FLYING DUTCHMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2012
Santa Cruz Yacht Club, Santa Cruz, California, USA
23 – 30 September 2012
Day 8 – 30 September 2012 – Race 9
Sun – Good breeze – Superb Racing Conditions!
After 8 races, Szabolcs Majthenyi & Andras Domokos were the provisional winners of the FD Worlds with a race in hand.
Going into the ninth race second and third places were open as was fifth place and there were only four points separating seven boats any of which could finish sixth!
The start was delayed due to various protests and requests for the International Jury decision regarding race 7 to be re-opened. The Jury decided that the results as posted after the Saturday Hearing should stand and boats were released from the harbour on to a superb sunny Santa Cruz Bay with about 8 knots of wind and a slight chop.
The fleet got clean away at the first start of the day. The wind built during the race as did the swell and chop and the 43 FDs afloat had superb racing conditions. Finally Santa Cruz delivered the promised sailing weather!
Nicola & Francesco Vespasiani in ITA 4 secured an excellent start at the pin end but many of the fleet tacked off to the favoured starboard side of the course. At the first mark, Andrew McKee & Mathew Bismark in NZL 111 had established a comfortable lead over the second team – Enno Krammer & Ard Geelkerken in NED 26 who needed to finish in the top four ahead of GER 88 to achieve second overall.
The local team Philippe Khan crewed by Steve Bourdow (USA 1197), Olympic silver medal winning FD crew at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, used their local knowledge and skill to round the first windward mark in third place followed by the World Champions Szabolcs Majthenyi & Andras Domokos in HUN 70.
Down the fleet places were being won and lost, some boats capsized in the Santa Cruz swell which can roll boats in on a reach.
By the end of the second beat, the first four places remained unchanged. Nicola & Francesco in ITA 4 was in fifth place and some of the other USA teams were revelling in the conditions with Lin Robson & Adriaan Schmal, sixth round and Tim Sayles & Matthias Kennerknec rounding in seventh place.
Within a hundred metres of the finish Enno & Ard (NED 26) managed to find some extra speed and rolled over Andrew & Mathew (NZL 111) to win the final race and secure second place overall.
The second place pulled Andrew & Matt up to 5th place overall displacing Peggy & Torsten Bahr who retired from the race and finished sixth overall.
Szabolcs Majthenyi & Andras Domokos in HUN 70 finished third but had already secured first overall before the start of the race.
Philippe Kahn & Steve Bourdow (USA 1197) finished fourth bring them up to 18th place overall.
Then there was another tight finish. Lin & Adriaan (USA 36) sailed over Nicola & Francesco in ITA 4 to finish fifth bring them up to 16th overall. Nicola & Francesco had secured fourth place overall before the start of the race.
Final Overall Results after Race 9 net of 2 discards
1st Szabolcs Majthenyi & Andras Domokos – HUN 70 – 15 pts
2nd Enno Krammer & Ard Geelkerken – NED 26 – 18 pts
3rd Kay-Uwe Ludtke/Kai Schafers – GER 88 – 21 pts
4th Nicola & Francesco Vespasiani – ITA 4 – 34 pts
5th Andrew McKee & Mathew Bismark – NZL 111 – 47 pts
6th Peggy Bahr/Torsten Bahr – GER 19 – 54 pts
Race 9 – First 6
1st Enno Krammer & Ard Geelkerken – NED 26,
2nd Andrew McKee & Mathew Bismark – NZL 111
3rd Szabolcs Majthenyi & Andras Domokos – HUN 70,
4th Philippe Khan crewed by Steve Bourdow – USA 1197
5th Lin Robson & Adriaan Schmal – USA 36
6th Nicola & Francesco Vespasiani – ITA 4
For more information and full provisional results see www.fdworlds2012.org
Photos ©Richard Phillips are at www.flikr.com/photos/esailor