James Spithill sailing his A-Cat. Image copyright Sail-World.com/AUS.
by Rob Kothe
World Sailing excitement is set to explode on Lake Macquarie, NSW, in a few weeks when Belmont 16 Foot Sailing Club hosts the 2009 A-Class Catamaran World Championships.
Known worldwide as A-Cats, the wet and wild action starts with the Australian A-Cat Nationals on December 28th, followed by the A-Cat World Championships from January 2nd to 9th 2009.
The World Championship fleet will consist of 95 to 100 boats, with sailors from 12 countries competing. While many events split big fleets in two, these one crew catamarans will sail together as a single fleet and with their shimmering Mylar and Kevlar sails, will be an impressive sight as they head upwind.
The 2009 World Championship fleet is one of the best in recent years, with a host of World Champions, Olympic Medallists and America's Cup sailors taking up the A-Cat challenge.
Australia is the dominant nation worldwide on the A-Cat scene and 2008 Olympic Tornado silver medallist Glenn Ashby has won the A-Cat World title a record five times, the first time in 1996. He will start as a favourite to win the 2009 World's. However, this World Championship brings challengers from every quarter.
Ashby will be facing all his long time A-Cat rivals. The very strong Australian brigade includes Steve Brewin, the 2001 World Champion and 2008 European champion; Andrew Landerberger, the 1996 Australian Tornado Silver Medallist and fifth in this year's Europeans and 1984 Tornado Olympic Bronze medallist Scott Anderson. A-Cat World Champion in 1986, Anderson continues to sail at podium level regatta after regatta.
Around 40 international entries have been received and amongst these are many of the top ranked sailors, including Luc du Bois (SUI), third in the 2008 Europeans, Manuel Calavia Arias (ESP), the top ranked European behind Ashby and Anderson at the 2007 Europeans and second behind Brewin in the 2008 Europeans, Sjoerd Hoekstra (NED), fourth at the 2008 Europeans, Donald Beike (GER), sixth at the 2008 Europeans, UK and Belgian champion Chris Field (GBR) and well know America's Cup sailor Kiwi yacht designer Mike Drummond, who finished in the top ten in the 2007 A-Cat Worlds.
Attention will also fall on a number of high profile international monohull sailors who appear to have strayed to the multihull scene.
The youngest ever America's Cup skipper, Australian match racer James Spithill, started in monohulls but has been working hard on the multihull scene, while continuing to be a top class monohull skipper.
As one of BMW Oracle America's Cup helmsmen, he was suddenly thrust into the multihull world with the giant BMW Oracle 90 foot catamaran and as part of his new multihull program he has been sailing the two crew Formula 18 cats and the very fast Extreme 40 cats. In October Spithill came eighth at the 2008 North American A-Cat titles.
Two interesting entries come from the monohull sailors and Australian Olympians, Tom Slingsby and Nathan Outteridge.
Slingsby, who hails from Gosford on the News South Wales Central Coast, is the dual Laser World Champion. Outteridge, a Lake Macquarie sailor, is the 2008 49er World Champion whose high-speed skiff capsized on the last big wave in Qingdao. He was just 15 seconds from winning an Olympic gold medal.
Ashby feels that his Australian Olympic teammates may surprise with their results, despite their lack of Cat racing experience. He said that Slingsby and Outteridge were definite contenders because of their Olympic experience, as well as their impressive training sessions.
'You'd certainly have to count Tom Slingsby and Nathan Outteridge in the mix because they're both come off an Olympic campaign - certainly they've both grown up in that neck of the woods.
'I've sailed both with Nathan and Tom myself, (on Lake Macquarie) about a week ago and did three days with them. They've just been sailing up there with Scott Anderson who is a very good yardstick for them. Their sailing skills and their tactics are of course of a very high standard. I think they'll certainly surprise a lot of the international guys with how well they'll be sailing their boats when the Worlds come around,' Ashby said.
Outteridge says he and Slingsby have been training hard, but the conditions will have to be right for them to do well. 'If conditions are light and shifty then our tactical experience will help us, but it's a very steep learning curve and if the summer sea breezes are honking then it will be the experienced cat sailors who will shine,' he said.
'Actually I've found the A-cats quite similar to the 49ers, sailing hot angles with little tacking. But for Tom it's just so different from the Lasers. It's a lot of fun for us both,' Outteridge remarked.
Vicky Engert from Belmont 16 foot Sailing Club commented today, 'High-speed racing cats are popular boats worldwide and the conditions at Belmont should be superb for sailors and spectators alike.
'These racing cats are taking the world by storm. Generally a small amount of breeze is sufficient to have the craft at a 45" angle with only one hull skimming across the water. They're adrenalin plus! So for patrons and guests, Belmont Bay will be a sea of colour and excitement over the summer break. The Belmont 16's deck will be the best place to watch the action on and off the water.'
Commodore Troy Dobinson is looking forward to the event. 'We are very proud to be able to host another World Championship and showcase our club and our amazing lake. We are looking forward to some sensational summer sailing,' he concluded.
A-Class Catamaran Worlds 2009
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