Ronstan A-Class Catamaran Worlds at Islamorada, Florida - Overall
by Will Clark 24 Oct 2012 21:51 BST
19-27 October 2012
When the going gets tough the tough get going. The going got tough at the 2012 Ronstan A-Class Catamaran World Championship, with extremely high wind speeds and difficult conditions throughout the week, but after five races it was Mischa Heemskerk of the Netherlands who emerged with the win. After taking a third and two seconds to put himself two points clear of Brad Collett after day one Heemskerk won both races on Wednesday to take home the championship.
Regatta organizers were skeptical that they could get the five races required for a World Championship in after day two was abandoned and with Hurricane Sandy parked off of Cuba, so on Wednesday PRO Billy Richnow moved the first warning signal up to 9 a.m. in an effort to squeeze two races in before the breeze fully turned on. Heemskerk, Collet, and previous World Champion Steve Brewin had dominated in the heavy air on day one, but at the start of race three it was Nathan Outteridge winning the pin and holding a sizable lead at the first windward mark.
Outteridge maintained his lead for two laps with Heemskerk closing on him and with Collett and New Zealand's Murray Philpot sitting fourth and third respectively. However Outteridge and Collet both miscounted their laps and attempted to finish on the second leg, losing considerable ground and allowing Heemskerk to move into the lead. Outteridge went hard right on the final leeward leg and made a big gain, edging Philpot at the finish, but Heemskerk got the gun.
The breeze built considerably in the intermission between races. After holding at around 18 for most of race one, gusts of 24 and 26 knots were reported during the first windward leg. American Lars Guck won the pin at the start of race five, and rounded second behind Heemskerk at the first windward mark closely followed by Philpot and Outteridge.
However due to the increased wind speeds the race committee were forced to shorten course in the interest of safety, finishing the fleet at the leeward mark and sending them to the beach. This caused some confusion among the competitors, and while Heemskerk was well in front and got the gun easily, Guck gybed for the leeward mark and didn't realize his mistake until Outteridge and Philpot had got by him.
Other than Heemskerk the big winner of the day was Australian Andrew Landenberger. By taking a fourth and a fifth with Collett and Brewin both finishing deep each time Landenberger moved into second place after winning the final race on day one. Brewin finished third with a score line of 1, 1, 9, 7, 8, two points ahead of Collett who he edged at the finish twice in five races. Philpot moved into fifth after scoring a second and a third in the final two races.
However the real victor was Heemskerk who was simply looked more comfortable in the conditions than practically anyone else. He only won two races, but he also never finished outside of the top three in his new DNA. Consistency wins regattas, and Mischa Heemskerk was the most consistent sailor at the 2012 Ronstan A-Class Catamaran World Championship.
Event website www.aclassworldchampionshipsusa2012.com
Overall Results: (no discard)
Pos | Helm | Sail No | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
1st | Heemskerk
Mischa | 7 NED | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
2nd | Landenberger
Andrew | 308 AUS | 8 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 24 |
3rd | Brewin
Steven | 4 AUS | 1 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 26 |
4th | Collett
Bradley | 10 AUS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 28 |
5th | Philpot
Murray | 1 NZL | 22 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 39 |
6th | Drummond
Mike | 945 NZL | 7 | 11 | 15 | 16 | 9 | 58 |
7th | Benson
Jack | 13 AUS | 12 | 14 | 6 | 24 | 17 | 73 |
8th | Coutts
Allan | 261 NZL | 11 | 17 | 12 | 17 | 23 | 80 |
9th | Parker
Graeme | 967 AUS | 18 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 22 | 83 |
10th | Funk
Brad | 292 USA | 28 | 20 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 90 |
11th | McKeon
Simon | 958 AUS | 10 | 22 | 30 | 18 | 25 | 105 |
12th | Mahoney
Bruce | 311 USA | 27 | 12 | 28 | 21 | 18 | 106 |
13th | Harbour
Graeme | 8 AUS | 29 | 18 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 109 |
14th | Woolley
Geoff | 264 NZ | 42 | 33 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 118 |
15th | Stumhofer
Helmut | 76 GER | 20 | 23 | 19 | 25 | 34 | 121 |
16th | Outteridge
Nathan | 973 AUS | 6 | 4 | DNC | 2 | 3 | 128 |
17th | Levesque
Pete | 88 USA | 35 | 26 | 20 | 22 | 33 | 136 |
18th | Besson
Billy | 11 FRA | 32 | 29 | 18 | 31 | 27 | 137 |
19th | Tuke
Blair | 265 NZL | 3 | DNC | 8 | 11 | 6 | 141 |
20th | Guck
Lars | 330 USA | DNC | 10 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 143 |
21st | Moser
Sebastian | 629 GER | 33 | 38 | 27 | 27 | 21 | 146 |
22nd | Brayshaw
Stephen | 25 AUS | 5 | 5 | DNC | 12 | 12 | 147 |
23rd | Gaynor
Andrew | 234 USA | 44 | 31 | 23 | 29 | 20 | 147 |
24th | Struble
Matt | 183 USA | 17 | 9 | DNC | 6 | 15 | 160 |
25th | Laguarrigue
Jeremie | 1 FRA | 13 | 19 | DNC | RDG | RDG | 173 |
26th | Mendleblatt
Mark | 213 USA | 58 | 40 | 29 | 33 | 30 | 190 |
27th | Paasch
Thomas | 1 DEN | 19 | DNC | 22 | 19 | 28 | 201 |
28th | Marshack
Ken | 192 USA | 45 | 55 | 33 | 36 | 32 | 201 |
29th | Greenhalgh
Robert | 64 GBR | DNC | 32 | 21 | 23 | 16 | 205 |
30th | Webbon
Bob | 365 USA | RDG | 25 | DNC | 26 | 19 | 223 |
31st | Parker
Chris | 983 AUS | 25 | DNC | 31 | 34 | 24 | 227 |
32nd | Godbey
Jim | 305 USA | 24 | 36 | DNC | 32 | 37 | 242 |
33rd | Field
Chris | 7 GBR | DNC | 7 | 5 | 10 | DNC | 248 |
34th | Storer
Ian | 195 USA | 31 | 44 | OCS | 40 | 36 | 264 |
35th | Yandow
Craig | 300 USA | 30 | DNC | RDG | 30 | 26 | 271 |
36th | Batenburg
Christopher | 20 AUS | 14 | 16 | 25 | DNC | DNC | 281 |
37th | Harper
John | 80 USA | 59 | 46 | 32 | 38 | DNC | 288 |
38th | Skeels
Mark | 290 USA | 62 | 48 | 34 | 39 | DNC | 296 |
39th | Batchelor
Chris | 298 USA | 26 | 30 | 24 | DNC | DNC | 306 |
40th | Moss
Bret | 255 USA | 36 | 39 | 26 | DNC | DNC | 327 |
41st | Kaub
Skip | 127 USA | 50 | DNC | DNC | 37 | 35 | 348 |
42nd | Baier
Bob | 14 GER | DNC | DNC | DNC | 5 | 10 | 354 |
43rd | Moon
Ben | 11 AUS | 9 | DNC | 10 | DNC | DNC | 358 |
44th | Terra
Arno | 27 NED | 16 | 13 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 368 |
45th | Keller
Thilo | 16 GER | 15 | DNC | 16 | DNC | DNC | 370 |
46th | Moore
Oliver | 282 USA | 21 | 27 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 387 |
47th | Stage‑Nielson
Frederik | 4 DEN | DNC | DNC | DNC | 28 | 29 | 396 |
48th | Dwarshiis
Pieterjan | 28 NED | 37 | 21 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 397 |
49th | Hodges
Bob | 230 USA | 34 | 28 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 401 |
50th | Lennox
Jack | 314 USA | 57 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 7 | 403 |
51st | Straakenbroek
Jaap | 108 NED | 38 | 34 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 411 |
52nd | Mercer
Wayne | 962 AUS | 52 | 24 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 415 |
53rd | Cope
Woody | 310 USA | 49 | 35 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 423 |
54th | Laundergan
Jeremy | 279 USA | 39 | 45 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 423 |
55th | Rodgers
OH | 73 USA | 41 | 43 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 423 |
56th | von Selzam
Ekkehart | 95 GER | 46 | 41 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 426 |
57th | Pitt
Nigel | 23 USA | 51 | 37 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 427 |
58th | Brown
Chris | 193 USA | 48 | 42 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 429 |
59th | Brunner
Katrin | 15 GER | 56 | 51 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 446 |
60th | White
Bailey | 320 USA | 55 | 54 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 448 |
61st | McAllum
Luke | 256 NZL | 65 | 47 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 451 |
62nd | Shaw
Roy | 190 USA | 60 | 53 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 452 |
63rd | Bird
Rush | 231 USA | 66 | 49 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 454 |
64th | Schiefer
Carla | 121 USA | 63 | 56 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 458 |
65th | Wallace
Brandon | 97 USA | 23 | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 475 |
66th | Dowling
John | 9 AUS | DNC | DNC | DNC | 35 | DNC | 487 |
67th | Riches
Pier | 77 ITA | 43 | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 495 |
68th | Westland
Bill | 241 USA | 47 | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 499 |
69th | Kohl
Jake | 347 USA | DNC | 50 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 502 |
70th | Burdett
Andrew | 268 NZL | DNC | 52 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 504 |
71st | Bohrer
Rainer | 96 GER | 53 | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 505 |
72nd | Oliver
Tracy | 135 USA | 54 | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 506 |
73rd | Griffits
Robert | 977 AUS | 61 | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 513 |
74th | Krantz
Mike | 294 USA | 64 | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 516 |

