Laser SB3 World Championship, tutto può succedere
EnglishLaser SB20MonotipiaVela 19 Maggio 2011 Zerogradinord 0
Video courtesy Laser SB3 World Championship.
Torbay – Una sola giornata alla fine e l’unico pronostico sul quale tutti concordano è relativo alla nazionalità britannica del prossimo campione del mondo Laser SB3. Nessun cambio di tendenza, quindi, appare all’orizzonte. Certo la matematica non condanna gli australiani di Club Marine, ma il distacco dal Red è di 24 punti. In mezzo altri due inglesi dai nomi molto simili, Race Team Gill e Gill Racing Team.
Dopo dodici manche, dodici, giunta a due prove dalla conclusione e con il secondo scarto già conteggiato, il Mondiale Laser SB3 di Torbay, manifestazione che certo non sfigura nel confronto con il concomitante Melges 24 World Championship, ha ancora molto da dire.
Robert Greenhalgh è l’uomo da battere, ma Race Gill Team non si da certo per battuto. L’equipaggio di Geoff Carveth non si affida solo alla speranza, ma soprattutto ai numeri: dei nove punti di distacco accusati ieri, quattro sono stati recuperati. Certo, Red oggi non ha brillato, ma Greenhalgh già la seconda giornata era inciampato in due prove analoghe a quelle odierne.
E poi, Race Gill Team ha poco da perdere. Gill Racing Team, terza forza della classifica, è staccato di quindici punti e c’è da scommettere che anteporrà la difesa del podio alla scalata alla vetta.
Gli italiani? Beh, Stenghele di Roberto Caresani continua il suo brillante Mondiale. Ottavo in classifica generale con un primo, un secondo e un terzo di giornata nella scoring line, ha nel mirino il quinto posto, ma già così c’è da essere contenti.
“Una bella prima prova e una discreta terza, peccato per la seconda, che sarà il nostro secondo scarto – racconta Enrico Fonda in serata – Oggi non abbiamo manovrato come sappiamo, abbiamo buttato via punti inutilmente e io stesso ho fatto degli errori nell’interpretare il vento”.
Saldo al sedicesimo posto Bravi Thytronic, oggi un po’ sottotono. Di umore comunque sereno è Jacopo Pasini, tattico dello scafo timonato da Giovanni Meloni: “Siamo stati estremamente costanti in questo mondiale. Anche oggi due diciannovesimi e un ventunesimo, che scarteremo, ma il livello è talmente elevato che dovremo accontentarci di stare dove siamo, intorno al quindicesimo posto”.
Attardati, oltre il quarantesimo posto, Lunatico XS di Aurelio Bini e Briefing di Luca Bacci.
Domani prove conclusive di un Mondiale assolutamente all’altezza del prestigioso titolo assegnato.
Per consultare la classifica provvisoria clicca qui.
LASER SB3 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, HUNTING RED
[Laser SB3 World Championship Press Release] Blue skies and brilliant sunshine greeted the 103 boat fleet of Laser SB3s on Day 4 of the Zhik SB3 World Championships 2011. Unfortunately the wind was late arriving and the “AP” was raised for over an hour. Eventually, the wind put in an appearance and as the afternoon went on the pressure increased and as forcast, the direction tracked right.
All eyes were on Robert Greenhalgh and the crew this morning after their strong performance yesterday. At the first windward mark “Red” rounded towards the middle of the gold fleet, but the crew managed to pick up the wind shift and improve their position to finish the race in third place. The race was won by Irish entry Mel Collins (IRL) and his crew on Sibelus. Sarah Allan was back in action and finished the race second.
The rock star crew on One Design Sailing, Nathan Outteridge, Ian Brown and Tom Slingsby (AUS), have had a difficult Championship and today was no exception. They were called over the line in race two, but didn’t hear the Race Committees radio announcement of their bow number. After leading the fleet all the way around the course, they finished first. The news of their “OCS” was a bitter blow for the Australian team. Having finished tenth in race one and fifth in race three, it’s fair to say One Design Sailing’s performance was back, but their luck is yet to be found.
Gill Race Team, helmed by Craig Burlton (GBR) have found their form today. The second discard has now been applied to the results which puts Burlton in third position overall. “From the forecast, it looked like it was going to be a really tough day, but we’ve worked it out today and the breeze was much more consistent. The smiles are back onboard!” said Craig as we had a chat on the harbour-side this evening. Going into the final day, there is a twenty point gap between Burlton and Greenhalgh, “It would be a big call to beat Rob, and we’d have to rely on him having some major errors tomorrow. But we’re happy to be in third place this evening.”
Yesterday, Rob Gullan (GBR), the helm of Pieter Heyn’s “Parkway Pirates” took a great leap up the overall results. This evening Parkway Pirates lie in fifth position, sixteen points behind Glenn Bourke (AUS) in forth. “We don’t do a lot of sailing together and it’s taken us a bit of time to work out the conditions in Tor Bay. We sailed all of our qualifying races on the Orange course, but our results have improved since we’ve been sailing in the Gold fleet on the Yellow course.” With just two races left to sail, Gullan and crew will be looking to sail two more consistent races to protect their fifth position. “If somebody had said to us before this event we’d be fifth at this stage, we’d have taken that, the competition is the hardest it’s been at any of the World Championships so far.”
This evening the WKD Girls are in town to entertain the competitors at the Zhik SB3 World Championships, though I expect for many at the top of the gold fleet the order of the day will be dinner and an early night ahead of the final battle on Tor Bay tomorrow.
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