Today's Race Report
Open Hobie 16 World Championships
Thursday, March 7th, Finals - Day 1 of 2
Results Home Page | Report | Regatta standings as of today
Brazil's Claudio Cardoso and Frederico Monterio, runners-up at the last two world finals, today installed themselves as favourites to lift the 1996 title with a hat-trick of wins at the Hobie Cat 16 World Championships at Mina Seyahi.
On a day when the winds picked up and the 56 finalists faced the penultimate day's sailing in the Dubai Ports Authority/O'Neill-sponsored event, Cardoso and Monterio dominated the day's three races to open up a healthy overnight lead going into today's (Friday) final three legs.
The perennial bridesmaids look set on finally landing the prestigious world crown after finishing second in Guadeloupe in 1993 and in Mexico last year. Three back-to-back wins give them five in total in the 16-race closing stages and a 6.25 point lead over William and Lucinda Edwards of South Africa who hold second position from Papua New Guinea's Mark Laruffa and Liz Wardley.
"The conditions today were exactly like those we face every week in Brazil," said Cardoso. "There's no single reason why we won three races in a row, but it's given us a great chance of at last winning the championship." After coming close to winning the title on the past two occasions, Cardoso is understandably making no sweeping predictions for the final day's sailing at the Dubai International Marine Club.
But if guts and willpower decide this championship, then the Brazilians won't be caught lacking. In yesterday's second race, Cardoso and Monterio capsized while holding fourth place. But the South Americans not only clambered back on board, they sailed superbly to catch the three boats in front and give themselves another first place.
Finals 2
While Cardoso and Monterio were having a carnival time in Dubai, there were mixed fortunes for their nearest challengers. In the first race of the day, second home behind the leading Brazilian team were Britain's Mathew Eeles and Philip Hillyard while defending world champions from Australia Aaron Worrall and David Sylvester took third.
For overnight leaders Shaun Ferry and Alison Lewis, however, a premature start penalty cost them 57 points and plunged them down the standings from first to eighth. The South Africans will be devastated by that slip and although they bounced back to end the day in sixth place overall, their hopes of repeating Ferry's 1993 world title appear to have vanished considering the current form of Cardoso.
Race two saw New Caledonians Louis de Lima Mayer and Michel Cubillier take second place ahead of Laruffa and Wardley, while in the third and last race of the day Carlton Tucker and Kathy Ward of the USA took the runners-up berth behind Cardoso and Monterio with Ferry and Lewis claiming a consolation third place after their earlier troubles.
While Ferry and Lewis had their problems, so too did fellow South Africans William and Lucinda Edwards. The husband and wife team, one of the most consistent finishers in the Finals, failed to finish the second race after a broken rudder ended their progress.
But with their craft declared Yacht Materially Prejudiced (YMP), their case was brought to the race jury who allocated them seven points - an average of their previous race results - instead of the non-finish score of 57 points. It's a reprieve which keeps them tucked in behind the Brazilian pacesetters and five points ahead of Laruffa and Wardley.
After clinching a place in the final 56 by just one point, the only all-girl team left in the championship lie in 49th place overall. Women's World Champions Kerry Ireland and Jenny Dickson of Australia took 41st and two 33rd place finishes to move up five places.
Finals 3
Supported by Emirates, Xerox, APL, Catamaran Swiss Watches, Net Tours and the Chicago Beach Hotel, the 11th Hobie 16 World Championships draw to a close today (Friday) with three remaining races - weather permitting - to decide the championship title.
Since the first Hobie 16 World Championship was held in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1976, only three nations have won the overall title - the USA, Australia and South Africa. But if Cardoso and Monterio can stay focused and keep their equipment together for three more races, the large Brazilian contingent in Dubai for the championships will be in carnival mood when the series reaches a climax with the final race at 3.00pm this afternoon.
With the Middle East's first Hobie world series set to draw to a thrilling close, Dubai Channels 33 and 10 and EDTV are scheduled to show the final race live as the action unfolds from 2.45pm.