Dragons head for Denmark

The world’s leading Dragon class sailors have begun to arrive in Denmark for the biennial Dragon World Championships

A preliminary count of 78 Dragons are due to take part in the regatta, including the reigning World Champion Claus Høj Jensen, who took the title during the last world championships in Martinique in 1999.
"We have Dragons from across the globe, from faraway locations such as Hong Kong, Australia and the United States," said Chairman of the Race Committee John Gunn.

Boats from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Estonia, Sweden, Germany, Britain, America, France, Ireland, Holland, Norway, Japan and Denmark were due to arrive in the next two days for official weigh-ins and measurement. The championship is due to take place from July 13 to 22 in the small northern Danish harbour of Hornbæk, the smallest marina ever to have held the Dragon Worlds.

"All the boats should be in the water by Saturday," Gunn said of the regatta, which is under the protection of Denmark’s Royal Consort Prince Henrik, who is also taking part in the event. Crown Prince Frederik, another avid Nordic royal sailor, will also be taking part in the championships.

Boats are due to take part in a tuning-up event on Saturday prior to the first official race on Sunday at noon. Contrary to normal practice there will only be a single race each day over the eight day period, with Thursday as a lay-over and rest day.

Although the long-term weather forecast suggested light to moderate winds and quite heavy rain for the first days of the regatta, Jeremy Jordan of Britain’s Yeah Baby was optimistic. "Of course the weather makes a lot of difference, the rain won’t worry us but naturally the direction and speed of the wind is an important factor, so we’re hoping for some good forecasts" said Jordan.

Yeah Baby was built in the UK by Petticrow, Burnham-on-Crouch and is skippered by Rory Bowman with Chris Pank as tactician. It is one of three British Dragons taking part in the event - the other two are skippered by Patrick Gifford and Rory Bowman.

The international jury for the 2001 event is made up of Chairman Lars Grande (Norway, Siegfried Uecker (Germany), Commander Hassan Luxor (Egypt), Bjørn Anker Møller (Denmark) and Karsten Skov (Denmark). Chief Measurer for the event is Günter O. Ahlers of Germany.