A glorious afternoon sail - Day 2 Contender Worlds 2010. Image copyright Contender Worlds 2010.
by Rob Kothe
The 40th Contender Worlds Day 2 were sailed on a benign Waterloo Bay in Brisbane Australia. Andrea Bonezzi sailed his first Championships 25 years ago and has won seven World titles since then. Today his experience continued to shine through.
As they made their way to the start line for Race 3, the competitors were greeted by a glorious day with 12 knots of east south east breeze .
Current World Champion and early event leader, Andrea Bonezzi (ITA11) started half way down the line and led a group of Contenders out to the right side of the course in softening conditions.
Australian Champion Matt Mulder (AUS2408) led Steven Grimes (AUS2179), German sailor Christoph Homeier (GER551) and Bonezzi at the top mark.
Then as they came on the reach to the wing mark, the breeze dropped to eight or nine knots, so sailors were not on trapezes. Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron sailor Steven Grimes soaked down inside the course and rounded the wing mark with pressure.
Homeier rounded in second, with Bonezzi close behind. Mulder, who had done so well early in the race, fell back into sixth place, the conditions being just too light for big Matt.
Reaching down towards the bottom mark, the middle of the fleet were up on trapezes as the breeze freshened.
At the bottom mark Grimes had extended his lead, from Homeier and Bonezzi. Jono Neate (AUS2323) was fourth with yesterday's second race winner Simon Mussell (GBR 2420) on his hammer.
The breeze was back to seven or eight knots at the top of the course and the lightweight Grimes began to sail away with the race. At the top mark he held a ten boat length advantage over Homeier. Mussell came in fast on the port lay line but was slow on the tack and Bonezzi sailed inside him.
At the bottom mark for the last time, Mussell had overtaken Bonezzi. Neate was still holding onto fifth place.
Grimes crossed the line first, with Homeier, Mussell and Neate following him. Bonezzi finished fifth and Mulder sixth.
Winner Steven Grimes grinned 'I started mid line, I worked the middle of the course and just played the shifts up the first beat, then I stayed low on the first reach and that's what really did it.'
Three boats were OCS with another DNF.
Top Five places in Race 3:
1. Steven Grimes (AUS2179)
2. Christoph Homeier (GER551)
3. Simon Mussell (GBR2420)
4. Jono Neate (AUS2323)
5. Andrea Bonezzi (ITA11)
Race 4
A clear start.
Christoph Homeier (GER551) and Steven Grimes (AUS2179) went right from mid line with Grimes best placed. Homier hit the right hand corner hard.
Andrea Bonezzi (ITA11) was further down the line and with Simon Mussell (GBR2420), went left to the first shift. Bonezzi then led the fleet back from the left.
At the first mark however it was Grimes who led Bonezzi, with Geoff Fisher (AUS2468) third. Homeier was buried in the 20's.
As he did in the first race, Grimes was soaking low with speed and was first to the wing mark ahead of Bonezzi, Neate (AUS2323) and Fisher. Matt Mulder was having centreboard problems and dropped from around sixth to 16th at the wing.
By the top mark with just one lap to go, the seven times World Champion Bonezzi had fought his way back to a powerful position and was six boat lengths clear of Grimes. Jono Neate was close behind Grimes, with a further four boat lengths back to Fisher. It was still light, eight to nine knots at the mark.
With just one beat to go, Bonezzi was ahead of Neate, Grimes and Fisher. The lead group had gapped the fleet.
At the bottom mark for the last time Bonezzi headed right towards Lota Creek, well clear of Neate.
The Master had returned. Bonezzi crossed ahead of Neate, Fisher and Grimes. Gary Langdon (GBR2421) was fifth.
Bonezzi was well pleased. 'Race four was much better than the race three. I had a better race. It's getting tougher out there. There are some very good sailors here and they continue to get better. In Denmark we had 120 boats, but this fleet is now stronger.
'Now there seem to more boats of very similar speed; you pass them, they pass you. Jono (Neate) and Christoph (Homeier) are especially physical. I am hanging in there, but the younger guys do have an advantage.
'But ... .it's very good racing and wonderful weather."
Top Five
1. Andrea Bonezzi (ITA11)
2. Jono Neate (AUS2323)
3. Geoff Fisher (AUS2468)
4. Steven Grimes (AUS2179)
5. Gary Langdon (GBR2421)
Second overall after four races is Australian Jono Neate, who was second behind Bonezzi in Denmark. He'd had a trapeze problem yesterday which probably cost him five places. Today he said 'No gear breakages, no excuses. Pleased to be in second place overall. It's not easy... I am pretty knackered now. I did really well on the reaches today but there is still a long way to go.'
Geoff Fisher from the RQYS fleet is third overall. 'I enjoyed today's races; my seventh and my third. It was a beautiful day out there.' He was smiling as he said 'Still a little too much pressure for me - the big guys seem to hold onto the waves better. In the second race four of us broke clear and then Steven (Grimes) clawed his way back and ended up fourth.'
Sitting in fourth after four races Christoph Homeier still looks fresh. 'In race three I managed to sail through Andrea (Bonezzi) and Simon (Mussell) into second. Then I sailed a little conservatively to hold my second. I screwed up the start badly in race four; I went right and was 20+ at the top mark. I was probably lucky to finish 12th.'
The Pre-World's winner, Australian Champion and Event Organiser Matt Mulder said 'I just did not sail very well today. I had a breakage on the first reach, my centreboard would not stay down. I had to stop and fix it. I was probably 15th by the wing mark but climbed back a little.'
So the leader board is settling as expected. However while Steven Grimes is currently back in 12th place, carrying his second race OCS, after a drop his 4, 1, 4 will look good and he could be amongst the leaders.
At 80kg he is a little on the light side but if conditions ease as expected, he could be a podium Contender.
Top Five places in Race 4:
1. Andrea Bonezzi (ITA11)
2. Jono Neate (AUS2323)
3. Geoff Fisher (AUS2468)
4. Steven Grimes (AUS2179)
5. Gary Langdon (GBR2421)
Series Results [Open] up to Race 4 (Drops = 0) Place Ties From Sail No Boat Name Skipper Sers Score Race 4 Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 ITA ITA11 Ronstan Andrea Bonezzi 9.00 1.00 5.00 2.00 1.00
2 2.0S VAUS AUS2323 AUS2323 Jono Neate 18.00 2.00 4.00 4.00 8.00
3 QAUS AUS2468 Bella Anna Geoff Fisher 18.00 3.00 7.00 5.00 3.00
4 GER GER551 Schroeder Christoph Homeier 20.00 12.00 2.00 1.00 5.00
5 UK GBR2420 Carrie2 Simon Mussell 24.00 7.00 3.00 12.00 2.00
6 QAUS AUS2408 Chewbacca Matt Mulder 26.00 6.00 6.00 3.00 11.00
7 UK GBR2421 (V)No Name Gary Langdon 33.00 5.00 9.00 13.00 6.00
8 6.0S QAUS AUS1753 Stacey Phillip Evans 35.00 8.00 12.00 6.00 9.00
9 VAUS AUS2204 Erica's Diamond Chris Peile 35.00 10.00 8.00 10.00 7.00
10 ITA ITA315 Gnuzzender Antonio Lambertini 65.00 17.00 17.00 21.00 10.00
11 UK GBR2383 Bit of Wet David Davies 68.00 11.00 15.00 9.00 33.00
12 QAUS AUS2179 AUS2179 Steven Grimes 70.00 4.00 1.00 61.00O 4.00
13 ITA ITA40 Stealth Luca Bonezzi 71.00 9.00 19.00 26.00 17.00
14 10.0S GER GER531 Fajrant Joachim Harpprecht 72.00 27.00 10.00 20.00 15.00
15 UK GBR2406 Mako Ed Presley 72.00 20.00 23.00 17.00 12.00
16 QAUS AUS1306 Got Wood Chris Somers 77.00 13.00 21.00 27.00 16.00
17 NED NED232 (V)Ristretto Mark Thorborg 79.00 15.00 16.00 16.00 32.00
18 CAN CAN2398 HoneyBun Neil Smith 84.00 23.00 18.00 23.00 20.00
19 WAUS AUS2411 (V)Cruising Ross Brennan 86.00 19.00 29.00 15.00 23.00
20 GER GER1421 Kabbelwasser Dirk Mueller 87.50 35.50 11.00 19.00 22.00
21 VAUS AUS2136 Ro Shambo Grant Robinson 88.00 28.00 32.00 14.00 14.00
22 UK GBR694 Rock n Rolla Chris Boshier 93.00 18.00 35.00 11.00 29.00
23 8.0S WAUS AUS2443 (V)AUS2443 Chris Sutherland 97.00 14.00 14.00 8.00 61.00O
24 GER GER1789 (J)Flyer Alexander Groehlich 97.00 21.00 26.00 29.00 21.00
25 DEN DEN2425 (V)Jolly Jumper Henning Wermuth 106.00 24.00 22.00 25.00 35.00
26 UK GBR2152 (V)One Jump Ahead Mike Denham 107.00 29.00 28.00 32.00 18.00
27 NAUS AUS2238 (V)Neopnee Alan Griffith 109.00 16.00 13.00 61.00O 19.00
28 ITA ITA15 Calaf II Luca Gusmeroli 116.00 30.00 20.00 38.00 28.00
29 NAUS AUS2375 Butterfly Sandwich Brett Holly 117.00 22.00 27.00 7.00 61.00O
30 UK GBR2432 (V)Syringa Jerry Hone 121.00 25.00 25.00 47.00 24.00
31 13.0S WAUS AUS2105 (V)Mojo Greg Barrington 124.00 26.00 61.00O 24.00 13.00
32 QAUS AUS2281 Don t Know Scott McInerney 124.00 41.00 36.00 22.00 25.00
33 ITA ITA111 (V)Valiant Emilio Betta 126.00 43.00 24.00 28.00 31.00
34 QAUS AUS1364 Blubber Boy Trevor Monaghan 134.00 44.00 34.00 30.00 26.00
35 UK GBR2407 (V)RB Sport&Travel Richard Buttner 142.00 33.00 38.00 35.00 36.00
36 27.0S GER GER2235 (V)Sailoraptor Michael Koch 144.00 48.00 33.00 36.00 27.00
37 ITA ITA20 c'e le secche Antonio Martini 144.00 34.00 37.00 33.00 40.00
38 QAUS AUS225 (J)Sticky Side Up James Dahl 156.00 40.00 30.00 45.00 41.00
39 DEN DEN1628 DEN1628 Lars Bo Rasmussen 157.00 39.00 31.00 39.00 48.00
40 QAUS AUS1327 (V)BabyBoomerOnBoard Jan Mulder 158.00 32.00 42.00 41.00 43.00
41 18.0S VAUS AUS2296 Maho Matthew Kee 160.00 49.00 46.00 18.00 47.00
42 QAUS AUS1540 AUS1540 Roger Grimes 160.00 42.00 44.00 37.00 37.00
43 UK GBR2314 (V)Foxy Lady Rodger White 163.00 37.00 61.00O 31.00 34.00
44 QAUS AUS226 Gopher Shuffle Ian Bowman 165.00 31.00 39.00 43.00 52.00
45 QAUS AUS1244 Random Scott Bowman 166.00 38.00 40.00 44.00 44.00
46 UK GBR2318 (V)U-Beaut Alan Mollatt 168.00 45.00 43.00 42.00 38.00
47 UK GBR2310 (V)Mzungu Tony White 171.50 35.50 45.00 46.00 45.00
48 30.0S WAUS AUS2164 Juche' Richard Shallcross 186.00 61.00F 61.00F 34.00 30.00
49 NAUS AUS2174 The Big Kahuna David Leask 186.00 46.00 61.00O 40.00 39.00
50 GER GER2400 (W)Herz aus Gold Ann Seidel 189.00 47.00 47.00 49.00 46.00
51 ITA ITA316 MagicBoxSailingTeam Matteo Brescia 194.00 50.00 41.00 61.00F 42.00
52 NAUS AUS2338 (V)Spider Pig Peter Murphy 197.00 51.00 49.00 48.00 49.00
53 QAUS AUS1329 (V)Frantic@SupaIGA John McLean 205.00 52.00 48.00 52.00 53.00
54 QAUS AUS166 Gavin Dan Haydon 207.00 56.00 51.00 50.00 50.00
55 QAUS AUS830 Get Me A Bucket Rod Hieatt 215.00 53.00 50.00 61.00S 51.00
56 UK GBR589 Sherbet David Henshall 217.00 57.00 55.00 51.00 54.00
57 VAUS AUS232 Gogolomobile Sean Managh 223.00 54.00 52.00 61.00S 56.00
58 QAUS AUS21 Colly Wobble Tony Debney 225.00 59.00 56.00 53.00 57.00
59 CAN CAN80 (W)Sweet Pea Stephanie Mah 227.00 58.00 53.00 61.00F 55.00
60 QAUS AUS2169 (V)Carbon Credit Stephen Toms 231.00 55.00 54.00 61.00S 61.00F
Contender Worlds 2010
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