Cangas / Spain, July 27th 2006
After a sunny and breezy Thursday July 27, Mourniac/Citeau (FRA) is still in top position of the Hobie Tiger Worlds in Cangas / Spain, with runner up Vaireaux/Romain 28 points behind. In the Hobie Dragoon class, the differences are smaller. The leading team, Waterhouse/Lurati (AUS) is only three points ahead of numbers two, three and four.
As usual, the fog and the lack of wind did not allow the races to start at eleven. Around twelve, the mist had vaporised, and the Tigers could make their way to the racing course, about five nautical miles offshore. By the time they arrived, there was a steady wind of 15 knots, later increasing to 20. At the start, all teams agreed left was the way to go for less waves and more wind. In the first and third races, a few teams were too eager to take off: nine teams got an OCS. In the last races of the event, the teams are willing to take a risk, to earn those extra points they need to climb in the rankings.
Tiger: Laruffa/Heasman (AUS)
Mark Laruffa is grinning:
“We’ve had a good day on the water! My first start was no good, but the second
and third time I nailed it.” Laruffa came to the event without a crew, but he
soon found one in Tornado sailor Ricky Heasman. The first days, they had to get
used to each other, but now they are in good shape. “He’s been a good father”,
Heasman jokes. “It’s great to sail with him, he’s very experienced, understands
what’s going on there. Besides, he’s a quick sailor. I might sail more often
with him.”
Ten Houte de Lange/van Joolen (NED)
Ysbrand ten Houte de
Lange and Roland van Joolen had their best day so far. “This is the weather we
need!”, the skipper says with a great smile. “We were actually disappointed that
we didn’t sail a fourth race.” According to him, it weren’t tactics that made
the difference today, but boat speed: “Everyone knew the left side was
favourable. So you had to be fast to beat the others. Upwind we weren’t so fast,
especially the last race, but downwind… I don’t know how we did it, but we
passed many teams.”
The happiest man on the beach today was Nacho Botas: “The second race we had a wonderful start and were first at the upwind buoy. This wind is perfect, because we’re quite heavy. We’ve never been sailing Hobie Fox together, so I’m surprised we did so well.”
Dragoon: temperate start
The Dragoons started their day
nice and easy. In the beginning, half of the teams didn’t hoist their spinnaker,
because yesterday’s pitchpoles were still fresh in their memory. Puerico Velon
and Bernaz Figueias won the first race. Velon: “We had a bad start, because the
wind shifted 30 seconds before the signal. We were on starboard, and all the
boats coming from the pin passed us. Then we tacked, and our boat speed was so
good, that we were first at the top mark.”
Proud youth coach
Brian Phipps: “I´m very proud of the
Spanish teams we’ve been training last week. They had hardly any experience and
now they are sailing nicely and consistently with this firm wind. They did a
good job. I only wish I’d had more time with them. Because we only had ten boats
for thirty teams, they didn’t get much practice. If the kids had had more time
with their coach on the water, they’d even been better.”
Pitchpoles galore
The last race, the wind increased to
over 20 knots. The sailors were tired and capsized. One by one they returned to
the beach, cold, and without finishing the race. Only five teams completed the
match. Vincent Domand and Eric Chaussat were first to cross the line. Chaussat:
“It was great fun! We were the only ones sailing with spinnaker, and we left the
others far behind us.” Laura-Jane Carter and Thomas Harris were second. Carter:
“It was very windy and the waves were huge! We chose to play safe and not hoist
the spi. Otherwise we would have capsized and been last.”
Dragoons against Tigers.
Tomorrow, the top five Tiger
crews will compete against the Dragoon top 5 in front of the beach. The race
will take place in the morning, when the wind is not too strong yet. Since all
teams will sail in Hobie Dragoons, the youth might have the advantage of their
weight. Eric Chaussat (FRA) feels confident: “In the Dragoon, we can beat them!”
Puerico Velon (ESP) is a bit more careful: “Maybe I can learn from them.”
Hobie Tiger top 5 after 13 races and one discard:
1. Mourniac/Citeau
(FRA), 26 points
2. Vaireaux/Romain (FRA), 54 points
3. Renaud de
Malet/Rossollin (FRA), 60 points
4. Laruffa/Heasman (AUS), 92 points
5.
Thomas/Bernier (USA), 92 points
Hobie Dragoon top 5 after 18 races and one discard:
1. Waterhouse/Lurati
(AUS), 6 points
2. Domand/Chaussat (FRA), 9 points
3. Velon/Figueiras
(ESP), 9 points
4. Butler/Sutcliffe (GBR), 9 points
5. Carter/Carter
(GBR), 12 points
/// End
For more information about the Hobie Tiger & Dragoon Worlds, or high resolution photographs, please contact:
Jacqueline Laumans, press contact
Mobile: +33 687 031 396
E-mail: jackielaumans@gmail.com
Images: Pierrick Contin