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Fireball World Championship 2016 at Mossel Bay Yacht and Boat Club - Overall

by Cormac Bradley 19 Dec 2016 07:59 GMT 4-16 December 2016

Having reeled off eight wins in a row, it wouldn't have been an unreasonable assumption to suggest that Tom Gillard and Richard Anderton (GBR15127) were odds-on to make a clean sweep of all ten races in the Worlds that have been just concluded in Mossel Bay, South Africa. That is not to belittle the efforts of the rest of the fleet which included the current European Champions, Claude Mermod and Ruedi Moser (SUII 14799) and Ben Schulz and Jack Lidgett (AUS 15113).

However, the ninth race was lost to the aforementioned Aussie pair before the 2016 World Champions claimed the last race of the series to claim a significant points victory.

The European Champions finished second overall followed home by the Aussies. In 4th place was the leading South African combination, 16-year old Yogi Divaris and Ferdinand Holm (RSA 14910), followed by the wife and husband pairing of Derian and Andy Scott (GBR 149410).

Facebook posts suggest the next Fireball Worlds will be in France in 2018, with a possible date of late August, but this is a Facebook comment only and should not be considered as anything other than that. A more definite appointment is the 2017 Fireball Europeans which are to be hosted in Lyme Regis in the UK.

The last race day seems to have been the most genteel of the regatta as befits the end of a regatta and the subsequent packing-up of boats.

Competitor comments:

  • Jean Francois Nouel: 20 Worlds sailed and it was "defo" the best ever. (14th overall with Scott Lidgett)
  • Steve Chesney: JF is right, best ever. (FI Commodore, 6th overall with Hugh Watson)
  • Ben Schulz: To all those who didn't come, you have missed out on the best Worlds ever.
  • Tom Gillard: Unreal sailing here!

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmCrewNationR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10Pts
1st15127Gillard ThomasAnderton RichardGBR‑11111111‑218
2nd14799Mermod ClaudeMoser RuediSUI2‑3‑3222223217
3rd15113Schulz BenLidgett JackAUS3244333‑71‑523
4th14910Divaris YogiHolm FerdinandRSA8425‑14(RET)4310440
5th14941Scott DerianScott AndyGBR‑7(DNC)5357667342
6th14791Watson HughChesney SteveGBR57‑8‑976545645
7th14535Bush AlastairCarroll DavidKEN486‑144411913‑1759
8th15109Koranva Johana NapravnikovaNapravnik JakubCZE‑105788888‑11860
9th15024Jospe JoeEgli TomCAN6(DNC)(DNC)7657518963
10th14859Haerdi‑Landerer ChristinaLanderer CedricSUI(DNF)AGF10611(RET)12134778
11th15102Scarth MartynJohnson ThomasGBRAGF9(DNC)1099(DNC)1561182
12th14904Parker AnthonyParker DianeRSA(DNF)61311‑1511131081385
13th14422Provoyeur JjMacrobert IanRSA9AGF1113101010‑14‑161490
14th14793Lidgett ScotNouel Jean‑FrancoisFRA(DNF)11‑15151213911121295
15th14864Veit MartinKrejtza FilipCZE(DNF)109‑18171218181410108
16th14901Laing DaveChrisRSAAGFAGF14‑201914171719‑22126
17th14321Statt CundleLaing RoryRSAAGFAGF(DNC)‑23161516192320139
18th15063Erne MiannePoulson ClaySUI(DNF)(DNC)171218DNCAGFAGF1516149
19th14723Watkins ImogenWatkins IanRSA(DNF)(DNC)DNC2113RET15122019152
20th15047Allers NikolaiAllers FlorianRSA(DNF)(DNC)AGF17DNCDNC14AGF1715157
21st14872Newson BarbaraNewson GuyGBR(DNC)(DNC)1622DNCRET19162223170
22nd14299Parker RichardParker GrantRSA(DNC)(DNC)DNC19AGFDNCAGF202121175
23rd11059Hernandez DenisHernandez EstebanFRA(DNC)(DNC)DNCDNCDNCDNCAGFAGF918177
24th14411De Engel JayNel DewetRSA(DNF)(DNC)1216DNCDNCDNCDNCDNCDNC184
25th14415Sturm FridolfAllers PascalNAM(DNF)(DNC)DNCDNCDNCDNCDNCDNCDNCDNC 

For more information on the event visit the official web site at www.fireballworlds2016.co.za or the facebook page.

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