SAP 505 World Championship at La Rochelle, France - Overall
by Mark Angell 28 Jul 2012 15:55 BST
21-27 July 2012
All change to the top on the final day
On the sixth and final day of the 2012 SAP 5O5 World Championship the day was started with a tribute to 79 year old 5O5 sailor Jim Berry, taking part in his final World Championship after having competed in every Worlds since 1980. Jim lead the fleet out to start area where the days conditions of a well-established South Westerly breeze allowed the fleet to get away on time.
The race results before the start of the last race were close with it all to play for going into the 9th and final race. KELLNER/SCHOELER were the overnight leaders and had a solid buffer – and only needed to finish within 14 places of SAUGMANN/GORGE to take the title.
With a clear start PINNELL/MITCHELL took the early lead and extended, KELLER/SCHOELER however didn't start as well being trapped out on the un-favoured left hand side of the course. To add insult to injury, KELLER/SCHOELER lost their spinnaker gear over the front of the boat at the first leeward mark which dramatically slowed the team down, and saw them relegated to 100+ at the next windward mark.
SAUGMANN/GORGE continued to extend and sailed a consistent race finishing in 3rd position with BOJSEN-MOLLER/BOJSEN-MOLLER in 2nd position and PINNELL/MITCHELL winning the race by a 100m margin. KELLER/SCHOELER finished outside the top 50 to hand the 2012 SAP 5O5 World Championships to DEN 8964, Jan Saugmann and Martin Gorge.
Race 9 Results:
1. Ian PINNELL/Ian MITCHELL
2. Jorgen BOJSEN-MOLLER / Jacob BOJSEN-MOLLER – DEN 9062
3. Jan SAUGMANN / Martin GORGE – DEN 8964
Overall Results:
1. Jan SAUGMANN / Martin GORGE – DEN 8964
2. Jorgen BOJSEN-MOLLER / Jacob BOJSEN-MOLLER – DEN 9062
3. Christian KELLNER / Martin SCHOELER – GER 9090
Full results can be found here
To see the highlights of the SAP 2012 5O5 World Championships and for regatta information visit the official website at www.sap505worlds.com/2012