Weather plays havoc at ISAF Sailing World Championship

Santander, Spain (September 15, 2014) – Only the 49er yellow fleet were able to get racing in on the fourth day at the Santander 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships as light, teasing winds played havoc across the seven race courses.

The 470, 49er, 49erFX, Finn, Nacra 17 and RS:X fleets were all scheduled for racing early on in the day with the Laser (silver and bronze fleets) and Laser Radial (silver fleet) penned in later in the afternoon.

It was a frustrating day for the Race Committees who attempted several starts but a combination of wind shifts and a strong current made things exceedingly hard with only the 49ers getting racing away.

Despite light winds it was a glorious day for residents who enjoyed a local bank holiday and were able to pay the championship venue a visit. A spectator Dune was purpose built for the Santander 2014 ISAF Worlds and will be used for many years to come for rowing and sailing events. Throughout the day thousands of spectators paid the Dune a visit with thousands more expected as the event unfolds.

49er
The 49er fleet had some really tough qualifying conditions on their first race day. The wind did not co-operate said Irish 49er coach Ian Barker, “It was a maximum of 5 knots out there.” With the world’s best skiff sailors competing and only 25 boats of the 80 registered making it to gold fleet, it was always going to be a tough test. The races were short and sharp which meant the starts and lane holding were vital.

Only yellow fleet managed to get races in with veterans Nico Delle Karth and Niko Resch (AUT) taking the overnight lead after two fifth place finishes. There are not too many other favourites up in the top 10 right now, as most of the fleet could only manage a single good race out of the two. Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) managed to salvage the day with a good come back in the first race moving from deep up the first beat to a 16th followed with a fourth in the second race.

Probably the most interesting news of the day are which teams have taken poor starts to the event and are at risk of missing gold fleet. European Silver medalists Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign (GBR) had a UFD and a 21. Jonas Warrer and Anders Thomsen (DEN) had a 33 and 11 placing them well down the pack while Manu Dyen and Stephane Christidis (FRA) had a UFD and a 10. All three of these top teams face unlikely odds now of making the gold fleet, though they’ll surely give it a try.

The blue fleet sailors were lucky on the day to avoid racing in the light winds. Typically qualifying races are conducted at the same time to avoid some fleets being exposed to different conditions that other fleets, but that is not the case here at the multiclass worlds.
49er Results

49er report courtesy of Ben Remocker, International 49er Class Association

Racing is scheduled to start at 11:00 local time on 16 September with all sailors, apart from the Women’s RS:X, down to compete.

Schedule of Racing:
12-18 September, Laser and Laser Radial
13-19 September, RS:X Men and RS:X Women
14-20 September, 470 Men and 470 Women
15-21 September, 49er, 49erFX, Finn and Nacra 17

Live Blog – A live blog will follow the ISAF Worlds from Thursday 11 September through to Sunday 21 September. The live blog is available here http://www.sailing.org/events/isafworlds/live-blog.php

Event website – Complete results – Canada report – USA report

Report by ISAF media Photo by SailingEnergy.com.

Background: The best talent in the sailing world has gathered for the ISAF Sailing World Championships, attracting over 1,250 sailors from 84 nations to compete in each of the 10 Olympic class world championships. Racing is staggered from September 12-21, and provides countries with their first opportunity to secure event berths for the 2016 Olympic Games.