First world champion

Tony Lawson's team take Class 40 World Championship in the final race

It could not have been tighter at the top going into the final day of racing at the inaugural Class 40 World Championship, with just 5 points separating the top 5 boats.

Once again, the day was not without incident as a major collision before the first start between Wilfred Clerton’s CGMER and Mike West’s Keysource - who had been lying in second overall going into the final day -had the two boats racing in to the River Hamble for repair. Unfortunately neither made a return to the race area signaling the end of West’s hopes of winning the title.

Meanwhile on the water, a determined Simon Clarke on Clarke Offshore posted two first places in the first two races of the day with overnight leader Tony Lawson on Concise relinquishing his grip on the top spot posting a second and a fourth. The Chilean team skippered by Felipe Cubillos on Desafio Cabo de Hornos was hot on their heels posting a fourth and second; unfortunately it was not enough to keep him in the running for the title going into the last race.

The Championship title was ultimately taken in the final race by Lawson’s team on Concise crossing the line ahead of Clarke Offshore. Clarke’s three place penalty in the Round the Island Race proved to be costly as Concise discarded their worst score to won the Championship by two points, with Clarke in second and Felipe Cubillos in third.

The winning team not only walked away as World Champions they also had new footwear; 6 pairs of Dubarry Ultima Boots, courtesy of event sponsor Dubarry of Ireland. In addition to this they were also awarded with a Raymarine C90W widescreen multifunctional display unit and six wireless man overboard Lifetags, courtesy of event sponsor Raymarine. The icing on the cake was winning the Round the Island Race and getting to take home the Pigbags Bean bag.

Simon Clarke’s team was awarded six Raymarine wireless man overboard Lifetags and a Ray101E Handheld VHF Radio.

Felipe Cubillos and his team also took home 6 Raymarine wireless man overboard Lifetags as well as six subscriptions to thedailysail for being the leading overseas team.

Chris Mansfield, Rear Commodore Sailing of the Royal Southern Yacht Club thanked the event sponsors; Raymarine, Dubarry of Ireland, Pike Pictures, the Dailysail and Pigbags for their generosity in supplying such a fantastic array of prizes for the competitors. He also thanked the team of volunteer race officers, lead by Tony Lovell, for all their hard work on the water with a customary bottle of Gin. Finally the biggest thank you went to the competitors and class association for making the trip to the Hamble and providing such a fantastic spectacle on the water for their first World Championship.

Results:

Pos	Skipper/owner	Boat	Nat	R1	R2	RTI	R4	R5	R6	Tot	Net
1	Tony Lawson	Concise	GBR	(10)	2	1.2	2	4	1	20.2	10.2
2	Simon Clarke	Clarke Offshore	GBR	1	(8)	7.2	1	1	2	20.2	12.2
3	Felipe Cubillos	Desafio Cabo De Hornos	CHI	5	(9)	2.4	4	2	4	26.4	17.4
4	Gilles Dutoit	Techneau	FRA	6	(7)	4.8	5	3	3	28.8	21.8
5	Denis Lazat	Jumpa Lagi	FRA	(11)	3	10.8	7	5	5	41.8	30.8
6	Arnaud Aubry/ Gery Trentesaux	Courrier de L'Odet	ITA	4	5	18	(15.0 DNC)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	72	57
7	Wilfrid Clerton	CGMER	FRA	8	(14)	3.6	8.0 RDGc	8.0 RDGc	8.0 RDGc	49.6	35.6
8	Mathias Mueller Von Blumencron	Red	GER	7	(12)	12	3	7	7	48	36
9	Andrew Dawson	Spliff	GBR	(14)	1	18	6	6	6	51	37
10	Mike West	Keysource	GBR	3	4	8.4	(15.0 DNF)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	60.4	45.4
11	Marc Lepesqueux	Les Conquérants de Normandie - Caen la mer	FRA	12	11	7.2	8	(15.0 DNC)	15.0 DNC	68.2	53.2
12	Tom Hayhoe	Orca	GBR	9	6	9.6	(15.0 DNC)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	69.6	54.6
13	Alexis Guillaume	Merena	BEL	13	10	13.2	9	(15.0 DNC)	15.0 DNC	75.2	60.2
14	Tanguy de Lamotte	Initiatives Saveurs - Novedia Group	GBR	2	13	18	(15.0 DNC)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	78	63