Adecco Maxi OD - Kiel Day 1

THE ADECCO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BEGINS AGAIN

KIEL—The Adecco World Championship for the Maxi One Design class is on again and promises to be even more exciting than the first event in Holland. In the two weeks since that regatta was completed, all eight skippers and crews have had time to improve the tuning of their boats in an effort to displace Ludde Ingvall and the European entry, Skandia, who dominated the racing at Scheveningen.

‘We’ve made some changes,’ said Ross Field, the New Zealand skipper of RF Yachting, ‘They are small but important.’ Field is not the only one of the eight to re-cut sails, this has been a universal move in search of more speed. Even Ingvall admits to making changes in this area in order to try to stay ahead of the opposition.

Field, however, admitted that his crew has been hard at work on the keel and the bottom of the boat. ‘We blitzed the keel and faired it and the bottom with filler,’ he said, ‘You have to give yourself the best chance to win.’ He knew these changes were all small, but collectively they are bound to have made a difference and he hopes that this will lift his New Zealand entry above the third place they currently hold.

Ingvall, whose Skandia was first home in four of the six races in Holland, says that now everyone has re-cut their sails, it will be a different scenario. ‘But we have made some alterations and have practiced hard to try to stay ahead. We won the first regatta because the others made mistakes and this time they will make fewer errors,’ he said, ‘I think we still have a good chance of winning.’

RACE GETS UNDERWAY

In a brisk westerly breeze of 15-18 the eight boats started a 200 mile offshore race in the early evening, beginning with a short beat to a mark laid just offshore of the Olympic Centre at Kiel-Schilksee. Ernesto Bertarelli (SUI) in Alinghimax, Gunnar Krantz (SWE) in Team Henri-Lloyd and Ross Field (NZL) with RF Yachting were the most aggressive of the starters and made the early running.

As the fleet approached the turning mark, the wind was very shifty and Field was the one who read the changes best, crossing several boats while on port tack to round the mark with a 20 second lead. Then came Guido Maisto (ITA) with Seac Banche, Krantz and Hans Bouscholte (BEL) with Synphony. Bertarelli, who went too far in towards the breakwater of the Olympic Centre, was next followed by Geoff Meek (RSA) with Rainbow Magic. The series leader, Ludde Ingvall (EUR) was seventh, just ahead of his big rival, Le Defi Bouygues Telecom – Transiciel, skippered by Jules Mazars (FRA).

While the first six set off slightly high of course, the experience of Ingvall demanded he sail lower and use a spinnaker. Meek was next to hoist, followed by Mazars. As they headed north, these three separated from the others. It had a secondary benefit, keeping them away from the sandbank off Strande, where Maisto ran Seac Banche aground and spent several embarrassing minutes before finally breaking free.

The boats are expected to return to Kiel by midday on Tuesday.