Image copyright Aron Szanto.
by Gabriella Biár
On the first race-day of the Groupama Garancia F18 Catamaran World Championship the weather made the contestants’ job so difficult. Despite the 35 knot wind (nearly 65km/h) the participants performed four races.
Image copyright Aron Szanto.
The strong wind was unsafe for the light and agile catamarans. That’s why the race delayed. An hour passed when István Hantó organizer’s team let the race start and the contestants had two super fast laps thanks to the northwestern wind. In the afternoon the wind turned to southwest, and it gave the potential for other two laps.
Image copyright Aron Szanto.
The catamarans are racing in 4 groups (by colour) on an appointed track. Two “colours” start at the same time. After the qualifying, they will be ranked to silver or golden class. Naturally, everyone wants to be in the golden group, but it’s the privilege of the bests. According to the provisional results the big names of the catamaran racing like the Dutch Mischa Heemskerk, the Australian Darren Bundock, and the Dutch Koen de Koning, who can now expect the first place thanks to his 1st, 3rd,8th,1st places.
Image copyright Aron Szanto.
Nevertheless in every other sport, there is an option to except against the result, so It takes time to ascertain the finals. Don’t forget that the race ended after 7pm, and the tired contestants ported after that.
Image copyright Aron Szanto.
Concerning the Hungarian chances the expected results realized. The Hungarian Champions of 2010, the Váradi – Petheö team finished on the 26th place, then the Diószegi – Jankovics duo stands on the 49th. The negative sensation of the day was provided by the Vándor – Kalocsai team. On the second lap they broken their mast, though it attracted the attention of the media but it ruined their race, so they are on the 90th place with the gold winner catamaran of 2009.
Image copyright Aron Szanto.
Depending on the weather, there will be races on every day of the week, so there won’t be lack of excitement. The competitors like the Lake Balaton so much, and also the strong wind whereby they can sail so fast. The spectators can admire the ships until 8th of July, the last day of the championship.
Image copyright Aron Szanto.
Image copyright Aron Szanto.
Results after Day One (top 15 places)
Sailed: 4, Discards: 1, To count: 3, Entries: 101, Scoring system: Appendix A
Rank Tally Nat Boat Class SailNo Club HelmName CrewName Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Fleet Nett
1 15 NED Nacra Inf F18 3 WSV HOORN KONING Coen de VISSER Thye 1.0 3.0 (8.0) 1.0 Green 5.0
2 6 NED Cirrus R. F18 007 Ras Al KHAMAN HEEMSKERK Mischa TENTIJ Bastiaan (3.0) 2.0 3.0 1.0 Blue 6.0
3 69 BEL C2 F18 888 OSRC BROUWER Carolijn SAMAMA Wouter 3.0 (22.0) 2.0 2.0 Green 7.0
4 90 FRA WildCat F18 9 YC CARNAC VAIREAUX Moana PETIT Romain (7.0) 1.0 5.0 2.0 Blue 8.0
5 67 AUS C2 F18 888 OSRC BUNDOCK Darren VAN LEEUWEN Jeroen 1.0 1.0 7.0 (9.0) Yellow 9.0
6 107 NED Nacra Inf F18 1910 WSV ALMERE NIEUWENHUIS Pim VAN WEST Ferdinand (16.0) 2.0 1.0 6.0 Yellow 9.0
7 88 NED Nacra Inf F18 151 ROERKONING GEIJSSEN Willem VAN ASSELT Dominique 2.0 7.0 (23.0) 4.0 Green 13.0
8 19 FRA Shockwave F18 11 SR VANNES MORVAN Francois VANDAME Matthieu 7.0 (11.0) 2.0 7.0 Red 16.0
9 27 FRA C2 F18 279 SR VANNES LE CLAINCHE Pierre JOUBERT Antoine 6.0 (10.0) 1.0 10.0 Green 17.0
10 105 FRA Phantom F18 36 SNO NANTES MOURNIAC Jean Christophe JARLEGAN Arnaud 4.0 10.0 3.0 (17.0) Red 17.0
11 53 AUS Hobie Cat Wild F18 374 RPAYC WATERHOUSE Jason MC KNIGHT Josh 4.0 (12.0)4.0
10.0 Blue 18.0
12 77 ITA WildCat F18 13 FV MALCESINE BISSARO Vittoro CESARI Lamberto 2.0 (14.0) 5.0 12.0 Yellow 19.0
13 55 GER Nacra F18 258 PYC SACH Helge SACH Christian 10.0 (15.0) 4.0 5.0 Yellow 19.0
14 16 AUS Nacra F18 F18 1978 CAIRNS YC BEATTIE Adam LEITNER Jamie 6.0 (28.0) 10.0 4.0 Blue 20.0
15 23 NED Nacra F18 1933 KZVS LARSON Gunnar FRANK Sam 5.0 (19.0) 13.0 3.0 Green 21.0
Image copyright Aron Szanto.
Image copyright Aron Szanto.
F18 Worlds
