Contender World Championships at Centro Vela Alto Lario

Contender World Championships at Centro Vela Alto Lario - Summary

by BCA 26 Jul 2013 10:06 BST 14-20 July 2013

2013 Contender World Championship on Lake Como © Stefan Schaft

182 entries is the largest fleet in the 43 year history of the International Contender Worlds. This number became less surprising as the entrants started turning up to the legendary venue to find one of the most perfect sailing settings in the world boasting thermal winds, astounding scenery and slick race management. This championship more than others was the one to win with every one of the top guys entered getting in the first 25 would be a task itself.

The prelude to the main event was a 4 race pre-World's that gave some indication of form, but with only 90 boats competing some sailors chose to keep their powder dry. 16 knot wind gave sailors a glimpse of the sparkling conditions they desired. The large number of OCS and DNFs in this series was put down to sailors using the series as practice but the eventual winner Christophe Engel needed to fight off a lot of class to win. The Young German has stepped up a level this year and with this victory marked himself as a favourite for the big one, and in doing so won a trophy the size of a bucket.

With the preamble completed the fleet looked to the main event with speculative trepidation. A 2 day measurement carried out with typical Italian relaxed style added to the building excitement to get sailing. The size of the fleet meant that there would be 2 starts of 90 boats randomly selected for 6 qualifying races before the final gold silver split was made for the final 4 races.

Day 1 belonged to Brit Simon Mussell, winning both of his races, Simon is arguably the fastest sailor in the world upwind, proving here not just his speed but a knack of using this speed in the right direction consistently. Even poor starts were not able to scupper his progress. The other races were won by Aussie newcomer mark Bulka fresh from winning Kiel week and Andrea Bonezzi merely the 8 time world Champions. 2nd behind Simon on learder board was seasoned contender Soren Dulong Andreasen with two 2nds. In such a big fleet with two of every score available in the qualifying consistency was paying.

Overnight a lot of talk centred on how to overcome Mussell's speed upwind, as he could reasonably expect to be 100 yards in front by the first mark. Day 2 came with less wind and a short postponement, the race committee got it bang on as the wind started to fill just as the last boats hit the start area. The first start if the day would still kick off in a shifty 8-9 knots. Luckily for the fleet this added a random factor that pushed Simon down too 10th at the windward mark. Christophe Engel showed he could do it at the big show and took his chance to carve a lead and could not be caught, in building breeze Mussell got back to 2nd but this was his first dropped point; however his closest rival was down in 6th. In the 2nd start Brit Gary Langdown lead early on before Christophe Homier (GER) used his athletic technique to row down the run to win just ahead of Gaz. By the next race the Wind was back and Normal service had resumed with Simon pulling another bullet out with Soren Dulong Keeping the pressure on with a 1st in the second start.

Contender World Championship on Lake Como - photo © Stefan Schaft

The end of day 2 had narrowed down the list of hopefuls for the title but all were commenting on the difficulty in getting into the top 20 such has the strength of the fleet. Mussell and Andreasen had a clear lead with Mark Bulka and Christophe Homier and Engel and of course Andrea Bonezzi reaping low scores to keep in the hunt, Stuart Jones was doggedly notching up enough good scores to hang in there.

A longer wait for wind on the final qualifier day (3) had the fleet starting at 3ish in 18-20 knots. Only one set of starts were able to be completed with the threat of a thunders storms sending the fleet home early. This single race saw Mark Bulka get back to the front after a poor day with Mussell also counting another first and extending the gap to Soren.

The fleet were split for day 4 into the final gold and silver fleet with 4 races planned, and with only one discard available in the finals they would count for more. Out on the water this extra tension built as the wind refused to play games and it looked as though for the first time light wind would prevail. Just enough breeze turned up after an hour wait with the gold fleet getting away 1st time a shifty first beat messed about with the standard pecking order but form was starting show with Andreasen pulling up to 1st from 10 only to drop back to 5th on the last beat Mark Bulka took the line with GBR's Mussell and Jones gaining massively from going hard right, so much so that they both giggled there way over line.

The second race turned out to be even more patchy but this time Soren made no mistake to win from pleased Dutchman Dirk Lafleur and Andrea Bonezzi in 3rd. The big story was that Simon Mussell had had a tough race and dropped to 10th this single result meant that Simon was 2nd to Soren in the standing for the first time.

Contender World Championship on Lake Como - photo © Stefan Schaft

The next day was all about Simon versus Soren another race would see a discard used in final race series and Si would drop a 10th. Soren however knew he had to beat Si and come higher than 7th in the next race to maintain the lead. Sadly the wind failed to play and no racing was possible for the first time in the championships handing Soren the title.

Simon Mussell had lead the fleet right until the end and was the fastest man out there his disappointment to lose the lead without sailing was obvious no-one want it to end in this way. This sentiment was shared by Soren Dulong Andreasen who made it clear that he would have preferred to sail the showdown. Nothing should be taken away from Soren who has been a consistent top 3 performer for years; his ability to compete in the breeze at Como despite his 74kg frame illustrates the skill of the man.

The prize giving in front of the lake rewarded the top 25 sailors quite fitting considering the difficulty most sailor had getting anywhere near these spots. GBR's Keith Paul took the Grand master with the Master prize being claimed by Stuart Jones who also finished 6th without too much fuss. The silver fleet was led from start to finish by Francesco Maria De Falco. The top 3 demonstrated the diversity of the fleet Denmark's Andreasen at 74 Kgs with GBR's Mussell and Australia's Mark Bulka closer to 100kg.

The boat designs in the top ten were mostly wooden Bonezzi (6) with the top sailor tending to hang to these long lived beauties, but this year for the first time epoxy boat had begun to make an impression with both Bonezzi and Wavelengths appearing.

Contender World Championship on Lake Como - photo © Stefan Schaft

This had been one of the best events for the contender class in numbers, fleet quality, venue and management. Thanks must go to Gravadona AVAL CDV and the Italian Contender Class for the organisation of this stunning event. The Class now looks to another stunning venue, the Belmont 16ft club on Lake Macquarie in Australia for the 2014 World Championships.

www.contenderworlds2013.info

Overall Results:

Pos	Nat	Sail	Helm	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q5	F1	F2	Pts
1st	DEN	1	Søren Dulong Andreasen	2	2	‑6	1	3	5	1	14
2nd	GBR	2420	Simon Mussell	1	1	‑2	1	1	2	10	16
3rd	AUS	2571	Mark Bulka	1	5	10	‑12	1	1	7	25
4th	GER	551	Christoph Homeier	3	‑5	1	4	2	11	4	25
5th	ITA	11	Andrea Bonezzi	7	1	‑24	2	4	9	3	26
6th	GBR	2465	Stuart Jones	6	‑8	3	3	8	3	15	38
7th	GER	2417	Christoph Engel	‑4	3	1	2	3	13	20	42
8th	ITA	69	Michele Benvenuti	5	‑9	4	7	8	12	6	42
9th	DEN	2352	Jesper Nielsen	4	6	5	‑16	4	24	8	51
10th	ITA	47	Giovanni Bonzio	‑12	3	11	3	2	19	16	54
11th	GBR	2315	Ben Holden	6	4	9	13	(DNC)	17	9	58
12th	GER	2476	Volker Niediek	9	11	14	‑17	5	6	14	59
13th	ITA	2561	Antonio Lambertini	5	2	(BFD)	11	5	8	30	61
14th	ITA	59	Davide Fontana	10	10	‑19	6	14	4	22	66
15th	NED	2544	Dirk Lafleur	10	16	17	‑22	9	16	2	70
16th	GER	2527	Dirk Müller	3	8	‑30	5	13	30	13	72
17th	NED	9	Paul Verhallen	8	‑11	10	10	6	28	12	74
18th	GBR	720	Graham Scott	15	6	6	‑19	6	7	45	85
19th	ITA	40	Luca Bonezzi	11	13	3	‑39	15	18	27	87
20th	ITA	97	Roberto Mazzali	11	7	12	7	‑16	34	18	89
21st	GBR	2574	Gary Langdown	‑24	14	2	14	12	22	28	92
22nd	ITA	34	Roberto Lorenzi	13	9	‑18	13	9	23	36	103
23rd	GBR	2383	David Davies	20	25	‑42	4	11	21	23	104
24th	GER	2488	Hannes Seidel	15	14	‑29	6	10	38	24	107
25th	GER	11	Andreas Voigt	7	4	7	‑18	10	62	19	109
26th	GBR	685	Neil Wlsoni	2	‑7	5	5	7	DNE	5	112
27th	GER	2493	Karsten Kraus	18	21	‑37	19	19	10	29	116
28th	NED	3	Bart Thorborg	17	20	‑35	16	12	42	11	118
29th	GER	505	Christian Krupp	‑28	18	15	22	20	20	34	129
30th	DEN	2471	Jacob Kristensen	35	10	29	9	(DNC)	26	21	130
31st	GER	2390	Gernot Goetz	‑31	17	8	10	22	31	43	131
32nd	GBR	2347	Martin Jones	24	18	‑38	21	19	15	39	136
33rd	DEN	2500	Henning Wermuth	17	24	14	35	‑38	14	37	141
34th	GBR	2422	Neil Ferguson	12	17	‑44	15	30	58	17	149
35th	GBR	2376	Iain Horlock	14	‑28	27	28	20	36	33	158
36th	GBR	2512	Daniel Taylor	18	15	(DNC)	18	18	41	51	161
37th	GER	2355	David Schafft	‑30	22	9	27	25	25	57	165
38th	GER	2438	Markus Maisenbacher	28	27	4	‑34	18	33	56	166
39th	GER	2597	Kay‑Hendryk Rethmeier	21	19	‑44	15	14	56	41	166
40th	GER	382	Rolf Winterhalter	27	24	‑40	8	23	27	58	167
41st	ITA	335	Alessandro Macchelli	16	27	‑34	21	16	35	52	167
42nd	AUT	38	Günther Wendl	23	‑31	7	24	30	60	25	169
43rd	ITA	10	Luca Polenta	21	33	‑43	8	13	59	35	169
44th	GER	2427	Sebastian Vagt	26	‑43	8	28	11	51	47	171
45th	ITA	89	Riccardo Giuliano	33	‑36	16	12	24	39	50	174
46th	GER	510	Michael Starck	22	19	‑37	25	27	29	53	175
47th	AUS	2501	Stuart Brown	25	12	25	26	‑34	46	46	180
48th	GER	410	Holger Stengele	9	15	‑28	14	25	50	69	182
49th	GBR	2496	Tony Brooks	25	26	17	20	‑31	52	42	182
50th	GER	488	Max Billerbeck	23	32	13	‑36	28	47	40	183
51st	GER	416	Frank Richter	16	(DNC)	33	17	26	37	55	184
52nd	GER	2392	Andreas Wieting	27	20	30	25	‑32	44	44	190
53rd	GBR	589	Keith Paul	19	22	12	‑24	24	40	74	191
54th	ITA	326	Daniel Chiesa	‑36	23	13	32	28	73	26	195
55th	GER	2400	Thomas Wieting	26	21	‑31	9	27	67	48	198
56th	ITA	355	Enrico Pellegrini	20	30	‑60	23	32	64	32	201
57th	ITA	111	Andrea Betta	34	‑49	18	33	15	32	80	212
58th	ITA	2481	Giuseppe Albano	14	34	‑36	27	26	76	38	215
59th	GBR	2572	Ed Presley	‑13	12	11	11	7	DNC	DNC	217
60th	GBR	657	Robert Smith	39	37	32	(DNC)	31	49	31	219
61st	NED	2	Mark Thorborg	‑35	32	35	31	17	48	59	222
62nd	GER	2555	Joachim Dr. Harpprecht	32	29	23	‑57	29	65	54	232
63rd	DEN	2276	Per H Hansen	37	‑50	21	30	21	54	70	233
64th	DEN	2456	Lars Bo Rasmussen	32	41	‑48	29	22	45	67	236
65th	NED	1	Rik Thorborg	43	26	(BFD)	44	17	43	73	246
66th	GBR	2505	Peter Dives	22	39	20	34	‑67	55	79	249
67th	GBR	2538	Nick Bell	‑53	29	22	26	29	OCS	61	255
68th	AUS	2437	Scotty Munro	38	23	32	35	‑39	53	75	256
69th	ITA	19	Bruno Antonio Orfino	‑48	31	16	32	34	77	71	261
70th	GER	535	Gerhard Goetz	44	36	19	‑59	38	61	63	261
71st	GBR	678	Thomas Hooton	36	37	28	23	‑52	83	62	269
72nd	ITA	266	Daniele Fezzardi	42	33	43	‑48	23	63	68	272
73rd	GBR	2407	Richard Buttner	29	30	‑68	41	21	81	81	283
74th	SUI	91	Erich Ott	‑44	42	39	38	36	72	60	287
75th	GBR	705	Myles Blewett	38	‑46	41	39	43	57	76	294
76th	ITA	358	Michele Vezza	39	‑65	40	29	58	80	49	295
77th	GER	457	Olaf Just	50	(DNC)	23	40	40	78	65	296
78th	CAN	2453	Neil Smith	‑81	47	21	33	46	69	82	298
79th	GER	2365	Gilbert Brietzke	49	38	‑65	36	37	66	72	298
80th	GER	2472	Jürgen Greis	40	39	‑52	44	37	75	64	299
81st	ITA	15	Luca Gusmeroli	45	‑68	59	20	42	68	66	300
82nd	GBR	696	Tony Cook	‑54	35	20	37	40	84	DNC	304
83rd	GER	529	Tobias Hanke	31	44	‑46	43	39	70	78	305
84th	AUS	2562	Sean Managh	43	25	‑60	38	44	71	85	306
85th	ITA	211	Gianni Scherl	34	43	‑61	49	35	74	77	312
86th	GER	2528	Carsten Bühre	30	40	39	45	(DNC)	79	DNC	321
87th	GBR	712	Rodger White	‑58	52	24	45	36	82	84	323
88th	GBR	2506	Tony White	‑49	44	36	42	43	85	83	333