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Third consecutive title for Wieser

Dragon Gold Cup concludes in Medemblik

Monday September 15th 2014, Author: James Boyd, Location: Netherlands

Markus Wieser successfully defended his title, winning the Dragon Gold Cup for a third consecutive year, last week in Medemblik, Netherlands.

The German pro sailor, competing for the United Arab Emirates, led the 70th Dragon Gold Cup for the whole week, but it didn't come easily. Lawrie Smith (GBR), Yevgen Braslativ (UAE) and Lars Haigh (DEN) were always close behind on the leaderboard. Surprisingly, however, it was Pieter Heerema who ended up second overall after six races. By scoring a 1st and 2nd place in the last two days, it was the Dutch sailor who caught up the best, leaving Yevgen Braslativ in third place. The first Corinthian was Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen who finished sixth.

The 70th Dragon Gold Cup saw no racing on the opening day due to a lack of wind, the same fate as also befell the regatta on Tuesday. These races were resailed on Monday and Wednesday, allowing all six scheduled races to be eventually sailed. Otherwise conditions were perfect, especially on the two last days with a moderate to strong wind, light chop and plenty of sun.

Markus Wieser won the Dragon Gold Cup in 2012, 2013 and now in 2014. Wieser commented: "The Gold Cup is our most important competition of this year. We came second at the European Championship and wanted to win here. We ended very disappointingly 25th in the third race and if that would happen one more time, it would be over. There is no discard, so all races count. We had a bad start in the third race, the wind was not strong enough and everything that could go wrong, went wrong. However, we have enjoyed a recovery in the rest of the races and remained in the lead in the ranking. This morning we even were thirteen points ahead of Lawrie Smith and fifteen of Yevgen Braslavets. But we thought we had nothing to fear of Pieter Heerema and then eventually he gets into second place."

Wieser didn't find the final day's race easy: "There was a lot of foam on the water, making you think that's where the pressure is, but then it turns out not to be. That is more often here at Medemblik. And because the starting line is so wide, you should consider in advance whether you want to go to the left or the right side of the field. We decided to go to the left and started just a little left of the center of the line, very conservative. Lawrie Smith chose the right side. We were 25th at the windward mark, but could fight back due to a few favourable wind shifts. At the downwind mark we were ninth and eventually finished seventh.

"If you come here to achieve top ranking, then there is a lot of pressure on you. We were pretty relaxed, because we already won the event a few times and I think that makes a difference. The whole week was perfect. In the beginning we had a few disagreements with the Committee, but that is all well solved. Everyone has done it very well. Furthermore there was sun and no rain all week, what more do you want?"

Pieter Heerema finished second overall. Last year he came third. The Dutch skipper commented: "Our goal was top three. The first five would have been nice and the first ten acceptable. So, now we are very pleased. In the second race we had a disappointing score. After the start the wind shifted 40° and the race officials decided to not abort the race. We were on the wrong side of the field and eventually we ended up 32nd. Because there is no discard at the Dragon Gold Cup, it counts very heavily. Otherwise we might have been able to win the event. But we made a huge comeback and we have sailed well and constantly the rest of the week."

Heerema and his team trained a lot during the year. "In the Netherlands there almost is no competition. That's why I sail with two Danes. You need to be very much focused and train a lot. For example, we already have planned our training schedule for the next year. For two years we have trained intensively for this event and have been to all the big races. Only by doing that, you make progress. I'm sailing the Dragon for 16 years now, but actually started twenty years ago. In between I have sailed the RC44, but I'm quite happy to be back in the Dragon. The RC44 was, however, a very good experience. That professional circuit, and I don't mean that the boys get paid, but the mentality. It is not accepted that it is not going well. Then you train even more and you have to become even better."

Chairman of the Dutch Dragons Class, Huib Bannier, felt the whole event had gone well: "It is not often that all races can be sailed at a Dragon Gold Cup. All the sailors were wildly enthusiastic. It is a nice promotion for the Dragons class, which is strong and vibrant. The Dragon is also a great boat. In five years we hope to get the Dragon Gold Cup back to the Netherlands."

Results

Pos Sailno Crew R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Tot
1 UAE 7 Markus Wieser, Pugachev Sergey, Leonchuk Georgii 1 1 25 5 3 7 42
2 NED 412 Pieter Heerema, Theis Palm, Claus Olesen 10 32 11 3 1 2 59
3 UAE 8 Braslavets Yevgen, Sidorov Igor, Timokhov Sergiy 14 22 5 2 7 11 61
4 DEN 138 Lars Hendriksen, Frithjof Kleen, Pedro Andrade 38 4 14 1 4 9 70
5 RUS 27 Anatoly Loginov, Vadim Statsenko, Alexander Shalagin 31 10 2 4 17 10 74
6 GBR 775 Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen, Hamish McKay, Andrew Norden 3 9 8 17 15 23 75
7 GBR 785 Lawrie Smith, Tim Tavinor, Joost Houweling 5 23 3 15 2 28 76
8 GBR 758 Klaus Diederichs, Andy Beadsworth, Jamie Lea 23 3 6 32 10 8 82
9 SWE 358 Hans Liljeblad, Johan Hedberg, John Magnusson 9 2 31 14 14 13 83
10 GER 1140 Marcus Brennecke, Vincent Hoesch, Marc Pickel 17 24 4 10 6 22 83
11 DEN 410 Jens Christensen, Kim Andersen, Erik Hansen 6 5 30 13 13 18 85
12 GER 1150 Michael Schmidt, Malte Philipp, Mario Wagner 27 8 20 8 18 15 96
13 SUI 311 Diego Cayolla, Martin Westerdahl, Bernardo Freitas 16 15 10 12 30 19 102
14 DEN 266 Frank Berg, Kasper Harsberg, Jesper Baungaard 24 27 16 11 27 1 106
15 GER 1125 Stephan Link, Frank Butzmann, Michael Lipp 32 18 32 9 12 4 107
16 UAE 20 Hendrik Witzmann, Michael Hestbaeck, Markus Koy 19 11 22 33 24 5 114
17 GBR 789 Chris Larson, Simon Fry, Tom Harrison 7 6 12 56 20 16 117
18 GBR 761 Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, Mark Hart, Nick Hartshorn 11 29 1 28 32 26 127
19 RUS 34 Vasiliy Senatorov, Igor Ivashintsov, Alexandr Muzichenko 28 14 18 39 9 24 132
20 RUS 76 Dmitry Samokhin, Andrey Kirilyuk, Aleksey Bushuev 40 33 36 22 5 12 148
21 SUI 313 Dirk Oldenburg, Paul McKenzie, Dominik Zycki 4 28 7 19 33 58 149
22 GBR 769 Karol Jablonski, Yury Levczenko, Jakob Schneider 45 31 13 31 22 14 156
23 GER 1121 Reemt Reemtsma, Petra Reemtsma, Lorenz Jensen 2 52 19 20 19 47 159
24 SUI 297 Norbert Stadler, Peter Liebner, Ralph Muentener 13 30 38 26 39 17 163
25 SWE 375 Martin Pålsson, Göran Alm, Lars Idmyr 42 bfd 17 6 8 6 166
26 NED 402 Jan Bakker, Olivier Bakker, Dominic Bakker 15 bfd 37 16 16 3 174
27 NED 410 Gutta Johansson, Magnus Liljedahl, Fredrik Heijne 8 17 26 46 51 27 175
28 GBR 780 Grant Gordon, Edward Martin, Vicente Pinheiro de Melo 29 39 21 36 21 31 177
29 FRA 396 Remy Arnaud, Herald Arnaud, Pascal Civel 37 26 24 29 38 25 179
30 NED 227 Joep Kuhlwilm, Eric Bakker, Thierry van Vierssen 35 16 56 23 46 20 196
31 GER 1151 Philip Dohse, Christian Moeller, Oliver Mose 12 7 44 55 45 35 198
32 RUS 77 Inna Shternberg, Valeriy Ushkov, Oleksandr Meninkov 18 35 60 25 25 37 200
33 HUN 57 Ferenc Kis-Szolgyemi, Karoly Vezer, Tamas Kiss 30 51 34 24 35 32 206
34 NED 300 Michiel van Dis, Wouter van Dis, Rik Wolters 26 25 48 40 37 30 206
35 GBR 708 Quentin Strauss, Simon Strauss, Nigel Young 43 bfd 28 7 36 21 222
36 GER 1102 Philipp Pechstein, Martin Kevin Payne, Robert Morris 20 58 23 45 42 38 226
37 DEN 332 David Holm, Bo Selko, Jakob Groth 55 37 61 30 11 36 230
38 NED 311 Abram de Wilde, Pier de Iongh, George Etty 57 40 33 18 31 51 230
39 GBR 795 Tom Vernon, Neil Payne, Oliver Spensley-Corfield 33 48 35 48 26 41 231
40 GBR 633 Ron James, Julia Walsh, Mark Pettitt 64 13 40 27 50 46 240
41 SWE 389 Karl-Gustaf Löhr, Jesper Bendix, Martin Rudbäck 21 63 47 54 dnf 33 247
42 NED 373 Theo Dietz, Boris Bayer, Joop Doomernik 41 bfd 29 37 29 39 262
43 NED 258 Mart, Pim, Koen ten Harmsen van der Beek 25 12 62 60 57 50 266
44 IRL 201 Martin Byrne, Adam Winkelmann, Prof O'Connell 50 20 41 47 55 56 269
45 SWE 385 Stefan Winberg, Per Nogén, Fredrik Brötell 62 45 45 38 43 40 273
46 RUS 98 Igor Goikhberg, Dmitry Berezkin, Roman Sadchykov 48 44 9 66 28 dnc 282
47 NED 309 Guus de Groot, Richard van Rij, Hay Winters 34 19 49 50 44 dnc 283
48 NED 416 Gijs den Hollander, Matt Whitnall, Ebe van der Spek 68 43 63 35 34 49 292
49 SWE 393 Jacob Wallenberg, Henrik Baltschefsky, Stellan Gross 52 61 53 34 48 44 292
50 GBR 788 Rob Campbell, Justin Waples, Luke Malissa 54 bfd 58 44 23 29 295
51 EST 1 Alar Volmer, Kristian Allikmaa, Mikolaj Chocluwsky 51 59 42 61 41 43 297
52 GER 1146 Hasso Plattner, Peter Alarie, Ron Rosenberg 36 41 27 51 dnf 61 303
53 DEN 322 Søren Mortensen, Henrik Thomsen, Rene Villefrance 44 21 51 21 dnc dnc 311
54 BEL 82 Xavier Vanneste, Anne Vanneste, Patrick Waty 49 46 46 43 60 71 315
55 DEN 403 Yorick de Waardt, Juri Vogel, Charles Klinkenberg 22 38 81 72 58 52 323
56 NED 417 André du Pon, Huib Bannier, Robbert Blauwkuip 47 57 67 58 49 45 323
57 NED 318 Gerard Laamens, Just Zandhuis, Dees Zonjee 63 69 43 41 52 59 327
58 NOR 282 Cees Nater, Dany Houwermeiren, Frank Dobbels 59 34 15 dnf 47 dnc 329
59 NED 275 Ivo Kok, Remco van de Berg, Roel ten Hoopen 39 67 54 bfd 53 34 334
60 NED 224 Pieter Keijzer, Harald de Vlaming, Hank Moes 46 55 57 53 75 48 334
61 NED 403 Maarten Klinkenberg, Bart Klinkenberg, Daan Goedkoop 67 62 55 42 59 60 345
62 GER 1005 Axel Engstfeld, Tim Lebsing-Hebben, Lars Lensing-Hebben 61 64 74 52 56 42 349
63 NED 341 Eric Nooijen, Joris Verlinden, Dolf Reith 69 47 68 59 65 54 362
64 NED 409 Ton de Waardt, Bert Welkers, Jens de Waardt 71 bfd 39 64 40 64 365
65 NED 418 Coen Verhorst, Iemke Roos, Eric Opdam 60 68 64 49 62 63 366
66 NED 389 Max Vijzelaar, Hans Blokker, Marc Reynhoudt 66 42 65 74 66 65 378
67 NED 360 Sebastian Hopf, Gabor Helmhout, Rogier Kavelaars 58 bfd 52 68 63 53 381
68 NED 393 Richard Blickman, Nick Spaans, Wiebe de Witte 53 70 59 65 80 55 382
69 NED 390 Klaas Ruigewaard, Ton Gombault, Frank Gombault 73 36 71 71 67 69 387
70 NED 374 Laurens van Swaay, Arne Hubregtse, Mark Hubregtse 79 65 50 70 72 66 402
71 NED 353 Walter Schneemann, Roald Plantinga, Leo Schneemann ret 49 70 62 70 67 405
72 NED 400 Wouter van West, Erik Groot, Sjors van West 65 56 72 67 77 73 410
73 BEL 56 Nathalie Gunst, Patrick Degryse, Steven Vermeire 56 bfd 80 57 74 57 411
74 NED 397 Lennaert van der Kroon, Sebastiaan Brinkhorst, Dax Stokman 72 73 77 63 54 74 413
75 NED 404 Henri Zuijdwijk, Sicco Hoogerbeets, Christiaan Klinkenberg 74 54 76 69 64 76 413
76 NED 395 Hans Koll, Bram Kol, Mark Kooymans 78 60 75 73 68 62 416
77 FIN 88 Alex Dobson, Pille Volmer, Catja Everhalt Blom, Inge-Marie Langneus 76 72 69 79 73 70 439
78 NED 380 Jacob Roosjen, Imp Visser, Wouter Rebel 70 bfd 66 75 76 68 442
79 GER 775 Jens Höhl, Joachim Westphal, Stefanie Höhl 77 66 73 76 79 72 443
80 NED 369 Ferrie de Vries, Yuriy Laamens, Marc van der Werf 83 53 82 dnf 61 79 445
81 GER 1132 Marcel Vassen, Ludger Jokisch, Lukas Daub 75 50 79 dsq 78 77 454
82 GBR 784 Teunis poorter, Jeroen Burks, Friso de Jongh 81 74 83 78 69 78 463
83 NED 398 Philip de Koning Gans, Ed Bussemaker, Hajo de Jongh 85 75 85 dnc 71 75 478
84 NED 234 Ewoud Roosjen, Philip Brasser, Diederik Philippens 82 71 84 77 dnc dnc 488
85 NED 419 Quirin van Aspert, Louis Ceulemans, Willem Stolwerk 84 76 dnf 81 81 80 489
86 GER 1019 Hans-Jürgen Ludigkeit, Fritz Ludigkeit, Pierre Ludigkeit 80 bfd 78 80 dsq dnc 507

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