Dinghy multihulls: 2007 Tornado North Americans

The final day of the 2007 North American Championship started early; the first warning signal was made at 1000 hours. Three perfectly set and run races followed and the dramatic conclusion to the championship was realized.

Darren Bundock and Glen Ashby started the day with a grant of redress for races 3,4,&5 (and a replacement port hull). But the average points would not be calculated until all races had been completed... so would their average points be low enough to win the Championship?

Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz are sailing in top form, and if they could discard a 9th after the first race today they would take the lead.

Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher looked to be in a distant 5th place, but after the first race of the day they were poised to discard a 25th place... so were they in 5th place... or 2nd?

The young German brothers Tino and Niko Mittlemeier could also discard a high score, a 17th. So they too were poised to be in the hunt. Over the past year, this team has repeatedly shown that they are emerging as new stars in the highest performance and most technical of all of the Olympic classes.

RACE 6
12-14 knots from the Southeast; a clean start for the entire fleet; and the left side of the course held as the favoured side throughout the race. Bundock/Ashby and Echavarri/Paz jumped to the front of the fleet. And the Australians put on a show, breaking away and extending their lead on every leg. At the finish they were first and the Spanish were second. Advantage to Fernando and Anton, they discarded the 9th and had a cumulative score of only 10 points.

Johannes Polgar and Florian Spatzeholz (GER) took 3rd; and Roman and Hans Peter took fourth - discarding the damaging 25th place they got in Race 2.

RACE 7
Disaster strikes Fernando and Anton! Their jib traveller track ripped out of its carbon backing armature. They take a DNF in Race 7.

A stroke of brilliance hits Tino and Niko (GER)! They win Race 7 in moderating conditions. This is their second win of the Championship. Ultimately they will have 5 races where they finish in the top 5.

Roman and Hans Peter start to close in on the Championship, with a 2nd in this race.

Jojo and Florian keep the pressure on with another 3rd.

Darren and Glen start to lose their hopes of winning as they finish 7th; good but their average points might not be low enough.

RACE 8 - It all came down to the last race.
The 2-Time Gold Medallists Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher close out the Championship with a 1st place in Race 8. This seals the overall win for the great Austrian crew.

2006 World Champions and 2007 Rolex Miami OCR Champions Darren Bundock and Glen Ashby (AUS) take 2nd in Race 8. Their average points calculate out to 4.8 points; and they take 2nd overall, just 4.4 points behind the winners.

2005 World Champions and 2005 Rolex Sailors of the Year Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz sail the final race with their broken jib traveller; they are able to finish, but only in mid-fleet. A tough finish for Fernando and Anton, but they take 3rd overall.

The drama between the two German crews comes down to the finish line. Tino and Niko Mittlemeier finish 5th in Race 8, while Jojo Polgar and Florian Spatzeholz finish 6th. They tie on points, but Tino and Niko win the tiebreaker and 4th place overall. Tino and Niko's performance under pressure at this Championship clearly establishes them as new rising stars in the Tornado class.

Here are the final TOP 10 Standings:
1   AUT 3   Hagara, Roman   3   [25]   2   1   8   4   2   1   21.00
2   AUS 8   Bundock, Darren   1   [13]   4.8/RDG   4.8/RDG   4.8/RDG   1   7   2   25.40
3   ESP 1   Echavarri, Fernando   9   1   4   2   1   2   [36/DNF]   17   36.00
4   GER 1096   Mittelmeier, Tino   11   4   1   3   [17]   16   1   5   41.00
5   GER 7   Polgar, Johannes   12   3   9   5   [16]   3   3   6   41.00
6   GBR 436   McMillan, Leigh   5   11   3   [21]   4   7   8   10   48.00
7   FRA 7   Guichard, Yann   6   5   [36/DNF]   10   6   13   4   13   57.00
8   Can 7   Johansson, Oskar   4   6   7   12   2   [36/DNF]   14   15   60.00
9   FRA 302   Backes, Olivier   [17]   9   6   7   12   10   9   7   60.00
10   USA 808   Lovell, John   7   2   10   15   15   6   [16]   9   64.00

The title of North American Champion was awarded to the first North American crew; Oskar Johansson and Kevin Stittle (CAN) defended their 2006 title. John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree were the second North American boat, and Robbie Daniel and Hunter Stunzi were third.