Hobie Tiger & Dragoon Worlds Langebaan, South Africa Overall
by Diana Bogaards 8 Mar 2008 21:14 GMT
3-8 March 2008
Australia and South Africa win 2008 Hobie Tiger & Dragoon worlds
On Saturday March 8, Australia and South Africa won the 2008 Hobie Tiger & Hobie Dragoon Worlds. It was a nerve breaking morning for the leaders in both fleets, as the lack of wind kept them waiting. The first attempt on the Dragoon course was cancelled after the wind died completely. At about 1 pm, the race committee dropped the postponement flag and all teams left the beach. When the Tigers finally managed to start clean, Mark Laruffa and Daniel Sims (AUS) lost initially their golden position, but they fought back and won the title. Today’s scheduled final race for the Dragoons could not be sailed anymore, due to the long postponement. That means that at the time limit of 3 pm, Matt Whitehead and Megan Du Plessis (RSA) were declared the new Hobie Dragoon World Champions.
As the clock ticked this morning, sailors sat inside the party tent and played cards or socialized. Beach volleyball seemed to be popular amongst the youth. Meanwhile, Laruffa and Sims were close to their first World Title ever. Mitch Booth and Tiffany Baring-Gould, representing the Netherlands, were only one point behind, so they were very keen to go. They got their chance in the afternoon, but patience was still needed. The wind was not stable enough, so the 62 Tigers floated for another hour. This was followed by two general recalls. Laruffa: “That was nerve-racking, because I knew we were running out of time. They hoisted the black flag and it was pin-end favoured, so that was tricky. It could be all over at the start. Mitch was right at the pin and was leading at that moment.” Booth and Baring-Gould came first at the top mark, but had a problem with the spinnaker hoist. Laruffa and Sims rounded in tenth position, so at that stage the Dutch team was winning the regatta. Booth: “Unfortunately, the spinnaker halyard got stuck behind the spreader, so we lost three boats. Near the bottom mark, we dropped the spinnaker sheet, so that cost us another three boats. We went from first to seventh and it was all over after this downwind.” Duncan Ross and Rick Nankin (RSA) took the lead and the last bullet.
Emotional win
According to Laruffa, they had a good first spinnaker hoist and caught two boats. Sims: “Everybody went to shore and we were just behind Shaun Ferry. We did not want to go over him, because that would limit our options. We slowed down and gibed away. Mischa Heemskerk did the same.” Halfway the run, the Australians gibed back to cover on Mitch. They gained another three competitors at the gate and rounded the left hand mark. Sims: “Mischa chose the other side and Mitch followed us, which was good. We just had to keep him behind us, so we tacked when he tacked. We actually wore different shirts today, so Mitch would not recognize us on the course.” Laruffa and Sims finished third and won the Hobie Tiger World Title 2008. Sims: “This is Mark’s first win in 27 years of trying.” Laruffa: “I had to be careful not to cry at the finish. My partner at home is in tears.” Although Laruffa has finally achieved his goal, he does not speak about retiring: “It is only starting. This time I did not party during the championship.” Baring-Gould, crewing for Booth, won silver at her first multihull event ever: “I am very happy with our result and I will be definitely back in the catamarans.” Robbie Lovig and Lachlan Gibson had never sailed a Hobie Tiger World Championship before, but they go home with a bronze medal. “We are pretty pleased, because it was really tight with close racing. Mark was exceptional this week. We have exceeded our own targets, because we wanted to be in the top five. We have only started twelfth months ago.”
Big Youth Party
“I am so nervous”, said Matt Whitehead this morning. Despite his domination throughout the whole championship, he was still thinking of the best strategy to secure the title. But in the end, he did not need it, as they run out of time. Whitehead: “The wind was perfect, but it was already 3 pm.” His dream came true, he and his crew Megan Du Plessis became the new Hobie Dragoon World Champions. Whitehead: “I just sat there and couldn’t believe it. It will sink in. This week has been great fun with awesome sailing and it was well planned.” His mother Tracy Whitehead did a wonderful job on organizing the event. His father Colin Whitehead, Hobie 16 World Champion 1978, finished 15th at the Tiger Worlds. As soon as he came back to shore, he gave his son a big hug and a champion’s bath in the Langebaan Lagoon. Son Whitehead: “It will be a big party tonight. My whole family is here, which is cool. They have been a great support for me. My dream was to win these Dragoon Worlds in my home town and it has come true.” His crew Du Plessis seemed to be overwhelmed as well: “It feels awesome. In a way I am happy, but I am also disappointed that it is over now.” Ewald Erasmus and Riccardo Suttner-Scalco won silver. Erasmus: “It is a great experience to meet all these people. I definitely enjoyed it.” Geert and Thomas Schouten won bronze in the open class and Petrus Smith and Ewie Loubser in the junior class. Smith: “It feels quite nice. I will be probably up all night, together with Matt.” Most of the South African youth sailors will meet each other again in two weeks at the qualification for the ISAF Youth Worlds 2008 in Denmark. That means they will switch to the Hobie 16 with spinnaker.
Overall Results:
Tiger
1 AUS M.Laruffa/D.Sims Total pts: 43 (10,3,1,1,2,7,3,9,64,3,1,3)
2 NED M.Booth/T.Baring-Gould Total pts: 50 (11,4,2,4,5,2,6,7,4,4,3,9)
3 AUS R.Lovig/L.Gibson Total pts: 53 (3,1,3,3,4,11,64,4,3,12,4,5)
4 NED M.Heemskerk/B.Tentij Total pts: 55 (4,11,7,2,1,5,8,1,64,1,13,2)
5 RSA S.Ferry/J.Van Der Vyfer Total pts: 65 (1,2,5,10,64,6,9,3,8,8,9,4)
6 BEL C.Brouwer/D.Bundock Total pts: 72 (17,8,6,64,16,1,2,2,6,6,2,6)
7 RSA D.Ross/R.Nankin Total pts: 96 (6,7,8,14,18,4,12,17,1,64,8,1)
8 RSA A.Lawrence/I.Schabort Total pts: 99 (16,5,12,5,6,18,1,12,64,2,10,12)
9 RSA B.Dodds/P.Dodds Total pts: 103 (9,16,4,17,8,20,10,10,7,9,6,7)
10 RSA H.Hale/S.Botes Total pts: 114 (7,13,17,7,12,10,7,13,5,11,12,17)
Dragoon
1 RSA M.Whitehead/M.Du Plessis Total pts: 8 (1,1,1,1,2,1,1,1,1)
2 RSA E.Erasmus/R.Suttner -Scalco Total pts: 18 (2,1,3,6,6,1,1,1,3)
3 NED G.Schouten/T.Schouten Total pts: 23 (5,2,2,3,1,2,8,3,5)
4 RSA P.Smith/E.Loubser Total pts: 25 (4,6,2,2,1,2,2,14,6)
5 RSA D.McLean/S.Du Plessis Total pts: 27,2,8,7,3,2,4,4,3,2)
6 RSA G.Norton/C.Norton Total pts: 31,1,14,1,1,4,6,3,4,11)
7 RSA R.Hayes/D.Maidment Total pts: 35 (7,3,4,5,3,3,10,2,8)
8 NED U.Vrijburg/D.Vrijburg Total pts: 36,6,2,3,5,7,5,7,5,3)
9 RSA S.Walker/B.Hayward Total pts: 37 (6,12,4,4,8,4,5,5,1)
10 RSA A.Fourie/C.Lord Total pts: 40,5,5,6,2,6,7,6,6,4)
The Hobie Tiger & Hobie Dragoon Worlds 2008 are sponsored by Southey, Airport City, Seiko and Coca Cola with Langebaan Yacht Club as the event host.
More information on the event website.