2010 Volvo Laser SB3 World Championships
Torbole on Lake Garda, Italy.
Monday 19th - Friday 23rd July
108 entries, 16 nations have entered.
2 fleets - 6 qualifying races, Gold and Silver Fleets for the finals races, = 14 races
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Update, 24 July 2010 Oh what a night! Our hosts for the 2010 Worlds, the Circolo Vela Torbole, laid on a prize-giving and post-regatta party that easily matched the superb racing we've enjoyed at Lake Garda. It was still going at dawn this morning. The course on the eastern shore of the lake lived up to its reputation and provided extremely challenging conditions for the final two races yesterday - shifts, bends, streaks of pressure, and wind strengths ranging from 5 to a solid 30 knots. Given the tricky conditions, all of the top 7 teams were still contenders for the title on the final day. Team Proxima tipped the scales by reading the first windward leg perfectly and winning the 13th race by a country mile. Team RaceAhead once again struggled to find their way through the eastern shore minefield and were lucky to finish in the top third of the gold fleet. The 14th and final race was started with thunder clouds building up over Monte Baldo, the 1.7km high peak that dominates Lake Garda's eastern shore. Both SA boats rounded the first windward mark around 15th but within striking distance of the race leaders. It was at that stage that the race officer received a radio call from a villiage 10ks to the south of Torbole warning of a 60 knot squall heading our way. Incredibly, none of the top 20 boats saw the shorten course signal at the leeward gate, and the fleet headed back up-wind toward the band of white water that had appeared on the horizon. It was left to a mid-fleeter to spot the T flag and win the race. (T signals a course shortened by passing through the gate and straight to the finish to leeward of the gate). A few other mid-fleeters followed, and then Jerry Hill, who was on his way up the 2nd beat lying between 10th and 15th, noticed the boats finishing and headed back downwind for the line to finish 9th. This alerted Team Proxima to the course change and they turned back as well to finish 10th. Most of the rest of the fleet sailed the full course and were scored 'Did Not Finish' as the time limit is 15 minutes after the first finisher. This gave Jerry's team the championship with Team Proxima the runners-up. This was a great result for Ian, Roger and Adam, but at the same time a bit frustrating. Had the race run its full course, they had a real chance of putting enough boats between themselves and Jerry to take the title. For us, missing the shorten course signal was a disaster as we had been forced to carry the invalid OCS from Wednesday and only one discard is allowed in the 8 gold fleet races. Spare a thought for Craig Burlton's team, the defending World Champions, who finished the full course in the final race in 2nd place. They sailed back to harbour believing that they had won the 2010 World Championships, only to be told of the course change and to discover that they had dropped to 5th place overall. Roger now holds a unique position in the Laser SB3 class. He has finished a very close 2nd in all three of the SB3 World Championships, sailing two different boats and with 3 different helmsmen. Not surprisingly, he is now very much in demand as a coach! For our RaceAhead team, while 15th in the 110 boat fleetl was a really disappointing result, we had a lot of tough and interesting racing. I was particularly interested in the difference in our performance on the two race courses. In the 6 races sailed on the west coast of the lake we were close to dominant, with finishes of 1, 7, 2, 1, 2, 23. The two wins were both by large margins, the two 2nds were both a boatlength or two behind the leader, and the 23rd came after taking a penalty while lying in a controlling position after a cracking start. In contrast, in the 8 races sailed off the east coast we were barely in contention. Plenty of food for thought. For now David and Roscoe return to SA to prepare for the upcoming Lipton Cup Challenge, while Marlon and I head for the UK for Cowes Week and the Commodores' Cup. I have no doubt that all four of us will take with us the many valuable lessons we learned at Lake Garda. And that is what the RaceAhead program is all about. Cheers for now Dave a brief update from the South African Camp: Wednesday was a really tough day for the RaceAhead team as we struggled with the shifty conditions on the East shore of Lake Garda. An 18, OCS and 23 took us out of contention for the Championship, as you can only disgard one of the final 8 races. The OCS was particularly tough as, after finishing a useful 8th place, the Race Officer yesterday acknowledged that the bridge had confused our bow number 52 with bow number 62. However, the Jury ruled that while we had a good case for redress, they were not prepared to extend the protest time limit for us. Ian, Roger and Adam (Team Proxima) had a better day with a 4, 12 and 16. Yesterday we raced in stronger breeze on the West Coast of the Lake. In the first race of the day there was an exciting tussel between the two South African boats, who were both well ahead of the rest of the fhe fleet. Team RaceAhead eventually took the gun by a comfortable margin. The second race was another good one for the RaceAhead team - finishing 2nd, hard on the heels of the current leaders - Jerry Hill and his team. Team Proxima had a useful 7th in that race. The final race of the day was another good one for the Proxima Team and they finished 6th. Team RaceAhead had to take a penalty for fouling a starboard boat just after the start, which left them stone last, and the team could do no more than work their way through to 23rd by the finish. So even with the 1st and 2nd, Team RaceAhead slips to overall 10th place. Team Proxima is in 5th spot and still in medal contention. With racing today being back on the shifty Eastern shore of the Lake, the scene is set for an exciting final day in which any one of the top 7 boats can take the Championship. Regards from Dave Hudson PS from Jane |