Trying conditions for second day in Nacra 17 Worlds

The Hague, Netherlands (July 23, 2013) – The second day of the Nacra 17 Worlds was a very trying day. Again there was no wind in the morning and the long waiting for the sailors began at 9.30 AM when the AP flag was hoisted for both fleets. Coaches told their pupils to stay out of the sun, because being in the full sun consumes energy and they had to save all that for racing. The blue fleet, who was scheduled for this afternoon, stayed in the hotels as long as possible. The yellow fleet had to be on the beach, in order to leave as soon as the signal came. And that finally came at 3.30 PM. The sailors of the blue fleet hurried onto the water and managed to sail two races, with light winds and a strong current. Then the wind died out.

The yellow fleet was on the water already and tried three times to start and race, but due to lack of wind or change of wind direction the race committee had to abort the race three times. The fourth time the fleet finally succeeded to sail two rounds and the first of the pack headed for the finish, when the race was aborted after all, because of a massive wind shift. The sailors went back to the beach without having completed one race. By then it was 8 PM and the wind was gone altogether.

The Italian team Vincenzo Sorrentino and Barbara Rinauro are in the lead after two races with 8 points, just before the New Zealanders Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders (10 points). The sailors from Napels, Italy, are sailing together for only one month and it was actually their first race together. ‘It was good sailing”, says helmsman Sorrentino. ‘but it was a particular day. There was a lot of current and light wind. The first race we did better, the second we fell a little behind. In April I sailed the World Cup in Hyeres with another crewmember, but she is a mother and couldn’t spend much time for racing. So, now Barbara and I are a team. We have only trained together and didn’t race yet. Before this I sailed Tornado. My best result is ninth at the Europeans and I was selected second for Beijing. Barbara has sailed the 420 and has no multihull experience at all. We agreed to take it step by step this week and see where we end.”

Helmsman Gemma Jones and crew Jason Saunders of New Zealand did also good today with a seventh and a third place. ‘It was tricky sailing, the conditions were difficult”, says Saunders. ‘It was not easy to start with that current and we couldn’t always keep the lay line. We are not used to this. I sailed this water also in 2010 when I attended the Worlds 470, so I know it a little. The second race was even more difficult, because the wind started to die out at the end. But we were happy to sail two races and not to have been waiting all day again. It’s been two long days waiting at the beach. For the next two days we hope to sail as many races as possible.”

The Austrian Thomas Zajac and Tanja Frank won the first race, but finished twelfth in the second, also due to the current. They are now in third place. Zajac: ‘We noticed to late that the current changed. We were in the lead at first, but dropped a little after that. But we are happy. If we end up in the top ten overall it is good, we think. Also the Dutch team Renee Groeneveld and Karel Begemann had a good first race (second place), but scored a ninth in the second race. But with only two races sailed every option is still open.

The Dutch team Mandy Mulder and Thijs Visser did very well in the yellow fleet and would have finished first, but just when they were about to cross the finish line, the race was aborted completely. ‘It was pretty exciting”, Mulder says. ‘The conditions were difficult. Even I thought at some time ‘where are we going’, although it’s my home water. We could almost touch the finish line, when the signal came. Only we and the British team Lucy Macgregor/Tom Phipps would have finished properly, the rest of the fleet ended up in a massive wind shift. It wouldn’t have been right. After that shift the wind was gone completely. We started three times before and we were somewhere in the lead all the time. Our speed is good and the communication between me and Thijs is getting better. Although we couldn’t understand each other today completely, because of the noise of the sails. We had to shout to each other. But we did well.”

These are difficult days for the race committee as well. No racing yesterday and only two races for one fleet today. Tomorrow the yellow fleet has to sail at least three races and the blue one race, in order to begin the final series in Gold and Silver fleet on Thursday. Weather permitting more races will be sailed tomorrow.

The Nacra 17 World Championships are organized by the Foundation Nacra Events, The Dutch Sailing Federation (Watersportverbond) and Sailing Management International with support of (partners) City of The Hague, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and Nacra Sailing International.

For more information about the Nacra 17 Worlds 2013 and the results, see www.nacra17worlds.com.

Text press release: Marjolein Brandt