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Cadet Class World Championships in Poland Overall Report

by Roger Wilson 8 Aug 2000 19:34 BST

The Stal Yacht Club near Gdynia in Northern Poland played host to the International Cadet World Championships from 25th July to 1st August 2000. There has been some talk in the Cadet class this year that the quality of sailing at the top end of the Cadet fleet would give us the best chance for a number of years to win the world championships. There must have been something in it. Sam Carter (Waldringfield) and Rob Graves (Corinthian Otters) have brought home the big prize, winning the 2000 world championships by a comfortable points margin and with two races to spare against 84 other boats. Britain also had two other boats in the top ten and totally dominated the Challenger fleet with the Brits taking the top seven places.

With the help of RYA lottery funding, Britain sent two teams of seven Cadets plus four coaches. After the retirement of Michael McNamara as class coach earlier this year (what a great job he has done for the class), Malav Shroff was very ably assisted by Liam Murray, Dominica Lindsay and James Ward.

By a wonderful twist of fate, it was James who crewed for Jamie Lea when Britain last won the worlds 10 years ago. And that was in Poland too. James has always kept the Union Jack which he paraded with the team at the time and decided to take it with him to Poland this time as a lucky mascot. Great work, James!

After 10 Races in a mix of very light to maximum of 15 knots the final places were:

PosSail No.Helm.Crew.R1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10Pts
1GBR-8546SamCarterRobertGraves413319*11328*18
2BEL-8518JimHaverhalsKyo-leeMichielsens2222*8651319*7346
3ARG-7155MatiasBuhlerFernandoGarillo44*5811710823*31052
4GBR-9000PippaWilsonCharlieHatfield141129RAF*42238*1366
5ARG-8019FernandoGwozdzFernandoFabian Augusto1510130*8263835*273
6ESP-8626Miquel SalomMartorellBorjaMatarranaz1328*12DSQ*1547146677
7GBR-8539MattSummersTomHannington11251418BFD*261834*85
8ESP-9086FranciscoIglesias PalacioMariaIglesias Palacio3OCS*1617775448*3089
9POL-9142MichalStrumnikKarolBanczak52*3209BFD*222321116106
10RUS-9009DymitryStukalovAlexLukianchenko63*610241118241251*5110
Other British Placings:
14GBR-8528IainWatsonPaulEllis56*267272932*97920134
23GBR-9038JuliaCornahOrenRichards29OCS*BFD*2238312202219165
27GBR-8445CatherinePuttRobynStock31312864127249*1346*179
28GBR-8541SophieHarrisonNikiJohnson814BFD*3248*637314626200

RACE BY RACE REPORT

Wednesday 26th July

    Race 1

    Wind strength 1-3 knots in a northerly direction, grey and misty. After four recalls the race got away under black flag start at 12.15. Wilson (9000) made a clear start with Carter (8546), Putt (8445) and Harrison (8541) all gaining clear air before a significant wind shift upset many of the front of the fleet. Julia Cornah (9038) and Matt Summers (8539) also made good starts to tack well up the first beat in the very light breeze. Regrettably, Watson (8528) was penalised by the Jury boat at the start and after completing their turn started well down, tacking hard right with most of the Argentinian boats including Martias Buhler with Fernando Garillo (7155). After the second reach Dutch, Belgium and Polish boats had shown significant speed catching the right side of the shift opening up from the bulk of the fleet.

    With the wind dropping away, the race was shortened on the second beat to finish with another wind shift. Belgium boat 8518 Jim Haverhals and with Kyoo-Lee Michielsen was leading the fleet, but Wilson sailed higher, managing to overhaul the Belgium boat in the closing minutes to take the lead with Jim and Kyoo-Lee finishing 2nd and 3rd the Spaniards 9086 Francisco and Maria Palacio Iglesias who sailed consistently well very close behind. Carter pulled up along the beat to 4th with Harrison improving through the race to finish 8th.

    The wind disappeared altogether and the second race of the day was abandoned after a postponement at 15.00 hrs, to be re-sailed another day.

Thursday 27th July

    Race 2

    The start was at 11.30 with the wind in a westerly direction at 8 knts under an overcast sky. After one general recall and an individual on the second attempt, the British boats made a good start with Carter, Wilson and Harrison all at the front of the fleet. At the first mark Carter had a 15 second lead with Polish and Belgian boats Jim Haverhaus and Kyoo-Lee Michielsen following close behind. The second windward leg became a reach with Carter leading, Wilson in 3rd and Harrison dropping to 15th. Watson was down the fleet and Cornah had been OCS. A significant wind shift led to a course change with Carter holding on to the lead pursued by Haverhals, POL 9142 Michal Strumnik and Karol Bancrak and Wilson. At the finish line Carter was 1st, Haverhals moved up to Strumnik 3rd.

    Race 3

    The freshening Northerly wind increased to a steady 15 knots making for very choppy conditions and some white horses. The black flag was used after the second general recall catching several boats including both Harrison and Cornah. At the windward mark Argentine 8019 Fernando Gwozdy with Fabian De Mare sped away on the reach showing excellent speed, closely followed by Iain Watson and Paul Ellis. At the second windward mark the Argentine and British boats were clearly enjoying exciting conditions. Wilson was racing hard in 5th with Putt in 14th and Summers 16th.

    A significant 30 degree wind change on the final beat kept ARG 8019 Gwozdy in the lead and ARG 5517 Juan Ignacio Vita with Josefina Gonzalez Solveyra in second with Carter and Graves in 3rd, but a number of changers further down. Watson finished 7th, his best result, with Wilson 12th, Summers 16th and Putt 30th. Harrison and Cornah were both blackflagged.

Friday 27th July

    Race 4

    After a one hour postponement due to lack of wind, the first start was at 12.35 in a 4-5 knot North-easterly. There was one general recall, a Black Flag and at the 3rd Black Flag start, Summers broke clear tacking hard to port with Haverhals. But at 1st windward it was ARG 7155 Matias Buhler& Fernando Garillo who held the lead with Spain 2nd and Belgium 8404 3rd. At the 2nd windward mark Matias increased his lead and with a course change due to the shifting light breeze ESP 9120 Antonio Aguirre with Juan Conona Marion were in 2nd with Pippa Wilson and Robyn Stock in 3rd. Down the run Carter made up places and both he and Wilson overtook Aguirre to finish Wilson 2nd and Carter 3rd.

    Race 5

    In the afternoon, the wind was now E/NE and less than 5 knots. Once again there was a general recall followed by a black flag and general recall. Approximately 10 boats blackflagged including Matt Summers GBR 8539. Finally the race started at 15.45 in slight chop and variable wind filling from the left. At the windward mark GER 8875 led from RUS 2nd and POL 9131 3rd. In the very testing conditions of almost zero wind, the race was shortened after the first triangle and finished on the beat.

    The local boats managed the conditions best, with POL 9131 Dominik Kasprzak and Maroin Korbik winning from POL 9235 Kamil Baczek andSylwaster Baczek. Wilson faired the best of the British boats, managing 9th, but Carter was 19th, Watson 29th, Cornah 38th, Putt 41st and Harrison 48th.

Saturday 28th July

    The parent's supper and competitor's disco on the Friday everning found many of the parents really enjoying themselves and the lay day was a useful recovery period. Names have been withheld to protect the innocent, but there was evidence to suggest that drinking industrial quantities of Vodka and standing up are not compatible. The team enjoyed a well earned rest on the lay day and made their way down to breakfast looking more bleary eyed than some. Eventually the sun shone and most went to the beach in true British style to dig holes and bounce on bouncy castles. I cannot report whether knotted hankies were worn.

    Race 6

    The conditions had improved with winds of 12-15 knots giving good visiblity and choppy waters.

    Approx. 8 min before the crucial 5 minute gun Pippa Wilson GBR 9000 had her bow chain plate lift from the deck. Frantic emergency repairs were made by British support rib COBRA who valiantly repaired the boat in choppy conditions and tried desperately to get Wilson away before the crucial 5 minute gun! However despite all their best endeavours the boat sailed away just 10 seconds into the 5 minute rule. The girls scrambled for the start line whilst hoisting sails and made what looked like a good start tacking hard to the right side of the course.

    Summers made a clean start from the middle of the line and led at the windward mark followed by ARG 8059 and Carter with ESP 8626 Miguel Salom Martorell and Borja Matarranaz and Sophie Harrison with Nick Johnson GBR 8541 in 5th. Julia Cornah with Oren Richards GBR 9038 were holding 7th in their best race of the championships.

    In sparkling conditions the British dominated the top slots finding the 12/15 knots and choppy conditions to their liking. At the second rounding Carter and Graves had taken the lead with Matt Summers & Tom Hannington GBR 8539 2nd, Julia Cornah & Oren Richards GBR 9038 steaming up to 3rd and Sophie Harrison & Nick Johnson GBR 8541 in 6th.

    This sequence was maintained with ESP 8626 Martorell sailing well in the breezy conditions closely followed by Sophie Harrison 8541 and BEL 8518 Haverhals. Into the final leg and all the British boats wer sailing really well, holding their positions to the finish. Carter & Graves were 1st, Summers & Hannington 2nd and Cornah & Richards were 3rd. Martorell was 4th ahead of Haverhals and Harrison in 6th.

Sunday 30th June

    Race 7

    After 3 starts, 2 of which were black flagged, the fleet were clean away in very similar conditions to the morning. Off the start line POL 9035 appeared to make a good start tacking hard right but at the first windward mark it was Belgium, Australia and GBR 8445 Catherine Putt & Robyn Stock 3rd.

    In the fast reaching conditions and close sailing, Putt took the lead and at the second windward mark Carter had made up places, screaming down the reach to gain 4th then 2nd up the beat with ARG 8019 Gwozds close behind and Wilson & Hatfield in hot pursuit. At the line Carter took 1st from Putt in 2nd, Gwodzs 3rd and Wilson 4th. Other British boats also notched up some impressive results in the very competitive fleet with Summers & Hannington 12th, Watson & Ellis 14th, and Cornah and Richards 16th.

Monday 31st July

    Race 8

    The wind had moved round to the West, but the conditions were similar to the previous day, a 10-15 knot wind with significant chop. After two general recalls the black flag was used and the fleet finally got away. The wind swung 30 degrees during the first beat and at the windward mark POL 9142 Strumnik led from Summers and POL 1707 Lodyga. Most of the British boats were mid fleet, having a troubled time in the shifting conditions, including championship leaders Carter and Graves. They rounded in 16th but made up places down the reach fighting back to 7th at the gybe mark.

    The wind dropped away through the race to less than 5 knots with constant shifts. At the second windward, POL 9142 led with Summers closing the gap. RUS 9081 moved up to 3rd with ARG 5517 Juan Ignacio Vita and POL Lodyga close behind. Down the run in the decreasing wind, Summers took the lead, and in the shifting, drifting conditions the course was shortened giving Summers 1st from POL 9142 2nd. Carter and Graves played the final shifts perfectly to move up from 7th to 3rd to confirm them as World Champions for 2000 with 2 races still in hand.

    Iain Watson GBR 8528 had one of his best races finishing 7th, while Cornah who was continually improving took 20th. Pippa Wilson misread the shift on the final beat to finish 22nd, and Spohie Harrison managed 31st.

    With the knowledge that the Challenger fleet was being dominated by the Brits and with Carter and Graves assured of the World Champioships, there were great celebrations in the British camp at the end of the day and just a little way into the evening!

Monday 31st July

    Race 9

    Another black flag at the start and the fleet drifted again in the light shifting winds of 5 knots and less with a short wave chop. ARG 8014 Galvan led away from the start, closely followed by Watson & Ellis and Carter & Graves in 3rd (sailing the last two races on Team Coach advice) and Belgium 8332 4th. On the reaches Carter and Graves overhauled ARG 8024 Lamas but up to the next windward mark there was a significant wind shift and Lamas slipped through with Carter & Graves attacking again at 2nd. Third round was ARG 7155 Buhler. The fleet was now very spread out in the light shifting conditions as the wind dropped to almost zero and Carter and Graves took the lead with 200 metres to the finish. The finishing mark was suprisingly moved and ARG 8024 moved ahead of the British pair to win. Buhler was 3rd, and AUS 4109 Jake Newman and Blayne Wagoner were 4th. Watson had a consistent day to finish 10th, Putt 13th, Cornah 22nd, Wilson 38th and Harrison 46th.

Tuesday 1st August

    Race 10

    For the last race of the series there were 10-12 knots of breeze from the Northwest and some light chop. BEL 8518 Haverhals & Kyo-Lee Michielson went hard right with ARG 8059 Juan Fransisco Amuchastequi & Gonzalo Amuchastequi, tacking in to the windward mark in the lead. Rounding the windward mark next was RUS 2 Sergey Musikhin & Roman Gusev sailing very fast and POL 9065 Becker with BEL 8518 close behind. The two leading Argentine and Russian boats held their position down the reaches showing impressive downwind performance.

    With the wind shifting on the last beat 1st across the line was ARG 8059 Amuchastequi followed by ARG 8019 Gwodz. BEL 8518 Jim Haverhals & Kyo-Lee Michielson continued to show impressive boat speed, sailing very well in the shifty conditions, and pulled up to 3rd with RUS 2 Musikhin 4th.

    British placing in this race, 8th GBR 8546 , 13th GBR 9000, 19th GBR 9038, 20th GBR 8528, 26th

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