Ronstan Contender Worlds, Freemantle – Overall
by Simon Mussell 20 Jan 2006 16:56 GMT
Race 1
The first race of the Ronstan Contender Worlds was brought forward to 1 o’clock on Monday January 9th, due to a strong wind warning. When the 61 strong fleet left the shore the anometer on the club was recording 25–30 knots with peek gusts to 35 knots.
The race started with no recalls, with Tim Holden leading at the first mark. Tim Hill from Australia went around the windward mark in second place. Unfortunately like most of then British fleet Tim’s challenge foundered with a couple of capsizes leaving nephew Ben to finish top Brit with a 7th place, Tim finished 10th and Simon Mussell 11th. The race was won by Andea Bonnezi from Italy who after a capsize on his first tack recovered to power through the fleet followed by Marcus Hamilton and Matt Hosie of Australia. With 2 races scheduled for the next day bodies and boats were being prepared for another battering.
Race 1 Results
1st Andrea Bonezzi (ITA)
2nd Marcus Hamilton (AUS)
3rd Matt Hosie (AUS)
4th Tim Hill (AUS)
5th Paul Green (AUS)
Top 20 British Placings
7th Ben Holden
10th Tim Holden
11th Simon Mussell
15th Gary Langdown
16th David Davies
Race 2
With a forecast of even stronger winds the decision was made to start racing at midday instead of the usual 2 o’clock. The right move as it turned out.
The race started in about 18 knots with the usual suspects of Bonezzi (Italy), Hamilton (Aus) and Hosie (Aus) leading the way.
With the wind blowing rapidly Bonezzi and Hamilton extended their lead and were never really challenged. However some excellent and exciting racing was taking place right through the fleet. With Simon ‘Fatty Mussell’ finishing 6th and proving once again that the future of British Contender sailing is not in self induced bulimia!
The race finished in approximately 30 knots with the prospect of more for the next race.
Race 2 Results
1st Andrea Bonezzi (ITA)
2nd Marcus Hamilton (AUS)
3rd Matt Hosie (AUS)
4th Tim Hill (AUS)
5th Soren Andreasen (DEN)
Top 20 British Placings
6th Simon Mussell
7th Tim Holden
11th Matt Aston
12th Paul Walker
14th David Davies
15th Geoff Bettle
17th Gary Langdown
18th Nick Grace
Race 3
Race 3 got under way in a steady 30 knots. Andrea Bonezzi quickly got into clear air off the start and with his excellent boat speed lead around the windward mark closely followed by Marcus Hamilton and Matt Hosie. Andrea’s task was helped by Hamilton capsizing on the first reach.
Racing lower down the fleet became more a case of survival as many of the competitors took several capsizes with many retiring and taking a tow to shore.
Andrea continued to dominate at the head stretching his lead to finish well ahead of Marcus and reigning Champion Jan Von de Bank of Germany. Notable British performances came from Simon Mussell 7th and David Davies 10th, Paul Walker 14th, Nick Noble 16th, Ben Holden 17th, Gary Langdown 20th. British Champion Tim Holden was unfortunate to retire with gear failure.
Race 3 Results
1st Andrea Bonezzi (ITA)
2nd Marcus Hamilton (AUS)
3rd Jan Von der Bank (GER)
4th Paul Green (AUS)
5th Chris Chambers (AUS)
Top 20 British Placings
7th Simon Mussell
10th David Davies
14th Paul Walker
16th Nick Noble
17th Ben Holden
20th Gary Langdown
Race 4
The fleet sailed to the start of race 4 in light and shifty conditions. With the breeze coming off the land. The fleet waited over an hour before a steady15-20 knots breeze filled in from south-east. The majority of the fleet headed for the left hand side of the course after the start. At the windward mark Simon Mussell (GBR) was leading with Andrea Bonezzi(ITA) close behind. The reaches saw Andrea and Marcus Hamilton(AUS) sail through Simon and build a lead of 10-30 meters by the leeward mark. Tim Hill(AUS) and also sailed well on the reaches and rounded in a group with Simon at the leeward mark. In a freshening sea breeze Andrea and Marcus stumped their authority on the race leaving a close battle behind Simon, Jan and Tim for 3rd place. Andrea Finished first for his 4 win in the worlds with Marcus again 2nd and the mighty Mussell holding 3rd.
Race 4 Results
1st Andrea Bonezzi (ITA)
2nd Marcus Hamilton (AUS)
3rd Simon Mussell
4th Jan Von der Bank (GER)
5th Tim Hill (AUS)
Other top 20 British Placings
9th Ben Holden
10th Tim Holden
18th Paul Walker
17th Matt Aston
14th Gary Langdown
20th David Davies
Race 5
After a day in the washing machine it was a relief to sail in a rather more gentle 18 knots of wind. Race 5 got under way without a general recall as usual the left side of the beat paid although occasionally big gains could be made by venturing to the right. The reaches were fairly broad and like the run made interesting by the lumpy confused sea that gave numerous opportunities for burying the bow deeply into the back of a wave. Andrea Bonezzi slipped to third at the finish preceded by Marcus Hamilton and Matt Hosie. First POM was Simon Mussell (again!).
Race 5 Results
1st Marcus Hamilton (AUS)
2nd Matt Hosie (AUS)
3rd Andrea Bonezzi (ITA)
4th Virgilio Frau (ITA)
5th Simon Mussell
Other top 20 British Placings
11th Tim Holden
17th David Davies
18th Paul Walker
19th Chris Mitchell
20th Gary Langdown
Race 6
A typical British day greeted the sailors for race No 6 of the World Championships with 18-25 knots of wind and pouring rain. The PRO posted the long race course No 2 for the first time in the series to the delight of the sailors. At the start the fleet split into two with the fleet going right having the better side of the race course. Top Pom Mighty Mussel powered his way into the top five followed by Tim Holden, with the top four Australians close by and current leader Andrea Bonezzi in the next bunch of boats including Dave Davis, Ben Holden, Geoff Bettel and Richard Buttner. After two laps of the course places changed regularly with Matt Aston pulling up after a poor start. At the finish Bonezzi finished first followed closely by the top Australians with Mighty Mussel in fifth. Next Pom was Tim Holden followed by Aston who pipped Ben Holden on the line, with Dave Davis fifth Brit home. The race officer abandoned the next race and the fleet sailed home with British sailor Chris “anyone got a spare rudder” Mitchell doing some rock hopping on the way.
Race 6 Results
1st Andrea Bonezzi (ITA)
2nd Matt Hosie (AUS)
3rd Marcus Hamilton (AUS)
4th Simon Mussell
5th Virgilio Frau (ITA)
Other top 20 British Placings
8th Tim Holden
12th Matt Aston
15th David Davies
16th Geoff Bettle
18th Nick Grace
19th Nick Noble
20th Dick Buttner
Race 7
Race 7 was held in a shifty and patchy 12-18 knot south-easterly breeze. this led to tricky conditions and an element of luck entering the racing.
Paul Green(AUS) and Ben Holden(GBR) got away to a flying start. On the first mark they were leading and stayed in front of the fleet for the rest of the race.
Ben was fastest on the last upwind and won the race. The rest of the fleet had changing positions all around the course with Andrea Bonezzi(ITA) and Marcus(AUS) finishing 3rd and 4th. 5th was Chris Chambers(AUS) and 6th Soren Andreasen(DEN).
Race 7 Results
1st Ben Holden
2nd Paul Green (AUS)
3rd Andrea Bonezzi (ITA)
4th Marcus Hamilton (AUS)
5th Chris Chambers (AUS)
Other top 20 British Placings
8th Simon Mussell
12th Matt Aston
10th David Davies
17th Nick Grace
20th Chris Mitchell
Race 8
Race 8 started in a 18/20 knots of south easterly breeze. Much steadier than race 7. but still swinging a little. The Committee boat end of the line was favoured. The majority of the fleet went to the right side of the course led by Andrea Bonezzi(ITA). At the windward mark though Chris Mitchell(GBR) who had started at the pin end and gone hard left, had a lead over 100 meters. He managed to maintain his lead halfway down the second reach when he was passed by Andrea Bonezzi(ITA), During the subsequent legs Bonezzi extended his lead with Chris Mitchell(GBR) following. At the Finish Andrea Bonezzi claimed yet another well deserved first place and with it the World Championships, Simon Mussel(GBR) managed to skip past Chris Mitchell(GBR) cementing his place as "best POM".
Race 8 Results
1st Andrea Bonezzi (ITA)
2nd Simon Mussell
3rd Chris Mitchell
4th Virgilio Frau (ITA)
5th Jan Von der Bank (GER)
Other top 20 British Placings
8th Matt Aston
15th David Davies
20th Tim Holden
Race 9
A gentle SSW 2-3 greeted competitors for the final race of the Contender World Championships. Two recalled starts on a heavily starboard biased line were followed by a clean start on a reset line. At the windward mark Jan von der Bank, Joachim Harpprecht and Gary Langdown led with ex Brit Richard Batten and Australian Tim Hill close behind. By the wing mark these first boats had been caught by Roger White who took the low fast route and Gary Langdown had worked his way to second. Up the second beat Chris Chambers and Matt Aston joined the leading bunch. Gary Langdown stole the lead from Jan von der Bank and Tim Hill climbed to third. At the leeward mark for the last round Matt Aston was now 7th and in spite of some split tacks by the chasing Jan and Tim, Gary Langdown held on to win the final race. A fast improving Ben Holden stole 8th place from Roger White in 9th. Much to the dismay of Mr Mussell who had skilfully (if a little maliciously) sailed Matt Hosie down the fleet to knock him out of third place overall, Tim Hill’s 3rd place in the race was enough to earn him 3rd place overall in the championship behind Andreas Bonnezzi and Marcus Hamilton.
Race 9 Results
1st Gary Langdown
2nd Jan Von der Bank (GER)
3rd Tim Hill (AUS)
4th Richard Batten (AUS – sort of))
5th Chris Chambers (AUS)
Other top 20 British Placings
7th Matt Aston
11th Geoff Bettle
13th David Davies
17th Nick Grace
Top 10 Overall:
1st Andrea Bonezzi (ITA)
2nd Marcus Hamilton(AUS)
3rd Tim Hill (AUS)
4th Simon Mussell (GBR)
5th Matt Hosie (AUS)
6th Jan Von der Bank (GER)
7th Paul Green (AUS)
8th Virgilio Frau (ITA)
9th Soren Andreasen (DEN)
10th Christoph Homeier (GER)