Marazzi & De Maria Win Race 2 of Star Worlds

by Lynn Fitzpatrick

Flavio Marazzi and Enrico de Maria (SUI) are a step closer to their dream after winning Race 2 of the 2010 Star World Championship. With everyone starting conservatively, the Swiss positioned themselves in a line sag during the start under the black flag and had clear air during the first beat. Their start did not win them the race, but it put them among the leaders at the first windward mark.

Marazzi/DeMaria and Alexander Schlonski and Frithjof Kleen (GER) made their gains during the second beat and Marazzi/DeMaria stepped into the lead. They extended during the remaining windward-leeward while Schlonski/Kleen mixed it up with Alan Adler and Guiherme Almeida (BRA), Andrew Campbell and Brad Nichol (USA) and Jojo Polgar and Markus Koy (GER). Schlonski/Kleen edged out Campbell/Nichol on the finish line to take second and third place, respectively.

With today’s eighth place finish, Johannes Babenderede and Timo Jacobs (GER) remain low point in the regatta. Two points back are Adler/Guiherme, who have shown consistency during the first two days of sailing. They followed yesterday’s sixth place finish with a fifth today. Olympic Gold Medalists, Iain Percy and Andrew Bart Simpson (GBR) are two points behind Adler/de Almedia and are in third place overall with 13 points. Andrew Campbell and Brad Nichol (USA) moved into fourth place overall by passing boats on the final beat and pulling into third at the finish line.

Out on the ocean, the wind was light and the current was strong enough to push the stern of the race committee boat upwind. The 73-boat fleet got off to a clean start under the black flag. According to Adler who rounded the weather mark first, “We saw a left shift two minutes before the start and moved down the line. We went left too hard. We were so far ahead and lost so much, because we overstood the windward mark.” More than half of the fleet overstood the port tack layline to the mark.

Marazzi/DeMaria, Polgar/Koy and Adler/Guilherme went down the run in different lanes, and as they approached the first leeward gate, Marazzi/DeMaria crossed behind the other two leaders. Schlonski/Frithjof Kleen, Percy/Simpson, Campbell/Nichol, Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland Pedersen (NOR) and Gastao Brun and Gustavo Kunze (BRA) were intent on climbing to the front. Said Babandererde, "We overtook boats on the 2nd upwind leg. We did not go left like the others because there was less wind there. We caught Iain Percy on the second run because he had a problem with the jib. From then on we shortened the distance to the leaders, but there were no gains to be made."

The white caps made random appearances during the final beat and the leading edge of an offshore cloud that had had a defined edge all afternoon finally became ragged.

It was a race to the finish for the top seven boats and Andrew Campbell, who came out of the fray with a third place finish for the day described the top-place American team’s final beat, “We went to the right gate and made a big gain immediately. We split with the four boats ahead of us and caught three of them. We sailed to the right of the group and knew that we had to catch Alan Adler on boat speed.”

On a sad note, Marcoa Lagoa (BRA) was taken to the hospital after a shackle on a lifting bridle failed and the boat fell off of the hoist.Logoa's toes were injured and the boat was damaged.

What They Had to Say – Race 2

Flavio Marazzi (SUI) after his first place finish in Race 2

“We are a lot happier than we were yesterday. Yesterday we wanted too much and our second start was bad.”

On their starting strategy

“Everyone was very careful during the last start and was holding back. We thought that there would be a sag in the line toward the windward end. We started about 1/3 of the way down the line. There was a little risk, and at the start we were still one boat length behind the line.”

On taking the lead

“In the middle of the second beat we tacked one more time to the left and went behind JoJo and Alan Adler. We got a bit more pressure and were able to pass them.”

Johannes Babendererde (GER) upon learning that he still leads the regatta

"We are quite happy to have had a good race. Our goal for the day was to be in the top 15."

Recapping today's race

"We overtook boats on the 2nd upwind leg. We did not go left like the others because there was less wind there. We caught Iain Percy on the second run because he had a problem with the jib. From then on we shortened the distance to the leaders, but there were no gains to be made."

On today's performance of the German team

"It is normally the first race that is a good race for the Germans. Today was a German day."

Alan Adler (BRA) who is in second place overall with 11 points

On being at the top of the leaderboard at a Star World Championship

With a roll of his eyes and a laugh, “I’ve seen this movie before.” Adler won the 1989 Star World Championship and was second in the 1994 Star World Championship

On sailing outside of Guanabara Bay

“We don’t sail outside very often because it is far and not as interesting. We always sail there during the Worlds and sometimes during the South American Championships. Inside the Bay is much more fun.”

On his start and first leg

“We saw a left shift two minutes before the start and moved down the line and went left too hard. We were so far ahead and lost so much because we overstood the windward mark.”

Andrew Campbell (USA), who was third in the race and fourth overall

On today’s sailing conditions

“It was light and lumpy, something like San Diego, but there was more current than we are used to.

On their gains made during the final beat

“We went to the right gate and made a big gain immediately. We split with the four boats ahead of us and caught three of them. We sailed to the right of the group and knew that we had to catch Alan Adler on boat speed.”

About being the top North American

“We just keep showing up.”

Iain Percy (GBR) who is in third place after today’s 11th place finish after equipment difficulties during a run and a practice session following today’s race

On today’s performance

“Today was a missed opportunity. We’ll come back tomorrow.”

Results after Race 2

Place Boat Skipper Crew Sail #: Fleet 1 2 Total

1 GER 8378 Babendererde Johannes Jacobs Timo 8378 Moh 1.0 8.0 9
2 BRA 8210 Adler Alan Almeida Guilherme 8210 RdJ 6.0 5.0 11
3 GBR 8371 Percy Iain Simpson Andrew 8371 Sol 2.0 11.0 13
4 USA 8361 Campbell Andrew Nichol Brad 8361 SDB 12.0 3.0 15
5 SWE 8387 Loof Fredrik Tillander Johan 8387 Bk 8.0 9.0 17
6 NOR 8317 Melleby Eivind Morland Pedersen Petter 8317 Nor 9.0 10.0 19
7 BRA 8255 SCHEIDT ROBERT PRADA BRUNO 8255 Gua 3.0 19.0 22
8 CAN 8398 Macdonald Ross Lekszycki Andre 8398 EB 10.0 13.0 23
9 GER 8140 Schlonski Alexander Kleen Frithjof 8140 Lub 24.0 2.0 26
10 GER 8340 Stanjek Robert Stanjek Philipp 8340 BF 14.0 12.0 26.0001
11 BRA 8283 Brun Gastao Kunze Gustavo 8283 RdJ 21.0 7.0 28
12 GER 8109 Polgar Johannes Koy Markus 8109 Ess 26.0 4.0 30
13 BRA 8397 Grael Torben Ferreira Marcelo 8397 GuB 5.0 25.0 30.0001
14 SUI 8364 Marazzi Flavio De Maria Enrico 8364 TB 30.0 1.0 31
15 ARG 8381 Kouyoumdjian Juan Colla Alejandro 8381 Lar 4.0 30.0 34
16 BRA 6475 Mirsky Andre JORDÁO MARCELO 6475 RdJ 33.0 6.0 39
17 ARG 7966 Labandeira Julio Thompson Valentin 7966 OL 15.0 26.0 41
18 ITA 8266 Negri Diego Colaninno Fernando 8266 VE 23.0 18.0 41.0001
19 BRA 8145 Bodra Fabio Barbosa Lopes Arthur 8145 SP 20.0 24.0 44
20 IRL 8385 Treacy Max Shanks Anthony 8385 Isol 13.0 32.0 45
21 ITA 8155 Poggi Giampiero Corsi Manlio 8155 Rom 22.0 23.0 45.0001
22 BRA 8392 GRAEL LARS SEIFERT RONALD 8392 Par 35.0 15.0 50
23 BRA 8282 PASCOLATO ALESSANDRO Boening Henry 8282 Gua 28.0 22.0 50.0001
24 CRO 8339 Lovrovic Marin Mikulicic Sinisa 8339 Kv 17.0 34.0 51
25 BRA 8300 FICKER PETER Oliveira Ubiratan 8300 San 19.0 33.0 52
26 POR 8309 Domingos Afonso Melo Frederico 8309 CP 25.0 29.0 54
27 ARG 8211 Rigoni Alejo Percossi Juan Pablo 8211 BA 29.0 31.0 60
28 USA 8267 Mendelblatt Mark Von Schwarz JOhn 8267 TaB 44.0 17.0 61
29 BRA 8337 Cunha Renato Mascarenhas Marcos 8337 RdJ 34.0 27.0 61.0001
30 ITA 8384 Celon Nicola Natucci Edoardo 8384 SG 41.0 21.0 62
31 CRO 8280 Lovrovic Dan ARAPOVIC Antonio 8280 Kv 27.0 37.0 64
32 GRE 8138 Papathanasiou Emilios Papastefanou Pachos 8138 GR 16.0 49.0 65
33 BRA 7590 King John A Spear Macpherson Norman 7590 Cop 11.0 56.0 67
34 BRA 8049 Raulino Guilherme LAGOA MARCO 8049 Par 51.0 16.0 67.0001
35 ITA 8400 Santoni Silvio Toccoli Fabio 8400 NG 32.0 43.0 75
36 GBR 8025 Gimson John Greig Ed 8025 Sol 37.0 41.0 78
37 FRA 8237 Rohart Xavier Ponsot Pierre Alexis 8237 NI 66.0 14.0 80
38 GBR 8396 Razmilovic Ante Hammersley Brian 8396 NB 40.0 40.0 80.0001
39 POR 8276 Lima Gustavo Nankin Charles 8276 Por 7.0 74.0 [BFD] 81
40 GER 8299 Miller Matthias Wenk Benedikt 8299 UB 62.0 20.0 82
41 CAN 8143 Cramer Brian Johnston Matt 8143 WLOC 31.0 52.0 83
42 ITA 7556 Fornaro Andrea Tarabella Andrea 7556 LdB 48.0 35.0 83.0001
43 USA 8362 Merriman Rick Trinter Phil 8362 LH 49.0 36.0 85
44 USA 8067 HORNOS Tomas HORNOS Luis 8067 BH 39.0 48.0 87
45 ARG 7700 Della Torre Daniel Barroso Julian Gazari 7700 BA 60.0 28.0 88
46 ESP 8297 Echavarri Erasum Fernando Rodriguez Rivero Fernando 8297 Lar 18.0 74.0 [BFD] 92
47 USA 8273 Szabo George Peters Rick 8273 SDB 53.0 39.0 92.0001
48 BRA 8391 Gonzaga Neto Admar Figueiredo De Freita Alexandre 8391 Par 46.0 47.0 93
49 BRA 8251 Conrad Reinaldo Pomerantzeff Paulo Andre 8251 San 45.0 50.0 95
50 AUT 8368 Tomasini Grinover Roberto Bahr Gunnar 8368 AU 55.0 44.0 99
51 CHI 7972 Gimeno Pablo Calegari Frederico 7972 Val 38.0 65.0 103
52 BRA 8393 Carabelli Horacio Ilha Fernando 8393 RdJ 57.0 46.0 103
53 GER 8016 Rauch Hubert Schappeler Ingo 8016 And 52.0 51.0 103
54 ITA 8370 Simeone Luca La Porta Manuele 8370 Rom 42.0 62.0 104
55 ARG 7777 Della Torre Gerardo Latour Guillermo 7777 BA 67.0 38.0 105
56 ARG 7909 Perez Jorge Oscar Tufarolo Marcelo 7909 OL 54.0 55.0 109
57 USA 8279 Bonanni Claude Burgess Richard 8279 TaB 36.0 74.0 [BFD] 110
58 BRA 8284 Raulino Gabriel Camargo Rosas Juliano 8284 Par 59.0 54.0 113
59 BRA 7441 Bueno Mauricio Zarif Jorge Joao 7441 Gua 69.0 45.0 114
60 SRB 7888 Erac Branislav Tosic Ozren 7888 Isol 47.0 67.0 114
61 ITA 8383 Augelli Marco Rocca Leone 8383 FdiT 74.0 [DSQ] 42.0 116
62 BRA 8212 Goretkin Sergio Cruz Renato 8212 RdJ 50.0 66.0 116
63 SUI 8085 Zimmermann Lorenz Hollweg Nils 8085 LUV 56.0 60.0 116
64 ITA 8242 Boggi Lucio Lambertenghi Sergio 8242 Gar 43.0 74.0 [BFD] 117
65 POR 8048 De Barros Patrick M Plantier Santos Bernardo 8048 FdeL 63.0 57.0 120
66 BRA 7284 Castro Cezar Montezuma Afonso 7284 Par 68.0 53.0 121
67 BRA 8287 Almeida Reis Luiz Andre Moura Renato 8287 Par 64.0 58.0 122
68 BRA 7823 De Almeida Joao Marcos Bunge Manuel 7823 Cop 61.0 63.0 124
69 ITA 8382 Irrera Renato Cristaldini Corrado 8382 Pal 58.0 68.0 126
70 BRA 8117 Caruso Bruno Manzoli Bremer Rolf 8117 Gua 71.0 59.0 130
71 SUI 8009 Gautschi Christoph Koenig Juerg 8009 Bod 70.0 61.0 131
72 ITA 7551 Graciotti Vincenzo Cisbani Paolo 7551 Con 74.0 [DNS] 64.0 138
73 BRA 7772 Siemsen Francisco Floricke Manfredo 7772 Cop 65.0 74.0 [BFD] 139

Star Worlds 2010