Cadet World Championships at Fraglia Vela Riva - Overall
by Peter Collyer 11 Aug 2015 21:15 BST
2-7 August 2015
Day 4
With three of the remaining four races scheduled for Day 4 of the International Cadet Class World Championships at Riva del Garda all of the top crews had their eyes on the prize as it was possible that the event would be decided by the end of the day. Another sweltering morning greeted the sailors when they arrived in the boat park amid speculation about whether it would actually be too hot for the fabled 'Ora' to blow by lunchtime. Some jittery nerves were not helped by a postponement ashore waiting for the breeze, but this at least offered the chance to find some shade.
Once the fleet did launch the lake offered up a fluctuating force 2 breeze for the long beat out to the course and another delay while the course was re-set for a final shift to the left. The Worlds Fleet left the line for Race 9 with the individual recall signal echoing behind them, and round the windward mark it was GBR9877 Daisy and Hamish Collingridge who hoisted their kite with a big lead, not knowing that they were one of the two boats that had been over the line at the start. Behind them a good battle was developing for the race proper with UKR9855 Yehor Samarin and Maksim Remez, POL9902 Kaja Fidecka and Dania Targos, AUS9778 William and Laura Cooper, and AUS9613 Angus Price and Archer Ibbott forming a front group while behind them regular front-runners GBR9983 Archie Penn and Hazel Whittle, and GBR8846 Tom Collyer and Cara Bland emerged out of the bunch to join the battle for the top places.
This group enjoyed yet another great contest, with big splits on the beats and the boats fanning out across the runs looking for the best lane to pass their adversaries. By the time they turned onto the final reach after many place changes it was the Ukrainian boat that established a lead which it held to the finish. A brace of Australian boats, Cooper/Cooper and Price/Ibbott completed the top three with the Polish boat of Fidecka/Targos 4th to hold GBR's Whittle/Penn and Collyer/Bland in 5th and 6th.
Collyer and Bland appeared to be getting back to their form of the opening day and when the fleet reached the first windward mark in Race 10 they had already established a substantial lead. This was challenged by the downwind speed of AUS5509 Julian Sasson and Mischa Suda on the first run before, on the second beat, Collyer and Bland defended by pointing high at the expense of a little boat-speed while Sasson and Suda attacked by going low and fast and moving through to leeward. The defence worked and Collyer and Bland tacked for the final windward mark with an increased lead. Behind the leading two, Penn and Whittle were clearly on a charge again, moving up to 3rd with GBR9877 and GBR9985 also moving well immediately behind them and AUS9531 Abel/Allison moving into 6th place. By the final leeward gate Penn and Whittle had moved clear of the chasers to form a trio of boats that turned onto the final reach almost together. On the final reach AUS5509 mounted another concerted challenge to GBR8846's lead but at the final mark Collyer and Bland turned for home 1st and then close covered the Australian boat to take the win with the fast-finishing GBR9983 in 3rd.
After a very quick turnaround Race 11 began and it was the Ukranian kite that appeared first on the top reach with GBR9964 Lucy Corby and Ollie Payne in close attendance. The chasing pack contained many of the usual suspects; Collingridge/Collingridge (on superb form in this part of the regatta), Abel/Allison, Penn/Whittle and Harris/Harris. While Samarin and Remez stayed clear the chasers split across the course on the second beat and it was impossible to see where gains and losses would be made until the boats turned the windward mark for the last time. When they did it was the Collingridges leading the chase with Australians Abel/Allison and Price/Ibbott close behind. Samarin and Remez stretched their lead on the final reach and took the win by a big margin. Daisy and Hamish Collingridge also sailed a great last reach and beat to be well clear in 2nd, and the final podium place went to Price and Ibbott with Abel and Allison 4th.
When the results were published they showed that there were still place changes possible on the final day. Sam Abel and Hugo Allison now led by only 4 points from Archie Penn and Hazel Whittle, and with a lowest discard of 15 they remained well within range of the British boat. The competition for the 3rd spot on the overall podium was also close, with Yehor Samarin and Maksim Remez only 2 points ahead of Angus Price and Archer Ibbott, with Tom Collyer and Cara Bland only another 3 points further back. Daisy and Hamish Collingridge were now 6th despite their OCS in Race 9 but previous overall leaders Jamie and Bettine Harris had dropped to 7th after scoring non-excludable penalty in the same race, a sad end to their challenge for the overall title after their brilliant run of results on days 2 and 3.
In the Promotional fleet the day belonged to GBR's Aaron Chadwick and Freddy Simpson, who continued their good run of form that had begun when they were forced to swap to a charter boat after their own boat's foredeck had collapsed on the first day. They finished 2nd in Race 9 and then ran away with the honours in Races 10 and 11. Race 9 had been another convincing win for Katie Spark and Connor Line, while the other podium honours for the day were shared by Ellie Wootton and Kate White (3rd in Race 9) Australia's Alanna and Cooper Field (2nd in Race 10), Poland's Filip and Anielka Graczyk (3rd in Race 10 and 2nd in Race 11), and GBR's Maisie Harkess and Annabel Hitchmough (3rd in Race 11)
Day 5
After another delay ashore waiting for the wind the fleet launched into a building breeze that settled around 12 knots by the time the final race started. A general recall for the World Championship fleet hastened the first black flag start of the week, but these young sailors quickly remembered their manners and got away cleanly the second time. While many stayed with the now-standard Garda technique of tacking toward the cliffs on the right in search of a lift and more pressure, some spotted that there were advantages on the other side of the course as the wind had swung left once again. At the windward mark Thursday's enthralling battle between GBR9877 Daisy and Hamish Collingridge and UKR9855 Yehor Samarin and Maksim Remez was immediately resumed, with the British boat rounding first but soon being passed by the Ukrainians, who had been fast downwind all week. Samarin and Remez increased their lead on the run but approaching the leeward gate the flag went up in the jury boat and they had to take penalty turns for illegal propulsion. GBR9877 seized the opportunity to move into a lead which they held up the second beat, skilfully covering their opponents, but the Ukrainian boat was too fast for them downwind again and retook the lead before the gate and then stretched ahead on the final reach to win comfortably.
AU9531 Sam Abel and Hugo Allison finished the race in 3rd place, a result which confirmed them as World Champions with GBR9983 Archie Penn and Hazel Whittle second overall. Samarin and Remez's race win confirmed their 3rd place on the podium with their challengers, Angus Price and Archer Ibbott, and Tom Collyer and Cara Bland, engaged in a private game of cat and mouse mid-fleet, with the Australians holding the British boat back in 36th place to ensure that they beat them for the fourth spot overall.
The last race for the Promotional Fleet provided a fitting finale for what had been a tight competition by producing a new race winner, the 8th of the series. Anna Morgan and Martha Jones, sailing a regatta together for the first time, had clearly found their stride and sailed to a clear win. Benjamin Barr and Antonia Wilkinson made their third visit to the podium in 2nd place, with the German team of Richard Huth and Charlotte Meyer 3rd.
Both fleets were back ashore quickly and enjoyed a lively closing ceremony, including the parade that had been cancelled at the beginning of the week. Class Chairman Jan Martin Wilschut brought the event to a close by thanking the excellent race management team led by Principal Race Officer Nick Hutton and all the helpers who had contributed to a very successful event.
Results Summary:
World Champions: Sam Abel and Hugo Allison (AUS)
2nd overall and 1st under-16 helm: Archie Penn and Hazel Whittle (GBR)
3rd Yehor Samarin and Maksim Remez (UKR)
4th Angus Price and Archer Ibbott (AUS)
5th Tom Collyer and Cara Bland (GBR)
6th overall and 1st girl helm: Daisy and Hamish Collingridge (GBR)
7th overall and 1st under 15-helm: Jamie and Bettine Harris (GBR)
8th Julian Sasson and Mischa Suda (AUS)
9th Mary Hood and Jack O’Donnell (AUS)
10th Lainey and Cally Terkelsen (GBR)
Full results for Worlds fleet [PDF]
Full results for Promotional fleet [PDF]
More photos are on Google+
Event website: www.cadet2015.com
The next Cadet World Championship takes place in Argentina in December 2016. Much sooner than that the British fleet can look forward to Waldringfield Cadet Week which begins on Thursday 13th August and the National Championships at the Royal Torbay YC over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Details of these and other events can be found at www.cadetclass.org.uk/Events