Difficult day on the water
The opening day of the Gazprom International Dragon World Championship 2013 at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy produced controversy, drama and one incredibly tough but exciting race. The controversy revolved around race management with some unhappiness amongst the sailors about both starting procedures and course changes. The extremely shifty conditions and the eagerness of the crews didn't make life easy for Race Officer Tim Hancock and the results show that a number of the hot favourites found themselves much further down the ranking than they would normally expect.
After early morning thunder storms and heavy rain blew through, the crews arrived in the race area to find a shifty southwesterly wind of 15-18 knots, scudding clouds, occasional bursts of wonderful sunshine and plenty of big waves. It took three attempts to get the race started, two under black flag with a total of seven teams being sent home for an early bath. Among those out of the race were Mark Dicker, IDA Chairman Richard Blickman, IDA Technical Committee Chairman Philip Dohse and Dave Ross, whose crew this week includes David Bedford.
The start which eventually got the fleet away was not without incident as a big right hander in the closing moments of the sequence gave those at the committee boat end a big initial advantage. Fortunately an equally big left hander half way up the first beat evened things out again and at the top mark Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen and Martin Payne, who had come off the middle of the line, led in with Uli Libor from the left, Yvgen Braslavets, Remy Arnaud, Lief Carlsson and Marcus Brennecke in pursuit.
In response to the huge wind shifts of up to 40 degrees, the race committee made some equally huge mark movements. But the breeze proved just as likely to swing back again as stay put and with the fleet on legs of over two miles it wasn't long before the committee found themselves out of sync. The fleet ended up on a shocking one tacker for the second beat which completely reshuffled the pack. The sailors problems were compounded because the mark change signal boat only advised port or starboard for directional change and + or - to indicate length, but gave no new bearing or distance. From a Dragon in big seas, with the wind all over the show and no mark boats large enough to see from the other end of the course it was anyone's guess where the marks were at times.
After racing Hoj-Jensen summed up the fleet's thoughts well saying: "We couldn't see the marks. Because the waves are so big they would have been smart to have a big boat with a big flag up there." Martin Payne added: "I think when the course is so long, you don't need to go quite so drastic [with mark moves], just a subtle move one way or the other.
Many of the hot favourites going into the event found themselves caught out by the big shifts and mark movements, with Lars Hendriksen struggling off the line, recovering well on the first beat, getting buried on the second beat and eventually fighting his way back up to 14th. Others who floundered included Markus Wieser who finished 18th, Tommy Mueller 20th, and defending champion Lawrie Smith in 23rd. Tonight there are more than a few sailors relieved that this eight race series includes one discard.
While some struggled, others excelled and on the line Hoj-Jensen claimed victory from Libor with Brenneck second, Russian triple Olympian Andrey Kirilyuk, who this week is standing in for regular helm Dimitry Samokin, third and Braslavets fourth.
After sailing Hoj-Jensen paid tribute to the race sailed by Ulli Libor, whom he has known since their days together in the Flying Dutchman Class. "We both sailed Flying Dutchmen in '68 in the Olympics in Mexico where he got a silver medal and I was sixth or seventh, so it was quite good fun to see that he's really come back and has good speed in the boat. He was the one who came back from the left side [on the first beat] up to the first mark and he was very, very close to us."
For Hoj-Jensen it was a day of double victory as he also won the Corinthian Division for all amateur crews, with Martin Palsson in second, Remy Arnaud third and Philipp Ocker fourth.
While there may have been many challenges for the sailors on the race course today, the one thing that must be said is that the racing was nail bitingly close and in the big swells and fabulous late summer light the fleet made a stunning sight powering across Weymouth Bay with the spectacular Jurassic Coast as backdrop. Despite today's challenges the fleet is in excellent spirits and the sailors have been fulsome in their praise of the facilities at WPNSA and the outstanding welcome extended by the British hosts.
As the exhausted but exhilarated crews returned ashore there was one more drama to come when defending champion Lawrie Smith's crew, Tim Tavinor, sustained a nasty hand injury as two boats came together on returning to the dock. Whilst not life threatening Tim has been taken to hospital for medical treatment and his fitness to sail tomorrow is currently uncertain.
Tavinor, Managing Director of Burnham On Crouch-based Dragon builder, Petticrows, was particularly missed at this evening's post racing gathering as it was sponsored by Petticrows who laid on a fantastic "Pies and Beers" session for the hungry sailors. Petticrows also sponsored this evening's spot draw prizes with packs of Petticrows goodies going to two teams drawn by Tavinor's wife and business partner, Kay, who also thanked the Dragon sailors for their many years of loyal support. Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen, who took over Petticrows 25 years ago and spearheaded the company's domination of the Dragon market until his retirement five years ago, also spoke in Tavinor's absence of the company's long association with the Dragon and their ongoing partnership withe their customers in maintaining their product refinement programme.
Tomorrow two races are scheduled and with lighter winds forecast it will be a very different day of racing. The regatta will continue until Friday 13 September with a maximum of eight races scheduled with a single discard coming into play after the completion of race six.
Full results below
Results:
Pos | Sail no | Helm | Crew | Crew2 | R1 | Tot |
1 | GBR775 | Poul Richard HOJ-JENSEN | Hamish MACKAY | Andrew NORDEN | 1 | 1 |
2 | SUI307 | Ulli LIBOR | Michael HANDRICK | Joerg MOESSNANG | 2 | 2 |
3 | GER11 | Marcus BRENNECKE | Marc PICKEL | Thomas AURACHER | 3 | 3 |
4 | RUS76 | Andrey KIRILYUK | Aleksey BUSHUEV | Alina DOTSENKO | 4 | 4 |
5 | UKR8 | Yevgen BRASLAVETS | Igor SIDOROV | Sergiy TIMOKHOV | 5 | 5 |
6 | RUS77 | Inna SHTERNBERG | Yury BOZHEDOMOV | Valeriy USHKOV | 6 | 6 |
7 | GER1120 | Michael SCHMIDT | Malte PHILIPP | Peter LIEBNER | 7 | 7 |
8 | GBR771 | Martin PAYNE | John MORTIMER | Rui BOIA | 8 | 8 |
9 | UAE20 | Hendrik WITZMANN | Michael KOCH | Markus KOY | 9 | 9 |
10 | GBR708 | Quentin STRAUSS | Simon STRAUSS | Nigel YOUNG | 10 | 10 |
11 | HUN57 | Ferenc KIS-SZOLGYEMI | Karoly VEZER | Tamas KISS | 11 | 11 |
12 | NED412 | Pieter HEEREMA | Theis PALM | Herve CUNNINGHAM | 12 | 12 |
13 | DEN138 | Lars HENDRIKSEN | Lars Stenfeldt HANSEN | Joost HOUWELING | 13 | 13 |
14 | FRA402 | Stephane BASEDEN | Paul MCKENZIE | Patrick AUCOUR | 14 | 14 |
15 | FRA396 | Remy ARNAUD | Herald ARNAUD | Pascal CIVEL | 15 | 15 |
16 | GBR758 | Klaus DIEDERICHS | Andy BEADSWORTH | Jamie LEA | 16 | 16 |
17 | UKR7 | Markus WIESER | Sergey PUGACHEV | Georgii LEONCHUK | 17 | 17 |
18 | POR63 | Diogo BARROS | Jorge LIMA | Rúbrio BASÃLIO | 18 | 18 |
19 | GER1133 | Thomas MÜLLER | Hoesch VINCENT | Lipp MICHAEL | 19 | 19 |
20 | GBR682 | Eric WILLIAMS | Rory PATON | Katie COLE | 20 | 20 |
21 | GER1135 | Philipp OCKER | Florian GROSSER | Oliver DAVIES | 21 | 21 |
22 | GBR785 | Lawrie SMITH | Ossie STEWART | Tim TAVINOR | 22 | 22 |
23 | SWE357 | Leif LARSVALL | Staffan CARLSSON | Ulf KJELIN | 23 | 23 |
24 | NED402 | Jan BAKKER | Dominic BAKKER | Olivier BAKKER | 24 | 24 |
25 | GBR720 | Julia BAILEY | Graham BAILEY | William HERITAGE & Richard POWELL | 25 | 25 |
26 | RUS27 | Anatoly LOGINOV | Vadim STATSENKO | Alexander SHALAGIN | 26 | 26 |
27 | RUS35 | Victor FOGELSON | Oleg KHOPERSKIY | Viacheslav KHAPTIUKHIN | 27 | 27 |
28 | SUI311 | Hugo STEINBECK | Martin WESTERDAHI | Pedro ANDRADE | 28 | 28 |
29 | GBR782 | David ATKINSON | Ian TURNBULL | John OUTHWAITE | 29 | 29 |
30 | NED411 | Charlotte TEN WOLDE | Gillis JONK | Martin LEIFELT | 30 | 30 |
31 | GBR693 | Timothy BLACKWELL | Lisa GUY | Roger GUY | 31 | 31 |
32 | GBR747 | Stewart COLTART | Catriona COLTART | Toby ATACK | 32 | 32 |
33 | AUS227 | Marcus BLACKMORE | Terry WETTON | Don COWIE | 33 | 33 |
34 | RUS34 | Vasiliy SENATOROV | Igor IVASHINTSOV | Aleksander MUZICHENKO | 34 | 34 |
35 | FRA391 | Jean BREGER | Clement SOULET | Gaetan AUNETTE | 35 | 35 |
36 | SWE389 | Karl-Gustaf LÖHR | Martin RUDBÄCK | Jesper BENDIX | 36 | 36 |
37 | IRL198 | Garry TREACY | Paul MAGUIRE | Don O'DOWD | 37 | 37 |
38 | POR55 | Jose MATOSO | Gustavo LIMA | Frederico MELO | 38 | 38 |
39 | GBR763 | Simon BARTER | James BARTER | Donald WILKS | 39 | 39 |
40 | NED414 | Andre DU PON | Robbert BLAUWKUIP | Huib BANNIER | 40 | 40 |
41 | GBR675 | Christopher BREALY | David HARRIS | Brian MCKENZIE | 41 | 41 |
42 | NED311 | Abram DE WILDE | Pier DE IONGH | Michiel INSINGER | 42 | 42 |
43 | JPN50 | Bocci AOYAMA | Tetsuya SASAKI | Norio IGEI | 43 | 43 |
44 | GER1035 | Nico REUTER | Michael OBERMAIER | Leopold OBERMAIER | 44 | 44 |
45 | SUI313 | Dirk OLDENBURG | Ingo BORKOWSKI | Phil BLINN | 45 | 45 |
46 | GER1071 | Helmut SCHMIDT | Andreas LISTL | Stefan HELLRIEGEL | 46 | 46 |
47 | AUS210 | Sandy ANDERSON | John MONCRIEFF | John LOW | 47 | 47 |
48 | GBR777 | Owen PAY | Alex DOBSON | Nick WOOD | 48 | 48 |
49 | GBR761 | Gavia WILKINSON-COX | Roger Hickman | Vicente PINHEIRO | 49 | 49 |
50 | GBR768 | Christopher HUNT | Mark HART | Mark DALY | 50 | 50 |
51 | AUS217 | Gordon INGATE | David GILES | Dayne SHARP | 51 | 51 |
52 | GBR722 | Mark WADE | Amanda WADE | Simon CASH | 52 | 52 |
53 | GER1013 | Peter FRÖSCHL | Sabrina FRÖSCHL | Martin WIESER | 53 | 53 |
54 | SUI294 | Zuercher WALTER | Oral JORDY | Ruppli URS | 54 | 54 |
55 | RUS81 | Leonid KLEPIKOV | Alexander MIRONOV | Yuri SAMOYLOV | 55 | 55 |
56 | GBR788 | Robert CAMPBELL | Matt WALKER | Justin WAPLES | 56 | 56 |
57 | NED314 | Rudy DEN OUTER | Jeroen BURKS | Lydia VERDUYN | 57 | 57 |
58 | AUS170 | Ronald PACKER | John LONGLEY | Philippa PACKER | 58 | 58 |
59 | AUS201 | Raymond CHATFIELD | Karen CHATFIELD | Brett WATKINS | 59 | 59 |
60 | GER968 | Michael SCHATTAN | Peter WICKLMAYR | Friederike GEPPERT | 60 | 60 |
61 | GBR755 | Julian SOWRY | Ian OLSON | Geoff BUTCHER | 61 | 61 |
62 | GBR633 | Ron JAMES | Julia WALSH | Mark PETTITT | 62 | 62 |
63 | FIN88 | Catja EVERHALL BLOM | Eeva SAUKONEN | Mario WAGNER & Pille VOLMER | 63 | 63 |
64 | AUS218 | Robert ALPE | PETER ABRAHAM | Rene NEL | 64 | 64 |
65 | NED403 | Maarten KLINKENBERG | Daniel GOEDKOOP | Bart KLINKENBERG | 65 | 65 |
66 | GBR753 | Jono RATNAGE | Ross MCKISSOCK | Guy CLARABUT | 66 | 66 |
67 | GBR739 | Nigel KAULA | Teresa WILKES | Simon HOWARD & Joanna RICHARDSON | 67 | 67 |
68 | RUS47 | Boris KHABAROV | Vadim FEDOROV | Elena KHABAROVA & Denis BYKOV | 68 | 68 |
69 | SWE358 | Hans LILJEBLAD | John MAGNUSSON | Fredrik HEIJNE | 78.0 BFD | 78 |
69 | NED393 | Richard BLICKMAN | Daan DIJXHOORN | Nick SPAANS | 78.0 BFD | 78 |
69 | GER1042 | Dr. Philip DOHSE | Christian MOELLER | Oliver MOSE | 78.0 BFD | 78 |
69 | GBR660 | Dave ROSS | Dave BEDFORD | Paul KELSEY | 78.0 BFD | 78 |
69 | GBR610 | Mark DICKER | Selina DICKER | James CAMPBELL & Katie BARR | 78.0 BFD | 78 |
69 | SWE375 | Martin PALSSON | Goran ALM | Johan NOREN | 78.0 DSQ | 78 |
69 | GBR717 | Patrick GIFFORD | Michael GIFFORD | Andrew PRITCHARD-BARRETT | 78.0 DNC | 78 |
69 | GBR764 | Mike HAYLES | Monique HAYLES | Alex MACDONALD | 78.0 BFD | 78 |
69 | AUS225 | Willy PACKER | Julian HARDING | John HAY | 78.0 BFD | 78 |
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