Saturday, September 25, 2010
The last day of racing at the 2.4 worlds promised to be an interesting day with 4 sailors still with a chance to win the championship. Leading the overall standings was Hans Asklund from Sweden with 46 points, followed Canadian Paul Tingley on 47 points, and Sweden’s Stellen Berlin 4 points behind Paul on 51. Canada’s Bruce Millar in 4th place on 57 points. Bruce still has Britain’s Helena Lucas in his sight, who is on 66 points, but can’t finish worse than 5th. Paul has quarantined a top 4 finish.
The forecast was for 14 to 18 knots from a North/West direction. At 9 am in the morning there was only 6 to 8 knots on the race course and a blue sky. Paul decided to change sails to his favorite medium wind jib. Bruce stayed with the sails he used the whole week. First start is at 11 pm and the final sail choice will be made at 10.40. As soon as we get out on the race course Bruce decides to change his main sail. Some clouds are moving over the race course and the winds becomes gusty, with 15/16 knots out of 315. The water is still quite flat compared to the chop from the previous days.
The first start is a general recall, both Paul and Bruce start at the favorite boat end of the line. The wind picks up a couple of knots and shifts right. The committee relays the top mark and the next start is with a black flag. Hans starts at the boat end, Bruce in the middle of the line but is a bit slow accelerating and has to tack out. Paul has a great start second boat from the pin, Stellen also has a good start a couple of boats further to windward of Paul. After a couple of minutes the breeze shifts back to the left and all the boats who have started near the pin end are looking really good. Paul tacks and crosses everyone. Three boats set up a bit further to the left, including Stellen. The pressure keeps coming from the left and the boats on Paul’s hip gain on him.
At the top mark Finlands Marko Dahlberg Fin 165 is leading from Sweden’s Peter Norlin in SWE 433, followed by Stellen and Paul. Hans is about 18th. Britain’s Helena Lucas is 25th, Bruce in 27th.
On the downwind Paul is the first to gybe and that gets him past SWE 433 and closing right into Stellen. At the bottom gate Fin 165 is still in the lead, followed by Stellen, both taking the right gate. They are closely followed by Paul who takes the left gate. Hans rounds the gate in 13th and is too far behind to play for the title. At this stage, Paul is in a winning position. If Stellen wins, Tingley has to finish 4th as the count back will favor Stellen. In the meantime, Bruce rounds in 25th a few boats behind Helena.
Tingley splits from the three other boats in the lead group and works the right side of the course. FIN 165 extends his lead over Stellen by going further left, which is good news for Paul. If Stellen finishes 2nd, a 5th place is enough to secure Tingley’s victory. SWE 433 overtakes Paul from the left and at one stage some other boats on the left look like they have gained on Paul. At the top of the beat, the wind makes a little right flick, enough to keep Paul a head of the chasing pack on the left.
At the second top mark it is FIN 165 with a comfortable lead over Stellen. Then a bit of a gap to SWE 433 and Tingley a bit further back. Paul had to make a quick fix on his whisker pool on the way to the offset mark but had a little gap behind him. Hans rounds in 13th, Paul in 17th, Helena in 18th. Nothing spectacular occurs on the run and the positions in the front stay the same. The three leading boats take the right gate, Paul the left. Port tack is the long tack to the finish. FIN 165 takes the gun, followed by Stellen and SWE 433. Paul finishes 4th and is crowned the new world champion!
Paul’s first words after finishing: “I can’t believe it”.
Helena finishes 15th, Bruce 16th and Hans 18th.
The end result:
Paul on 51 points, Stellen on 53, Hans on 64, Bruce on 73 and Helena on 81.
Paul never won a race but his consistency secured him the championship. From day one he was never out of the first two in the overall standings. Bruce sailed a great regatta finishing 4th which is a worlds result to wear with pride.
At the awards ceremony Paul was crowned the 2.4 World Champion for 2010. National Coach/Manager, Erik Stibbe exclaims, “hearing the National anthem is a fitting way to finish a week of fantastic sailing by our Canadian sailors.”
For complete results, go to http://www.24worlds2010.nl/
