Xavier Rohart and Pierre Alexis Ponsot (FRA) - winners of Race 3 of the Star Worlds 2010. Image copyright Fried Elliott/www.friedbits.com
by Lynn Fitzpatrick
Xavier Rohart and Pierre Alexis Ponsot (FRA) fought like attack dogs against a pack of 144 wolves for the choice filet mignon from Porcão. They won the pin and the left hand side of the course during the start of Race 3 of the 2010 Star World Championship in Rio de Janeiro. Renato Cunha and Marcel Mascarenhas (BRA), Iain Percy and Andrew “Bart” Simpson (GBR), Gustavo Lima and Charles Nankin (POR) and Diego Negri and Nando Colaninno (ITA) led the attempt to hunt down the French, but didn’t have the stamina to get the job done. The 2003 and 2005 Star World Champion, Rohart, and Ponsot won the light air race under cloudy skies with a margin that matched Lars Grael and Ronald Seifert’s horizon job during the final race of the 2009 Star World Championship in Varberg, Sweden.
Rohart/Ponsot have been struggling for speed for nearly a year following a cycling accident that Rohart had last spring. Said a very pleased Rohart following the race, “We worked hard for that! We were especially fast downwind.”
The key to their win was the start. Rohart commented on their determination to be at the pin during each attempted start of Race 3 in the light air and current, “Yes. We were there. There were a lot of boats down there.”
Their sensational start and great first beat up the left hand side of the course gave them a comfortable lead at the first weather mark, and they extended from there.
Percy/Simpson made good on yesterday’s promise to perform better today. With their second place finish, Percy/Simpson move to the top of the leaderboard. Alan Adler and Guilherme Alemieda (BRA) finished 11th. Their three-race total of 22 points places them 6 points behind the 2008 Olympic Gold Medalists. The Brits and Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland Pedersen (NOR) made the biggest gains at the front of the pack. The Norwegians’ fourth place finish today raises them to third overall in the regatta.
The surprises in the race came from the newcomers to Star sailing. Cunha/Mascarenhas had practice one day together and Cunha has only been in the boat this season. His advantage is that he has been a local harbor pilot for 15 years and knows what to expect during different tidal and wind conditions. The pair hung with the big boys, even during the final beat when the wind came up and all of the crews were hiking. Percy/Simpson crossed the finish line at the pin end on starboard and Cuhna/Mascarenhas dipped the Brits stern to take third place. Lima/Nankin showed remarkable poise by rounded the first weather mark in fifth place, holding on for a long while and finishing in ninth, right behind compatriots, Juan K. and Alejandro Calla (ARG).
Defending Star World Champions George Szabo and Rick Peters (USA) had their best performance thus far and finished in 10th place.
What the leaders had to say about Race 3:
Xavier Rohart (FRA) - Today’s winner and the 2003 and 2005 Star World Champion, about fighting for the pin during every one of the attempted starts
“Yes. We were there. There were a lot of boats down there.”
(They flew a protest flag throughout the race because of a port/starboard incident with another Star World Champion skipper, during the start.)
About winning in light year after a difficult year
“We worked hard for that! We were especially fast downwind.”
About the light wind conditions
“After that result, we hope that the conditions don’t change.”
Iain Percy (GBR) – 2002 Star World Champion and 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist and regatta leader
About the final run with the breeze filling in from behind and being ahead and lower than the pack that included Diego Negri and Nando Colaninno (ITA), Eivind Melleby and Peder Morland Pedersen (NOR), Gustavo Lima and Charles Nankin (POR), George Szabo and Rick Peters (USA), Flavio Marazzi and Enrico DeMaria (SUI) and a host of other strong teams
“Bart called it. He said, ”as soon as the first boat goes, we’ve got to go.”
About the conditions
“Wind like this is difficult. We have confidence in our speed when it gets windier.”
Renato Cunha and Marcos Mascarenhas (BRA) – Who crossed the finish line immediately behind Percy/Simpson. New to the Star, but an offshore sailor and match racer and a harbor pilot
About his experience in the Star
“I purchased Alan Adler’s (1989 Star World Champion’s boat) and have only sailed 20 or 22 races. “
About his experience with Rio de Janeiro’s waters
“I have been a harbor pilot here since 1996…but I know the waters inside Guanabara Bay.” (He told me more…about the surface current and the wind conditions ?).
Marcos Mascarenhas (BRA), who is crewing for Renata Cunha
About his experience
“I sailed the South American Championship with Renato. This is my second time crewing for Renato, otherwise, I have never sailed a Star. We had one day of training together. “
About his real experience
“I am an apprentice harbor pilot…” for another harbor.
Provisional Results after 3 Races
Place Boat Skipper Crew Sail #: Fleet 1 2 3 Total
1 GBR 8371 Percy Iain Simpson Andrew 8371 Sol 2.0 11.0 2.0 15
2 BRA 8210 Adler Alan Almeida Guilherme 8210 RdJ 6.0 5.0 11.0 22
3 NOR 8317 Melleby Eivind Morland Pedersen Petter 8317 Nor 9.0 10.0 4.0 23
4 SWE 8387 Loof Fredrik Tillander Johan 8387 Bk 8.0 9.0 18.0 35
5 SUI 8364 Marazzi Flavio De Maria Enrico 8364 TB 30.0 1.0 6.0 37
6 CAN 8398 Macdonald Ross Lekszycki Andre 8398 EB 10.0 13.0 14.0 37.0001
7 USA 8361 Campbell Andrew Nichol Brad 8361 SDB 12.0 3.0 24.0 39
8 ARG 8381 Kouyoumdjian Juan Colla Alejandro 8381 Lar 4.0 30.0 8.0 42
9 BRA 8283 Brun Gastao Kunze Gustavo 8283 RdJ 21.0 7.0 15.0 43
10 ITA 8266 Negri Diego Colaninno Fernando 8266 VE 23.0 18.0 5.0 46
11 GER 8378 Babendererde Johannes Jacobs Timo 8378 Moh 1.0 8.0 39.0 48
12 BRA 8397 Grael Torben Ferreira Marcelo 8397 GuB 5.0 25.0 21.0 51
13 GER 8340 Stanjek Robert Stanjek Philipp 8340 BF 14.0 12.0 27.0 53
14 BRA 6475 Mirsky Andre JORDÁO MARCELO 6475 RdJ 33.0 6.0 22.0 61
15 BRA 8392 GRAEL LARS SEIFERT RONALD 8392 Par 35.0 15.0 12.0 62
16 BRA 8145 Bodra Fabio Barbosa Lopes Arthur 8145 SP 20.0 24.0 19.0 63
17 BRA 8337 Cunha Renato Mascarenhas Marcos 8337 RdJ 34.0 27.0 3.0 64
18 CRO 8339 Lovrovic Marin Mikulicic Sinisa 8339 Kv 17.0 34.0 13.0 64.0001
19 ARG 7966 Labandeira Julio Thompson Valentin 7966 OL 15.0 26.0 23.0 64.0002
20 ITA 8155 Poggi Giampiero Corsi Manlio 8155 Rom 22.0 23.0 20.0 65
21 ARG 8211 Rigoni Alejo Percossi Juan Pablo 8211 BA 29.0 31.0 7.0 67
22 POR 8309 Domingos Afonso Melo Frederico 8309 CP 25.0 29.0 16.0 70
23 BRA 8255 SCHEIDT ROBERT PRADA BRUNO 8255 Gua 3.0 19.0 50.0 72
24 GER 8109 Polgar Johannes Koy Markus 8109 Ess 26.0 4.0 42.0 72.0001
25 IRL 8385 Treacy Max Shanks Anthony 8385 Isol 13.0 32.0 33.0 78
26 FRA 8237 Rohart Xavier Ponsot Pierre Alexis 8237 NI 66.0 14.0 1.0 81
27 USA 8267 Mendelblatt Mark Von Schwarz JOhn 8267 TaB 44.0 17.0 25.0 86
28 POR 8276 Lima Gustavo Nankin Charles 8276 Por 7.0 74.0 [BFD] 9.0 90
29 GRE 8138 Papathanasiou Emilios Papastefanou Pachos 8138 GR 16.0 49.0 30.0 95
30 GER 8140 Schlonski Alexander Kleen Frithjof 8140 Lub 24.0 2.0 74.0 [BFD] 100
31 BRA 8282 PASCOLATO ALESSANDRO Boening Henry 8282 Gua 28.0 22.0 51.0 101
32 USA 8273 Szabo George Peters Rick 8273 SDB 53.0 39.0 10.0 102
33 USA 8362 Merriman Rick Trinter Phil 8362 LH 49.0 36.0 17.0 102
34 ITA 8384 Celon Nicola Natucci Edoardo 8384 SG 41.0 21.0 43.0 105
35 BRA 8300 FICKER PETER Oliveira Ubiratan 8300 San 19.0 33.0 56.0 108
36 CRO 8280 Lovrovic Dan ARAPOVIC Antonio 8280 Kv 27.0 37.0 44.0 108
37 BRA 7590 King John A Spear Macpherson Norman 7590 Cop 11.0 56.0 45.0 112
38 GER 8299 Miller Matthias Wenk Benedikt 8299 UB 62.0 20.0 31.0 113
39 BRA 8049 Raulino Guilherme LAGOA MARCO 8049 Par 51.0 16.0 48.0 115
40 GBR 8025 Gimson John Greig Ed 8025 Sol 37.0 41.0 37.0 115
41 GBR 8396 Razmilovic Ante Hammersley Brian 8396 NB 40.0 40.0 38.0 118
42 USA 8067 HORNOS Tomas HORNOS Luis 8067 BH 39.0 48.0 32.0 119
43 ESP 8297 Echavarri Erasum Fernando Rodriguez Rivero Fernando 8297 Lar 18.0 74.0 [BFD] 29.0 121
44 CAN 8143 Cramer Brian Johnston Matt 8143 WLOC 31.0 52.0 41.0 124
45 ITA 8370 Simeone Luca La Porta Manuele 8370 Rom 42.0 62.0 36.0 140
46 BRA 8251 Conrad Reinaldo Pomerantzeff Paulo Andre 8251 San 45.0 50.0 46.0 141
47 SUI 8085 Zimmermann Lorenz Hollweg Nils 8085 LUV 56.0 60.0 26.0 142
48 ARG 7700 Della Torre Daniel Barroso Julian Gazari 7700 BA 60.0 28.0 54.0 142
49 BRA 8393 Carabelli Horacio Ilha Fernando 8393 RdJ 57.0 46.0 40.0 143
50 ITA 8242 Boggi Lucio Lambertenghi Sergio 8242 Gar 43.0 74.0 [BFD] 28.0 145
51 BRA 8391 Gonzaga Neto Admar Figueiredo De Freita Alexandre 8391 Par 46.0 47.0 52.0 145
52 ITA 7556 Fornaro Andrea Tarabella Andrea 7556 LdB 48.0 35.0 63.0 146
53 BRA 8284 Raulino Gabriel Camargo Rosas Juliano 8284 Par 59.0 54.0 35.0 148
54 ITA 8400 Santoni Silvio Toccoli Fabio 8400 NG 32.0 43.0 74.0 [BFD] 149
55 AUT 8368 Tomasini Grinover Roberto Bahr Gunnar 8368 AU 55.0 44.0 55.0 154
56 BRA 8287 Almeida Reis Luiz Andre Moura Renato 8287 Par 64.0 58.0 34.0 156
57 ARG 7909 Perez Jorge Oscar Tufarolo Marcelo 7909 OL 54.0 55.0 53.0 162
58 ARG 7777 Della Torre Gerardo Latour Guillermo 7777 BA 67.0 38.0 59.0 164
59 ITA 8383 Augelli Marco Rocca Leone 8383 FdiT 74.0 [DSQ] 42.0 49.0 165
60 GER 8016 Rauch Hubert Schappeler Ingo 8016 And 52.0 51.0 64.0 167
61 BRA 7284 Castro Cezar Montezuma Afonso 7284 Par 68.0 53.0 47.0 168
62 CHI 7972 Gimeno Pablo Calegari Frederico 7972 Val 38.0 65.0 66.0 169
63 SRB 7888 Erac Branislav Tosic Ozren 7888 Isol 47.0 66.0 57.0 170
64 USA 8279 Bonanni Claude Burgess Richard 8279 TaB 36.0 74.0 [BFD] 61.0 171
65 BRA 7441 Bueno Mauricio Zarif Jorge Joao 7441 Gua 69.0 45.0 58.0 172
66 POR 8048 De Barros Patrick M Plantier Santos Bernardo 8048 FdeL 63.0 57.0 60.0 180
67 ITA 8382 Irrera Renato Cristaldini Corrado 8382 Pal 58.0 67.0 62.0 187
68 SUI 8009 Gautschi Christoph Koenig Juerg 8009 Bod 70.0 61.0 65.0 196
69 BRA 8212 Goretkin Sergio Cruz Renato 8212 RdJ 50.0 74.0 [DSQ] 74.0 [DNS] 198
70 BRA 8117 Caruso Bruno Manzoli Bremer Rolf 8117 Gua 71.0 59.0 68.0 198
71 BRA 7823 De Almeida Joao Marcos Bunge Manuel 7823 Cop 61.0 63.0 74.0 [BFD] 198
72 ITA 7551 Graciotti Vincenzo Cisbani Paolo 7551 Con 74.0 [DNS] 64.0 67.0 205
73 BRA 7772 Siemsen Francisco Floricke Manfredo 7772 Cop 65.0 74.0 [BFD] 74.0 [BFD] 213
Star Worlds 2010
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