be a very shifty location,” top Tornado sailor, Mitch Booth told TheDailySail. “We did not think the wind would be as shifty as we have experienced so far. The Sail Auckland regatta was really, really tricky.”

Booth goes on to explain the location, despite being on the sea is actually much more like sailing on an inland stretch of water. “We are tucked right up towards the back of Takapuna beach. We are not really out in the bay at all. Pretty much every direction except for a 50 degree quadrant is offshore so it is really a geographic bay that is affecting us.”

In addition to these difficult wind conditions further tactical considerations come from the strong currents running through the bay. “The whole of Auckland harbour runs out straight past Takapuna Beach so that is another element that makes it difficult,” Booth summarises. Finally these tricky conditions are likely to be amplified still further by the forecast for the Championships. At the moment, according to Booth, it looks as though the wind is going to be particularly light, at least for the first few days.

With the Olympic Games now just six months away this 50 boat Tornado fleet is world class and includes a multitude of Olympic and World Champions and medalists. There is, as we have pointed out however, a sad edge to this regatta. Provided the ISAF Olympic events vote is not overturned; this is the last time we will see a World Championships in an Olympic multihull. Certainly with a gathering of Olympic sailors there will be an air of melancholy at this particular regatta. “I think multihulls have a huge role to play in the sailing world but it is a pity that it will not be in the Olympics anymore,” Booth comments. “There are a whole lot of us here that do not know what to do after this, don’t know where to go. This is my 26th consecutive Tornado Worlds in a row and it is a bit like, well what do I do next year? Something different I suppose, I am due to retire anyway!” To some extent, though this does add a certain extra edge of excitement to proceedings with the last Olympic Tornado World title up for grabs.

As to the form leading into this event Booth believes it will be extremely weather dependant. “What seems to be emerging at the moment is that you can really see the guys that are good in stronger breezes and the guys that will do better in the light breeze. You can predict with confidence the sort of teams that will be doing well in those conditions,” he comments.

Contenders:



Darren Bundock & Glenn Ashby (AUS):

Currently ranked number one in the world, Bundock and Ashby are the team to beat, particularly down-under this season, after winning Sail Melbourne, the Australian Nationals and Sydney International Regatta. This Australian pair has rarely finished outside the top five in major international regattas over the past three years.

The Australian team is perhaps one of the few teams on the Tornado circuit that manage to be extremely quick throughout every wind speed. However, their preferred wind strength tends to be medium or heavy airs. They won the just concluded, and fairly breezy, Sail Auckland Regatta sailed off Takapuna so certainly know what it takes to perform at this tricky venue.



Roman Hagara & Hans Peter Steinacher (AUT):

Reigning Olympic Champions Hagara and Steinacher won Olympic gold in 2004 in Athens and 2000 in Sydney. Hagara is one of the long standing legends in the class and has been at the top of the fleet for many years.

In Booth’s words Hagara is the light wind Tornado king and it will take a great performance to beat him in the predicted light weather this coming week. The Austrian pairing won the New Zealand National Championships, also sailed at Takapuna in light breezes, so should be deadly next week.

As an interesting footnote, Hagara and Steinacher had an appalling World Championship last year in Cascais, finishing in 20th position. As a result they have yet to qualify their country for the Olympic Games this year. To that end they will be fighting for one of the four remaining Olympic spots, despite being multiple gold medalists. A mark of just how tough this class can be.

Fernando Echavarri & Anton Paz (ESP):

Current World Champions Echavarri and Paz are coming to Takapuna to defend the title they won in Cascais in 2007, a title they also won back in 2005 in France.

Currently the team are ranked second in the world just behind Bundock and Ashby. They could, however, face some difficulties next week with the weather not going their way. This is a pair who are famed for their windy weather performance. Their results tend to get worse as the wind goes down, it will be interesting to see their results here, particularly with the Olympics set to take place in an extremely light wind venue, they will have been trying to improve this aspect of their sailing



Mitch Booth & Pim Nieuwenhuis (NED):

Veteran Tornado campaigner, Booth along with his crew Nieuwenhuis will, as ever, be a force to be reckoned with at this event. As Booth stated earlier, this will be his 26th Tornado World Championships and the Australian turned Dutch sailor knows the class inside out.

The pair probably perform at their best in the moderate to windy side of the wind scale so could struggle a little this week. However, Booth is an extremely impressive tactician and the difficult conditions next week will almost certainly favour the ‘thinking’ sailor.



Leigh MacMillan & Will Howden (GBR):

In comparison to many of the Tornado fleet these two sailors are actually relatively young. Occasionally this can be reflected in their results which can be somewhat erratic. They walked away from the last World Championships in fifth position and replicated this performance at the Olympic Test Event in Qingdao. Their results were enough for them to secure the British spot to Qingdao and they now have their sights firmly set on a medal in China.

Carolijn Brouwer & Sebbe Godefroid (BEL):

Carolijn Brouwer will be aiming for her third Olympics in 2008. She and crew Godefroid will be out to prove their second position finish at the Cascais World Championships last year was anything but a fluke.

This is a particularly exciting team and one that is bound to get some significant publicity if for no other reason that Brouwer is the only female taking part (in a competitive fashion) in this class. This season in the southern hemisphere has seen the team perform well, if not spectacularly. A fifth at Sydney International Regatta shows they still have the form to make the front of the fleet.

The Schedule:

Sunday 24 February Practice Race
Monday 25 February 2 Races
Tuesday 26 February 2 Races
Wednesday 27 February 2 Races
Thursday 28 February Reserve Day
Friday29 February 2 Races
Saturday 1 March 2 Races