Category: St Petersburg

The 2024 FD Worlds, hosted by St.Petersburg Yacht Club was a success for several reasons.

To satisfy the class as truly International, every few years the Worlds must be held outside of Europe. When reminded of this fact, and that a Worlds for 2024 had not been decided, I approached SPYC to see if they were interested in holding it. A hearty yes was the answer. The fact that the club has hosted in 1962, 1997 and 2006 with fine result, went a long way to get International to say yes.

There were a few wrinkles, with container storage being a major hurdle as one example. Finally a local yacht yard agreed to use their Travelift vs. a crane, which made scheduling a lot easier.

Our PRO for the event,Todd Fedyszyn and his experienced crew did a great job, with good communication and efficiency. 

The weather cooperated in giving a wide range of conditions to deal with. Light air to 3^rd grommet, it was challenging, especially the first day, which was full breeze on! For a number of teams the end result was some breakage, as well of not enough recent heavy air experience. There was very stiff competition, and the regatta results were not decided until the morning meeting of the last day. The breeze was forecast be from very light to nothing. Racing was cancelled, a side factor there is that a second throw out could not come into play.

A comprehensive results list can be found at https://yachtscoring.com/, but GER 88, Kay-Uwe Ludtke and Kai Schafers aboard are the 2024 World Champions. Multiple Worlds winners, Hun 70, with Szabolcs Majtheni and Andras Domokos aboard, were second. GER 113, with Killian Konig and Johannes Braak aboard, were 3rd.

Often these championships are the only time we see our FD friends from other continents, it was great to catch up with them. Overseas shipping has become harder and more expensive. We in the U.S. class appreciate the enthusiasm and effort  to come here. 

All the best,

Lin Robson
USA 36