Tornado Worlds

Looking good so far ! 

Wednesdays Report:

The sun left La Rochelle today. Day 3 of racing started light but the wind did not let the sailors down for Race 6.

The nice sailing condition the Tornados enjoyed yesterday did not repeat itself today. Race 5 started with delay, light winds and average of  7 knots. AUT Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher, Gold medalists in Athens and Sydney, lead the race from start to finish. 

FRA Xavier Revil and Christophe Espagnon and ESP Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz fought hard for the second place for the whole race. And the Spanish got it. Echavarri and Paz are having a very good season – they won SPA Regatta and Barcelona Olympic Week and are sailing very consistently this event. They are currently leading the event.

Race 6 had much better conditions as the wind picked up to 14 knots. The fight this time was between GRE Iordanis Paschalides/Konstantinos Trigonis and FRA Yann Guichard/Alexandre Guyader. The team from La Rochelle Guichard and Guyader took the gun.

The only female skipper in this event, Carolijn Brouwer, experienced Europe class sailor and 1998 ISAF sailor of the Year, and crew Sebastien Godefroid, Silver medalist in Savannah, are enjoying better results as the event progresses.

“We are finally waking up! We are sailing better tactically and having better starts and that comes with experience. The more we sail the more tuned up we get”, says Carolijn.

After 6 races completed the sailors can now discard their worst result.

The SRR, organizers of the event, is offering a Gala Dinner for all the sailors tonight. Tomorrow no races are scheduled as it is the lay-day. The Tornados will be back on the water on Friday for 2 more races.

TOP 6:

Results after 6 races ( Discards : 1 ) (62 entries)

Great job...  Keep the posts up guys.

Where about are you guys getting the race info from???????

Friday's Report:

The NW sea-breeze brought sun and light winds back to La Rochelle

The Tornados are back on the water after the lay-day to race the 4 last races of the event: races 7 and 8 were sailed today and races 9 and 10 are scheduled for 10h00 tomorrow morning.

Race 7 - 7 to 8 knots of wind were waiting for the sailors on the course and a very strong sun was certainly not making it any easier. GBR Leigh McMillan and Will Howden were leading the pack for most of the race but on the final leg PUR Enrique Figueroa and Jorge Hernandez took the first position and crossed the line just in front of the British team. FRA Xavier Revill and Christophe Espagnon finished in third. Windsurfer Olympic medalists NZL Aaron McIntoch and ARG Carlos Espinola, who teamed up for this event, finished 4^th. Both granted the Worlds for their home-countries after a very nice presentation for the fleet yesterday: 2006 Buenos Aires and 2008 Auckland.

“We shared the podium in Sydney, we are best friends, we are enjoying sailing together and we are getting better as a team everyday. That’s the best basis for a good partnership!” says Aaron McIntosch.

Provisional leaders of the event ESP Echavarri and Paz had a 6^th, which put them under a little bit of pressure for the next race especially with McMillan and Howden having won the race.

Race 8 started with stronger wind, 12 knots, but it did not hold its strength and dropped to the range of 7-8 knots again and very shifty. Newcomers to the class ESP Javier Padron and Miguel Perez and AUS Glenn Ashby, 3 times A-Class World Champion, and Andrew Williams hold the first positions throughout the race.

“This is our first year in the class and we are still learning. We were training in conditions like today and it is good to see that it is paying off. But we have still a long way to go”, explains ESP Javier Padron.

“Today the most important thing for us was not boat speed but looking around and being flexible with the decisions we had to make. And it was worth it”, says AUS Glenn Ashby

ESP Echavarri and Paz raced very consistently once more and finished 3^rd, remaining the leaders of the event and increasing the difference to the second in 11 points.

FRA Baptiste Balzeau and Gael Ledoux are leading the Youth World Championship.

Let’s see what the last day of the Worlds has to show us.

Top 6 Placings:

Results after 8 races ( Discards : 1 ) (62 entries)

Well, Mc & Howden are still in the hunt!