Pepper and Williams finish 6th at Star Worlds

by Jodie Bakewell-White

Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams have finished 6th in the 104 boat fleet at the 2008 Star World Championships which has just concluded in Miami. A 19th place in the final race of the regatta dashed their chances of a podium spot.

Overnight leaders Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki of Poland have been crowned Star World Champions after a 5th place in the final race secured the title for them. It is Kusznierewicz’s top World Championship result in the Star, his previous best being a 6th place in 2007 in Cascais, Portugal.

The victorious Polish pair finished nine points clear of their closest rivals, Diego Negri and Luigi Viale of Italy, who won the silver. Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada of Brazil were a further ten point back and were presented the bronze medal for 3rd place.

Pepper and Williams of New Zealand were holding 4th place going into the final race but the points table around them was close and they needed a top result to improve their standing. The pair, who won the prestigious title in 2006, will be disappointed to have slipped back to finish in 6th place when a podium spot was tantalizingly close.

This was the first major regatta back together in the Star boat for Pepper and Williams this season, and a priority for them at this event was to test their chosen boat to see how it felt ahead of the Olympics in August. The chance to line up against those they’ll meet again in Qingdao, China also provides valuable insight on the areas they need to fine-tune to do better.

2008 Star Class World Championship
Final Top Ten Results

1st POL Kusznierewicz, Mateusz/Zycki, Dominik – 14 points
2nd ITA Negri, Diego/Viale, Luigi - 23 points
3rd BRA Scheidt, Robert/Prada, Bruno – 33 points
4th SUI Marazzi, Flavio/De Maria, Enrico – 40 points
5th GER Pickel, Marc/Borkowski, Ingo – 45 points
6th NZL Pepper, Hamish/Williams, Carl – 51 points
7th USA Mendelblatt, Mark/Strube, Mark – 56 points
8th AUS Murray, Iain/Palfrey, Andrew – 69 points
9th FRA Rohart, Xavier/Rambeau, Pascal – 72 points
10th USA Merriman, Rick/Sharp, Brian – 77 points

2008 Star Worlds