INTERNATIONAL CLASS ASSOCIATION


Report from Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday, August 4th
X-41 World Championship had a nice start with steady wind and not too much sea. After the first day it was double Estonia in the lead, with the Finish boat Nicole 4 at third. The best Norwegian boat NOR 9 Lexington was at 4th place.

Thursday, August 5th
EST 615 Technonicol took her third win of four races and had got a good lead to the other Estonian team Forte (EST 475). Thomas Føyen and his crew on Lexington was back on third after 2nd place in race 4. The local sponsor BW Offshore with Petter Mørland Pedersen as helmsman came in as 3rd in the 4th race and climbed to the 7th place on the scoreboard.

Day 2 started better than forecasted and races started as scheduled. 4-5 m/s wind from south, and a little bit more waves than the day before. Some small adjustment on the course and the 5th race was on its way. After the 5th race one race was to be discarded.
EST 615 Technonicol with Mati Sepp as helmsman was getting a good grip on the World Championship. After winning the 5th race as well, EST 615 can discard their 6th place in the 3rd race, which left them top score of 4 out of 4 counted races.

So the battle seemed to be for 2nd and 3rd place. EST 475 with 13 in score still kept the 2nd. NOR 40 Tarpon with the former local helmsman Dag Usterud, with a 10th place to discarded, were now in 3rd place. Tarpon was tie on score with NOR 9 Lexington, both with 16 points and a second place as best. But Tarpon had a better second placement - a third in the 5th race. FIN 45 was at 5th place with 18 in score.

After yesterdays sailing with no more than two and a half minute between the first and the last boat in some races, todays racing left bigger gap in the fleet. In the 5th race the gap was about 7 minutes.

The wind was turning to the southwest, so the course had to be adjusted once more. But there were three races that day as well.

In the 3rd race at the second day of racing the wind faded out and the race had to be shortened. It was blowing about 4 m/s at the start, but after one lap the race officer decided to shorten the race.

The change in the wind conditions also made changes in the result list. The Estonian boats all droped to the second half of the list. EST 499 Premium was the best Estonian boat on 8th place, followed by Technonicol on 9th and Forte on 13th. Also FIN 45 Nicole 4 with helmsman Riku Nissilä made their worsted race so far with 14th place.

Thomas Oksmo at NOR 50 X-Effect managed the change in the conditions and won the race, with the Danish boat “Prinsesse Tordenskrald” on a well sailed second place. Then followed 5 other Norwegian teams. Terje Wang and team Gran seil made his 3rd 3rd place, Dag Usterud at Tarpon came in 4th, Team Glade moro at 5th, Etoile (NOR 36) 6th and Starfish (NOR 39) at 7th place.

At the overall list the Estonian teams Technonicol and Forte still held on to the lead. The best Norwegian boat Tarpon with Dag Usterud at 3rd place had twice as high score than Mati Sepp at the leading boat. There was a three point gap between 2nd and 3rd, between 3rd and 4th and between 4th and 5th place. And there was still 2 more days of racing to go.

The weather forecast for Friday looked good. Sunny with moderate breeze, 6 m/s steady wind from south-southwest. Typical wind for good sailing conditions at the coast of Arendal. So there was probably more fun to come.

Jarle Stokke-Olsen from Arendal Sailing Club was giving the leader a helping hand - or "helping weight". After Igor Rybakov woke up that morning with back problems, the leading team Technonicol was one man short. Jarle was in his car heading for work when the phone rang at 08.30 that morning and he was asked to substitute a sailor on the leading boat. Jarle didn’t need much time to make his decision, turn the car around and hurry back home for his sailing outfit.
 
At 9 o’cklock he entered the race office for weighing and register for ISAF classification. At 0925 he was on his way to the race course with Technonicol . And with two 1st places out of three races today, this was probably a lot better than work.
 




Report from Friday and Saturday

Friday, August 6th
Thomas Oksmo and his crew at X-Effect started today by winning again. Dag Usterud in Tarpon also made a good start on third day of racing and sailed in to second place at race 7. He was now only one point behind the Estonian boat Forte at second place overall.

Terje Wang and his team Gran sail in NOR 37 became 3rd, for the 4th time in this championship. Mati Sepp and Technonicol came in as number 5, and is still in a good lead, 6 points ahead.

Thomas Føyen got OCS, but he sailed the race and came in first with protest flag in the backstay. With a victory Team Lexington would have been on 4th place with 24 point, 2 point behind second place and 1 point behind the 3rd. Now they were in 5th place overall with 34 points.

The first start today was just a few minutes past 11. There was a general recall on today’s 2nd start and the black flag was put up for the restart. NOR 36 and NOR 66 are already out with BFD on the 8th race.

It was good conditions at the course today as well, with 7 m/s wind from the south-southwest at the fist start. The wind was gradually increasing. At the second start today it was blowing almost 9 m/s.

After 3 races on the bottom half of the scoreboard, FIN 45 Nicole was back in the top and won their second race and were climbing to 5th place overall. Dag Usterud and his crew at Tarpon crossed the finish line before EST 475 Forte and were now on second place overall with two races to go.
With 3rd place in the 8th race Mati Sepp increased the lead by 3 point and were now 9 point ahead of Tarpon and Forte. Thomas Føyen came in second place and were tie with FIN 45 and one point ahead of Thomas Oksmo. But they were 9 and 10 points behind the silver and bronce medals.

After next and the 9th race there was one more race to discard. And there was one more race today. There was also a champagne race back to the harbor with finishing line at the north end of Galtesund.

Mati Sepp took the World Championship before last day and last race of sailing. 13 points after 7 counting races and 2 discards was impressive. 5 wins, good and consistent sailing has brought EST 615 Technonicol way ahead of the rest of the competitors. With the series of 1-1-(6)-1-1-(9)-5-3-1, Technonicol and Mati Sepp has been in the lead throughout the whole Championship.
Now, the battle was for the silver and the bronze medals. NOR 9 Lexington, who protested on OSC in the 7th race, was now on 2nd place after getting RDG-1. Thomas Føyen and his crew were 3 points ahead of Dag Usterud (NOR 40 Tarpon) and Jaak Jögi EST 475 Forte. Also Riku Nissilä in FIN 45 had a fair chance of a medal. Thomas Oksmo in NOR 50 had two wins, but had spilt his changes for medals with three 10th places.

Our local team and sponsor BW Offshore with Star sailer Petter Mørland Pedersen as helmsman was fighting for a 8th place with NOR 39 Starfish and NOR 38 Team Glade Moro.

After 3 days with nice winds and good sailing conditions the Championship was close to its end. One more battle, and the medals can be handed out and it will be all over for now.
 
Saturday, August 7th
Saturday, last day of sailing and one race to go.
 
Mati Sepp and his crew at EST 615 Technonicol, were already World Champions and didn’t have to race. They were watching the race from the spectator boat. All the other boats were out there racing. But most of all, this was the battle for the silver and bronze medals. NOR 9 Lexington, NOR 40 Tarpon, EST 475 Forte and Fin 45 Nicole all had chances and were aiming for medals.
 
The wind was blowing from east at 3-4 m/s. It was a long course, and it was the final race.
 
NOR 40 Tarpon and FIN 45 Nicole made a good start. Dag Usterud sailed towards the coastline to avoid heading the costal current. And he seemed to succeed being first at the top mark, but: He tacked to early, then still tried to make the mark, but got caught in a wind still, had to struggle with the current, and lost. Tarpon had to make a jib, turn around to get enough speed for the top mark.
 
Making the mark as one of the last boats. Even though Dag Usterud and Tarpon did well from here on, they ended at 7th place. The medal chances were spoiled at the first top mark. Tarpon ended 5th overall.
 
The other three with medal chances all sail well in the last and 10th race, and got the three top places. FIN 45 Nicole, which was at 7th place overall after 7 races, won the last race.
 
And with the impressive finish 1 – 2 – 1 in the last three races, they ended as silver medalist in the Championship. NOR 9 Lexington ended 2nd in the last race and thought they were 2nd overall as well. But that was before the jury reopened the protesthearing and changed it back to OSC in the 7th race for NOR 9. A big disappointment for the Lexington team, which ended at the frustrating 4th place overall.
 
EST 475 Forte, who started so well at the Championship, ended 3rd in the final race and 3rd overall. Tied with the Finish guys, but with no wins.
 
But thè TEAM, of all teams this championship, was the team that didn't even have to race the last day. EST 615 Tecnonicol did some remarkable sailing and won the World championship 11 point ahead of silver and bronze. We’re really impressed and we congratulate you all. And to our local sailor Jarle, who probably never will forget this event, we’re proud of you and we congratulate you as World Champion as well.
 
Well it has been a memorable week, with great sailing, excellent conditions and with lots of good atmosphere. Its been great fun. We really enjoyed having you all and we hope all you sailors had a great time too. And, we wish you welcome back – some day!
 


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