A Class Cat World Championships at Centro Velico Punta Ala

A Class Cat World Championships at Centro Velico Punta Ala - Day 2

by Gordon Upton 11 Sep 09:33 UTC

If Monday was the sailor's day of nightmares, then Tuesday was their day of dreams.

The traumatic events of yesterday, with that swell, that chop and that wind were now but a distant memory. The second day of the A-Cat Worlds dawned bright. Not that that says anything, as everyday has been dawning bright since we all got here. The carbon epoxy sandwich repairs, expertly done by the Scheuer nightshift crew had cured and just needed a bit of sanding. Rudder winglets refitted or replaced, most were able to put to sea again and sail the three scheduled races required to bring the series back on track.

Everyone, as usual now, was waiting on the beach, sails neatly rolled to await the flag message went you the Race Officers to say they were in position, conditions were acceptable, and racing was going to happen. The signal given, the whole beach, and 180 A-Cat sailors, and willing/unwilling helpers sprang into action. Sails pushed up masts - for the uninitiated, the A-Class Cat usually has no sail halyard, and the sail has a stiff plastic boltrope, so are pushed up until their head ring engages the mast head hook with a satisfying click. A quick little tug down proved it was properly engaged. All rigged, checklist completed, harnesses adjusted, gloves and helmets on, time to go racing.

Kuba Surowiec racing hard and fast to retain his World Title - A Class Cat Worlds at Punta Ala day 2 - photo © Gordon Upton / www.guppypix.com

At the race areas, the boats start to assemble. Open Foilers again had the North course, Classics to the South, with a decent separation between, so no stragglers and get lost. Once the Race Officer was happy with this mark positions, it was finally flag waving time.

On the Open course boats cruised or just sat patiently floating. Their warn-ups usually done on the mile trip out to the start area. Into the traditional 5-4-1 Go sequence and a wall of A-Cat sails, nearly half a kilometre long, launched forward at 15 + knots toward the top mark. You can see this nicely on their trackers on https://www.metasail.com/incoming/612/ I really recommend watching, it's a great education for us mere mortals.

Robin Maeder is the Swiss Champ (he is heroically burning the midnight oil as the fleet repair man) - A Class Cat Worlds at Punta Ala day 2 - photo © Gordon Upton / www.guppypix.com

At the top mark, ten minutes later, it was Mischa Heemskerk, NED 007 rounding first, and chased by Darren Bundock, AUS88 and with a little chasing pack of Stevie Brewin AUS 4, Manolo Calavia ESP 11, Ravi Parent USA 76, and tailed by Kuba Surowiec POL 41. Then was a bit of a gap until the second band of sailors arrives. The sea was nice and bumpy, maybe a foot or two of chop, with the winds, now at about 10 kts, adding a little more. Just enough for the sailors to enjoy the way an A-Cat hull knifes through the wave and water with supreme elegance.

The downwind chase was on, 20+ knots, boats fully powered up, steering and sheeting to keep the boats driving forward on their foils. It's a real workout foiling these boats. They are not like Moths, they have no nice little wand to control the ride height, only the sailor's skill in board rake settings and their body position, coupled with judicious tiller control and sheet adjustment to balance the whole system.

The Classic fleet round the top spreader on the first lap, race 3 - A Class Cat Worlds at Punta Ala day 2 - photo © Gordon Upton / www.guppypix.com

Mischa was the first to gybe off, but the others stuck with that original line before gybing a few minutes later. Mischa must have seen a patch of better pressure on the right. When he gybed back and blasted down at 25kts to the bottom gate to go back upwind on the left, he rounded a goo 100m ahead of the pack. Back at the top it was still Mischa doggedly followed by Bundy. The Mischa Masterclass finished as he crossed the line with Bundy next, then a very close finish for third with Manolo just pipping Kuba, much to his Catalonian delight. Ravi then beat Stevie with 5th and 6th

In the next band, and it interesting that these 'bands' form and clear watching the trackers, Bruce Mahoney USA 311 put in a superb race in a 7th and David Brewer AUS 20 a great 8th.

The next race was readied in good time by the Race officer. The main delay looks to be caused by waiting for the tail enders to finish. Even if they then get timed out, they are still on the course and the Race Officer can't adjust any course marks until the pass them. Discussion has been had about the Grand Prix finish, whereby everyone ends the lap they are on after the winner crosses the line. The positions for lapped boats calculated on lap times taken on committee boats. Of course, it is important then to accurately record those times, but the sailors would really appreciate this I feel. In the case here, as Mischa finished, many boats were still yet to reach their bottom marks and rounded up on their final laps. At least the GP finish would reduce that extra slower sailor lap time being added to the waiting times.

Half a kilometre of cat sail - A Class Cat Worlds at Punta Ala day 2 - photo © Gordon Upton / www.guppypix.com

Open Race 3 got off cleanly, and it's amazing how a massive 80-boat fleet can be got away cleanly, and it's a real credit to the sailing discipline of the sailors. Good start for pin end Kuba, Mischa less so being caught further back, Bundy also go good clean wind, but Ravi tacked away early to try and get out of the wall of turbulence (Great name for a band that - Wall Of Turbulence, you can thank me later) caused by being mid line. The pressure looked to be more on the right this race, and many tried that side. Kuba went for the middle and was absolutely blasting upwind as a result, ducking Ravi at the lay line before his tack to the top mark. A slight header deprived Ravi of laying the top from his lay line tack, so leaving him short and needing another tack to get across. He then joined Kuba at the mark, just in time to see Bundy round it in his usual effortless splayfooted relaxed style and cruise off past the spreader in the lead.

But Kuba and Mischa engaged full reheat and caught him halfway down the leg. Kuba looked particularly fast, sailing as smoothly as ever. Mischa just looks powerful, and it dictates his sailing style. He makes the boat bend to his will. But watching the pair, I'm really reminded of the great Mischa/Ashby races of the 2015 and 2018 World days, and I'm looking forward to seeing more this week!

Kiwi Champ Dave Shaw going well despite a damaged main foil - A Class Cat Worlds at Punta Ala day 2 - photo © Gordon Upton / www.guppypix.com

At the blue flags, it was Kuba, only he was followed by the ever-present spectre of Bundy in second, having caught and passed Mischa at the bottom mark on lap 2. Ravi still haunted Mischa him too and by now Manolo had gotten into the fight as well. The finish was Kuba, Bundy, Ravi, Manolo and Mischa. This is rather fun! And a little further down the fleets, epic battles were being engaged. Lamberto Cesare ITA 13 was having a good battle with Bruce Mahoney, Emmanuel Dode FRA 2, and Abdon Ibanez ESP 74.

However, I am always amazed at how few sailors actually check behind themselves near the finish. If they did, they'd see another competitor rapidly closing in on them. Time after time we witnessed places changing on the finish line, places that could possibly have been defended with a little tactical forthought? But, again, such fun!

Meanwhile over on the Classic course in the beautiful South area, the sailors were having an equally great time in their Prosecco sailing conditions. The previous day had wrought havoc amongst the usual expected positions, with some top sailors well down the field. One such was last year's silver medallist Gustavo Doreste ESP 72. Being unable/unwilling to cope in that Southern Ocean conditions, he'd retired to fight another day, realising descension and valour are linked. Today he started making amends, gaining all three bullets.

US Champ Bruce Mahoney is having a good regatta - A Class Cat Worlds at Punta Ala day 2 - photo © Gordon Upton / www.guppypix.com

However, his nearest championship rivals hung on yesterday, scoring points in single figures, so unless something happens, breakage, OCS or whatever, all possible scenarios, he does have a struggle. That lovable old Pole, Jacek Noetzel POL1, the wily old wolf Scotty Anderson AUS 31 and that outback beef farmer Andrew Landenberger AUS 308 are all at the top, separated by a point each. This one could also be close.

But I will leave you with the words of that wonderful quiet reflective Scots bard, Hugh MacGregor GBR 18, who is happily sitting in 14th place

He says 'Now that was fun, slowly building all day from about 10 to 16 knots, water a bit flatter than yesterday but finishing up about where yesterday started. No real pattern to the course, either side or even the middle sometimes paid off, just put the penny in the slot, pull the lever, and see what you get. First race I went right up the second beat and lost about 10 places, but mostly it was pretty even. Today's third race got a blinding start and ended up coming into the first windward mark third, just behind Gustavo (Second last year) and Landy (2 times world champ), who'd both gone further left, and just in front of Scotty (current world champ), who'd gone right. It was a moment of sheer bliss, could have just peeled of and put my boat on the trailer happy, just glorious to see all the fleet spread out on the beat. Alas, am in pretty good shape upwind, but today was a perfect day for pushing wild downwind, a gear I don't have with the venerable Tool, so usually lost 4 or 5 places each run.

But damn, what a day to be on the water, can't think I've enjoyed a day of racing more, ever.'

Today, we rinse and repeat.

Giorgio Lais, hotdogging the finish - A Class Cat Worlds at Punta Ala day 2 - photo © Gordon Upton / www.guppypix.com

Classic Fleet Results after day 2:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	Pts	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	POL 1	Jacek NOETZEL	POL	11	1	3	4	3
2	AUS 308	Andrew LANDENBERGER	NESC	12	3	2	5	2
3	AUS 31	John Scott ANDERSON	Saratoga Sailing Club	13	2	5	2	4
4	FRA 399	Emmanuel le CHAPELIER	CNF	30	5	9	8	8
5	ESP 38	Andrés GRAU	RCNB	32	10	6	6	10
6	ITA 007	Alessandro ROSI	52	32	7	10	9	6
7	ITA 55	Marco RADMAN	Centro Vela Sunset	36	4	11	7	14
8	GER 121	Moritz WEIS	SVS	40	14	7	10	9
9	ISV 15	Chris BATCHELOR	ISV	58	24	14	13	7
10	ESP 52	Jose A LOPEZ	Trial Club Maritim Barcelona	59	47	4	3	5
11	ITA 75	Francesco MAINERO	Associazione velica Senigallia	65	11	31	12	11
12	ESP 7	Micky TODD	CAR	67	14	19	16	18
13	ITA 15	Andrea RUFFINI	1332	68	9	18	21	20
14	GBR 18	Hugh MACGREGOR	Largs Sailing Club	74	19	22	17	16
15	GER 100	Christian STOCK	SVS	82	36	13	14	19
16	FRA 9	Florent DARGES	STE NAUTIQUE DE LARMOR PLAGE	82	23	20	24	15
17	ITA 5	Manuel VACCARI	CVOrta	84	18	26	19	21
18	AUS 63	Mark GRIFFITH	rpayc	86	22	24	18	22
19	ITA 70	Alberto MAGNI	Ragnavela	90	16	12	31	31
20	ESP 72	Gustavo DORESTE BLANCO	8021	92	89	1	1	1
21	USA 165	Bob WEBBON	Upper Keys Sailing Club	98	32	15	25	26
22	POL 120	Valdek KWASNIEWSKI	UKS Navigo	100	12	41	23	24
23	USA 99	Ben HALL	N/A	103	29	16	26	32
24	ITA 175	Francesco BINDI	Club velico Marina di Pietrasanta	105	25	37	20	23
25	ITA 7	Stefano SIRRI	335	115	27	27	32	29
26	ESP 29	Francisco Javier ACOSTA MEDINA	Club Náutico de Torre del Mar	116	30	30	29	27
27	SUI 44	Mathieu VERRIER	SIMPL	120	89	8	11	12
28	FRA 322	Daniel MOYSE	YACHT CLUB DE TOULON	122	31	25	33	33
29	ITA 99	Marco GAETI	161	124	15	34	45	30
30	AUS 11	Wayne MERCER	BYS	129	28	32	30	39
31	USA 007	Mike KRANTZ	Lake Lanier Sailing Club	133	17	36	28	52
32	GER 31	Lars BUNKENBURG	TSVH	134	89	17	15	13
33	AUS 27	William MICHIE	RRS&RC	140	46	23	27	44
34	FRA 88	Bertrand ARHAN	AK	147	20	50	39	38
35	ITA 118	Andrea EUSEBI	Ragn'a Vela	153	44	29	35	45
36	SWE 59	Alberto FARNESI	Loftahammar	161	21	89	34	17
37	AUS 9	John DOWLING	Multihull Yacht Club of Queensland	163	49	44	36	34
38	FRA 300	Laurent STEPHANY	S05	165	26	63	41	35
39	GBR 72	Owen COX	Bala sailing club	167	13	54	58	42
40	FRA 26	Girardin ERIC	CNHS	169	35	40	43	51
41	ITA 80	Claudio MASCIULLO	1774	170	38	45	44	43
42	USA 4	Bobby ORR	West River Sailing Club Maryland USA	180	39	48	46	47
43	FRA 459	Pierrick PEDRON	CVM	186	42	42	56	46
44	FRA 525	Bernard SALARINO	YACHT CLUB DE TOULON	187	89	35	38	25
45	BEL 331	Marc van CUTSEM	RBSC	192	89	38	37	28
46	BEL 87	Walter GONZALEZ	SNEH	193	52	53	47	41
47	ITA 777	Marco PUPPO	3	195	33	66	48	48
48	GER 548	Norbert BAUER	TSVH	208	89	39	40	40
49	USA 192	Ken MARSHACK	Upper Keys Sailing CLub	212	89	33	53	37
50	FRA 564	Stéphan MAÎTREHENRY	Ecole de Voile Municipale du Lavandou	212	34	56	59	63
51	NZL 2025	Brent HARSANT	NZ	212	55	52	50	55
52	SUI 56	Bruno BIEDERMANN	RVS	213	89	46	42	36
53	ITA 29	Massimiliano BRACCI	Associazione velica senigallia	215	53	49	60	53
54	ESP 23	Virgilio BERMEJO VIVO	648	218	41	59	62	56
55	FRA 436	Eric BERNARD	CLUB VOILE DE SANGUINET	228	89	28	22	89
56	ITA 261	Maurizio BINDI	CVMP	229	48	43	49	89
57	AUS 335	Benn HOOPER	McCrae Yacht Club	232	56	69	57	50
58	GER 73	Gino SIMEN	SLRV	237	43	71	65	58
59	ITA 43	Giacomo POLI	113	238	51	47	51	89
60	ESP 8	Raúl FRANCO	Club Náutico Puerto Sherry	241	37	61	54	89
61	ITA 313	Giancarlo de MARINIS	161	246	89	51	52	54
62	ITA 330	Giorgio MURNIK	161	249	54	70	64	61
63	GER 83	Thorsten ZARSKE	WSGR	260	89	57	55	59
64	ITA 356	Roberto AGNOLI	107	261	89	62	61	49
65	ITA 95	Marco BALDINI	CVA	263	40	68	66	89
66	GER 342	Jan Hagen VOIGT	WSCG	268	57	65	89	57
67	ESP 777	Juan MURO	Club Náutico Marítimo de Benalmádena	272	58	75	72	67
68	NED 3	Sjoerd HOEKSTRA	WSVL	273	6	89	89	89
69	USA 310	Haywood COPE	gulfport	275	8	89	89	89
70	ARG 6	Daniel STEIN	El AGUILA	276	59	76	73	68
71	ITA 11	Matteo BETTUZZI	Circolo Velico Rio Pircio	276	89	60	63	64
72	ITA 171	Giulio Marco DOMIZI	Ragn'a Vela	282	89	64	67	62
73	GER 2	Georg REUTTER	TSVH	288	89	21	89	89
74	ITA 733	Francesco JACOBINO	2435	290	89	73	68	60
75	AUS 1011	Dave RICHARDSON	Bendigo Yacht Club	295	50	67	89	89
76	GER 43	Jens KRAUSS	SV BIBLIS	297	89	74	69	65
77	AUS 95	Robert GRIFFITS	LMYC	301	89	72	71	69
78	USA 2020	Emmanuel CERF	SPYC	318	89	89	74	66
79	BEL 63	Eric MEERT	RBSC	322	89	55	89	89
80	ITA 58	Claudio BELLI	Compagnia della vela di Roma	325	89	58	89	89
81	ITA 77	Massimo CARPINELLI	Centro Vela Sunset	337	89	89	70	89
82	BEL 104	Hervé JACOBS	RBSC	356	89	89	89	89
82	BEL 17	Astrid JANSSENS	ZVDR	356	89	89	89	89
82	BEL 7	Serge de BLOCK	SNEH	356	89	89	89	89
82	BEL 70	Francois LAMBOTTE	SNEH	356	89	89	89	89
82	FRA 367	Jacques PIALLAT	YCGM	356	89	89	89	89
82	GBR 8	Richard John EDWARDS	GWSC	356	89	89	89	89
82	ITA 16	Davide LEARDINI	/XI	356	89	89	89	89

Foiling Fleet Results after day 2:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	Pts	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	POL 41	Jakub SUROWIEC	UKS Navigo	8	1	4	1	2
2	AUS 88	Darren BUNDOCK	SSC	9	4	2	2	1
3	NED 007	Mischa HEEMSKERK	WVIJ	15	3	1	5	6
4	USA 76	Ravi PARENT	New York Yacht Club	16	5	5	3	3
5	AUS 4	Steven Norman BREWIN	kcc	18	2	6	6	4
6	ESP 11	Manuel CALAVIA	Real Club Marítimo Barcelona	21	9	3	4	5
7	USA 311	Bruce MAHONEY	Mahoney Projects	30	8	7	8	7
8	FRA 2	Emmanuel DODE	SOCIETE DES REGATES DE VANNES	38	6	10	11	11
9	ITA 13	Lamberto CESARI	Centro Nautico Bardolino	42	7	16	9	10
10	DEN 1	Thomas PAASCH	Middelfart Sejlklub	55	17	9	14	15
11	AUS 20	David BREWER	Safety Beach S.C	56	11	8	21	16
12	ITA 71	Marco ANESSI	420	58	14	14	18	12
13	ESP 74	Abdon IBAÑEZ	46995	67	37	11	10	9
14	AUS 22	Joseph RANDALL	McCrae Yacht Club	67	23	18	13	13
15	ITA 3	Paolo PENCO	40120	72	18	16	17	21
16	ESP 75	Toni BALLESTER MARTINAVARRO	46021	77	24	22	12	19
17	NED 28	Pieterjan DWARSHUIS	WVF	85	31	12	24	18
18	GER 14	Bob BAIER	SCFF	90	21	28	19	22
19	ITA 72	Giuseppe COLOMBO	Unione Velica Maccagno	98	35	31	15	17
20	NED 96	Gert‑Jan KOS	HELLE	99	15	23	40	21
21	FIN 1	Matti NIEMINEN	TPS	101	29	27	22	23
22	ITA 969	Giovanni FANTASIA	437	104	13	30	26	35
23	SUI 307	Loïc DONY	CNB	105	12	40	28	25
24	SUI 007	Robin MAEDER	CNB	114	10	37	38	29
25	DEN 3	Jan SAUGMANN	Hellerup Sejlklub	125	33	36	25	31
26	ITA 023	Paolo MANGIALARDO	club vela Portocivitanova	126	28	43	29	26
27	NZL 270	Dave SHAW	NYC	127	86	26	7	8
28	DEN 20	Peter BOLDSEN	Egå Sejlklub	127	34	33	32	28
29	ITA 54	Luigi CAMISOTTI	1. SVG E.V.	133	25	35	37	36
30	GER 41	Alex MEISTER	STM	134	43	34	30	27
31	GER 6	Rainer BOHRER	TSVU	138	36	29	31	42
32	NED 111	David van AART	HELLE	140	19	44	39	38
33	DEN 8	Christian NYGAARD	Middelfart Sejlklub	141	22	38	41	40
34	CZE 1	Vladislav PTASNIK	YK Jestrabi	142	30	42	36	34
35	ESP 93	Rafeta GOMEZ POLO	46015	148	86	25	23	14
36	USA 37	Michael CHRISTENSEN	SSS	151	26	52	34	39
37	DEN 27	Frederik STAGE‑NIELSEN	Aarhus Sejlklub	157	40	19	50	48
38	ITA 46	Mirco MAZZINI	151 H2O sport	165	27	45	47	46
39	GER 95	Roeland WENTHOLT	HELLE	166	38	32	49	47
40	SUI 14	Riccardo GIULIANO	CVLL	167	86	17	27	37
41	USA 294	Richard STEVENS	LLSC	170	41	53	44	32
42	SUI 781	Benjamin OUDOT	Club Nautique de Bevaix	173	86	21	33	33
43	USA 320	Bailey WHITE	LLSC	175	16	20	53	86
44	SUI 278	Philippe JACOT	CNB	176	46	86	20	24
45	GER 85	Guido SCHULTE	SLRV	189	51	41	46	51
46	ITA 162	Daniel PASCUCCI	410	189	42	51	52	44
47	NED 44	Wiro ZIJLMANS	HELLE	192	32	46	61	53
48	AUS 1087	Stuart SCOTT	Safety Beach Sailing Club Victoria Australia	193	86	24	42	41
49	NED 33	Thijs VISSER	aruba beach cats	202	86	13	17	86
50	GER 21	Marco GOETZ	BYC	207	60	50	45	52
51	NED 12	Eric LAMPIER	HELLE	210	48	49	57	56
52	ARG 500	Axel ISSEL	Upper Keys Sailing Club	211	45	56	55	55
53	GER 40	Manfred SYROWY	YCN	223	56	65	59	43
54	GER 15	Katrin BRUNNER	LSC	224	44	60	63	57
55	SUI 17	Dominik PEIKERT	YCZ	226	86	39	56	45
56	POL 14	Michal KASZCZUK	UKS Navigo	236	50	57	43	86
57	DEN 29	Eli SCHRØDER	Mariager Sejlklub	238	58	58	60	62
58	SUI 303	Olivier BALLEVRE	CNB	240	54	55	65	66
59	GBR 16	Julian BOSCH	GWSC	241	86	47	54	54
60	ITA 78	Giorgio LAIS	1774	241	55	61	64	61
61	GER 5	Klaus RAAB	SCFF	244	86	48	51	59
62	ITA 216	Loris PATERNOLLI	Circolo Vela Arco	248	86	54	48	60
63	GER 75	Jörn KNOP	BSV	252	86	59	58	49
64	BEL 19	Wim DECA	RNSYC	257	86	86	35	50
65	FRA 21	Rodolphe DELESALLE	56300	269	52	68	86	63
66	ITA 24	Edoardo GAMBA	FRAGLIA VELA MALCESINE	272	57	63	66	86
67	SUI 65	Charles BUECHE	CNB	273	39	62	86	86
68	ARG 666	Ian RODGER	Upper Keys Sailing Club	278	20	86	86	86
69	ITA 19	Alberto FRATTINI	UVM	288	86	86	86	30
70	SUI 78	Patrick GUGERLI	CNB	288	47	69	86	86
71	GER 50	Stephan DORFNER	SGU	288	49	67	86	86
72	ESP 34	Adolfo MARTINEZ	Club Náutico Puerto Sherry	296	86	66	86	58
73	FRA 278	Charles de LISLE	STE NAUTIQUE DE LARMOR PLAGE	299	86	86	62	65
74	GER 68	Maren ODEFEY	MSV Wismar	311	53	86	86	86
75	USA 143	Mark HERENDEEN	Space Coast catamaran fleet	317	59	86	86	86
76	SUI 33	Heiko MAIER	SIMPL	322	86	86	86	64
77	GER 80	Andreas GRÜNENWALD	SVBB	322	86	64	86	86
78	GER 34	Jan KREUTZMANN	YCN	344	86	86	86	86
78	GER 66	Peter PFORTNER	TSVH	344	86	86	86	86
78	ITA 4	Bruno ZORZAN	400	344	86	86	86	86
78	ITA 79	Amerigo DEGLI ATTI	1774	344	86	86	86	86
78	NED 93	Wim PLOKKER	HELLE	344	86	86	86	86
78	SUI 279	Caroline JACOT	CNB	344	86	86	86	86
78	SUI 61	Jean‑Yves DELAITE	CNB	344	86	86	86	86
78	USA 426	Cam FARRAH	Fort Walton YC/ Southern YC/ New York YC	344	86	86	86	86