Please select your home edition
Edition
Maritimo 2023 S-Series LEADERBOARD

Tornado World Championship at Yacht Club de la Grande Motte - Day 2

by International Tornado Class Association 11 Jul 2018 15:41 UTC 11 July 2018
Tornado World Championship - Day 2 © Nikos Pantis

After a first day shortened in the water due to the administrative decision to secure the area for the aircraft's Patrouille de France performance in La Grande Motte sky, the 2018 Tornado World Championship was back at the end of the afternoon.

After a spectacular show the night continued on shore with a delicious Paëlla dinner, cooked by the race Committee officers and served on the terrace of the YCGM during the sunset.

Second day was a brand new day with new conditions. The sky was blue again with a strong wind coming from the north in the morning. However, during the skipper's briefing, which took place at 11:00 am, the principal race officer said it was urgent to wait, according to his weather forecast. The south thermic breeze started to blow earlier than the days before, but gradually slowed down. Being informed of the postponed time, all the competitors were waiting ashore. They were called on the water at 2:30 pm and the start was given at 3:05 pm with 12 knots of wind.

All 24 boats had a superb start. Very soon AUS 3 took the lead, with GRE 1 at the second place. After 2 laps, AUS 3 had a two minutes lead over GRE 1. Despite a very good choice with a sailing on starboard side of the beat of the third lap, GRE 1 could not gained enough distance and AUS 3 won with only a 40 meters lead. Astonished by their performance, FRA 2 took a superb third place, which was a great surprise for the French group.

During the second race of the day, the wind has lightly shifted to south east and blew stronger, about 12 to 15 knots. It was another superb start for the fleet with almost all the boats side by side very close to the line at the starting signal. The course was longer with 1,3 NM between the start and mark one. At the end of the first lap, GRE 1 rounded the starboard mark of the leeward gate leaving AUS 3 30 meters back.

During the second downwind leg, the wind decreased to 10 - 13 knots. It was more difficult for the boats to stay surfing on one hull under spinnaker. GRE 1 was much more faster than the others, and passed the leeward gate 300 meters ahead of FRA 2.

With a change of wind on the left, the course changed and again GRE 1 was the fastest, crossing the finishing line two minutes ahead of FRA 2. AUS 3 tried its best, but could never pass FRA 2 and finished 10 meters behind.

A great surprise for the day came from GER 11 in the Mixed category. Now, the youths of Estella Jentsch (16) and Daniel Brown (18) stand first in the Mixed category after scoring two fourth places yesterday.

Related Articles

Tornado Europeans in Quiberon
Yoann Trécul and Thomas Ferrand retain the title Yoann Trécul and Thomas Ferrand have once again proven their dominance in the Tornado class, securing the 2024 European Championship title in the familiar waters of Quiberon, France. Posted on 29 Sep
The oldest footage of Tornado racing
A look back into our video archive We delve into the past, and round-up all videos which show sailing in the Tornado class of catamaran. Posted on 12 May
Oldest videos of racing catamarans
We start in 1965, covering Hobie, Shearwater, Prindle and C Class, then the Worrell 1000 We delve into the past, and round-up all the videos which show racing catamarans, including Hobie cats, Shearwaters, Prindles and C Class, from the 1960s to the 90s. Plus some Worrell 1000 history. Posted on 7 Apr
UK Tornado Nationals 2023 at Minnis Bay
Unseasonably warm and fine weather for the end of September Minnis Bay Sailing Club hosted the 2023 Tornado Nationals in unseasonably warm and fine weather for the end of September. Seven Tornados rigged up on Saturday morning and waited for the wind to appear. Posted on 4 Oct 2023
Tornado Europeans at Achensee, Tyrol, Austria
A total of 25 sailors from 8 different nations came to compete for the title From July 18th to 22nd the European Championship in the boat class Tornado took place at the picturesque Achensee in Tyrol, Austria. Posted on 25 Aug 2023
Solent Forts Race 2023
Part of the Allen Endurance Series The Solent Forts Race is an annual long-distance event for catamarans and other high performance boats, run by Hayling Ferry Sailing Club from their base at the entrance to Langstone Harbour. Posted on 17 Jun 2023
Tornado Worlds at La Grande-Motte overall
Only one race possible on the final day Yesterday, Saturday September 3rd, two races were scheduled. Unfortunately, the wind conditions meant that only one race could be run before 3pm. As explained in the previous press release, no start could be made after this time. Posted on 4 Sep 2022
Tornado Worlds at La Grande-Motte day 4
Only one race was run Friday 09/2/2022, only one race was run today out of the 2 planned. Posted on 3 Sep 2022
Tornado Worlds at La Grande-Motte day 3
Two more races held at La Grande Motte Still under the direction of the President of the International Race Committee Paul Bastard, two more races on the program for the third day of the Tornado World Championships. Posted on 30 Aug 2022
Tornado Worlds at La Grande-Motte day 1
30 cats from 10 different nationalities taking part Since this Saturday, August 27, the YCGM is organizing the Tornado Worlds. This former Olympic Catamaran class is honoured this year in La Grande-Motte. About thirty boats are present at the club and among them, more than 10 different nationalities. Posted on 30 Aug 2022
Maritimo 2023 S600 FOOTERSavvy Navvy 2024