scott.projectsomewhere

Good to see that we get a
mention on the Yachting
Australia site… they know we exist!

I guess they are looking for some reasonable news at the
moment…

There
is so much to say, so much happened and yet I don’t know where to
start! Maybe somewhere near the beginning…

First it was great to meet up again with all the awesome people
I’ve met up with along the way. The Finns, the Brits, the Italians
and everyone else. It’s been so difficult managing to stay on the
good side of everyone - since not everyone gets on with everyone
else - this event was no easier!

It started off with measurement - and the great pro-grip debacle.
Our boat went through measurement with no problems - after being
approved by the same measurer in Weymouth. The problem was that
2002 World Champion John Winning had enough nouce to notice that
neoprene-style pro-grip doesn’t fit the common-sense interpretation
of the class rules which say centre-case packing must be “soft
carpet or felt”. Since almost all the British boats had pro-grip
somewhere in their casing - it became an everyone versus the Brits
scenario pretty quickly. The fun part was that as the Australian
measurer I agree with John, what made it even more fun was that our
centre-case had pro-grip in it, and I only put it in after being
forced to remove the felt by the measurer back in Weymouth. Fun
yes.

Anyway the protests went ahead… essentially the other Australian,
the Argentinians, New Zealanders and Americans against 6 British
boats using pro-grip. We weren’t included in the list because we
bat for both teams so to speak. In the end, and for the sake of the
event, the jury threw out the protest after the measurer classified
carpet as a floor covering and pro-grip as a floor covering. From
then on the Winning was to become known as John Whining.

But then again the regatta did open with America’s Cup legend,
former Swiss darling and former New Zealander Russell Coutts making
a speech about how great our class is… before flying to New York
to try and get out of his multi-million dollar contract with his
billionaire former boss… and we thought pro-grip was
important.

So all this happened during the first day of the regatta - after
which we were placed 5th with a good 1,2,3,3 score.

Also to my amusement I was nominated to the Executive of the 29er
World Council, and since the position was unapposed I was appointed
to the committee - for the next four years! This all happened in
one of the most remarkable general meetings I have attended.
Incredible to see the politics behind the ISAF-Bethwaite-Class
triangle - which is sure to make for some interesting email threads
over the next few years.

Anyway, Silvaplana decided to show what its made of as the regatta
progressed. I was very happy with the .5mm Sea titanium pants I brought
from Australia - especially when it started to snow! As the
temperature went down - so did the wind, and things started to get
tricky on the course as the rain poured and the mountains
disappeared in fog. Fun times indeed.

I’m not sure what drives the association to hold the World
Championships in a place which snows at the height of summer,
allows wind limits to be thrown out, has no facilities to speak of,
and holds courses with upwind finishes - but maybe that whole
politics thing might have something to do with it. Above all that,
something else that made St Moritz interesting - was the price.
This would have to be the most expensive place on earth - even in
the low season. The “Beach Club” on Silvaplana would happily sell a
milo masquerading as hot chocolate for $7, and an average pizza for
$30, then charge $160 per night to pitch a few tents in the
freezing cold. What a place. I did make the most of it by avoiding
paying for the Internet as much as possible - but hey I do that
everywhere.

So the change in conditions brought a few changes in the results.
The first 3 boats started their move away from the fleet, early
contender Pepe from Argentina got some big scores to carry through
the regatta, as did John. Some of the Brits started to drop back as
the stream of protests began to weigh against them. Shit
happened.

At the end of the 10 qualification races the top 25 split off into
Gold fleet. The top 3 were separated by only 5 points, with almost
30 points to the boats behind. It was going to be Tristan &
Alain, Lauri & Miikka and Dave & I all the way to the
wire.

So Silvaplana did its thing again for the first day of the finals -
and racing was cancelled for the day.

The second day saw the committee start in a light northerly - a
very bad idea. The breeze went left, right, left, up, down, left,
down, right, down, left, up on and on. We started badly as did
Tristan & Alain, but they banged left harder than anyone and
benefitted from a 40 degree shift to lead around the mark with us
behind in 3rd. Over the next two laps things got even worse. We
moved into 2nd, only to have 4 boats sail around us on the work to
the finish while everyone sat in no wind from every possible
direction. Perhaps those wind limits are in the class rules for a
reason? Dylan talked up the skill involved in that race when he
came from last to finish 5th, and everyone else laughed… as time
would tell.

Thankfully they decided not to start another race in that
northerly, postponing for several hours while the Maloja filled
in.

Dave decided to go missing when we were due to go out for the
afternoon’s racing and panicking Peter jumped in the car to find
him. 5 months of patience conditioning has done me well it seems,
as we avoided the distraction to go out and win the next race. The
shifts got the better of us however in the next one, pushing us
back to a 9th and our 2nd drop of the series… ouch.

So somewhere in there the American’s learnt not to fly the stars
and stripes from their mast, after two of their boats were found in
the lake one morning and another with a hole in it. Accusations
went flying when it came out that the Kiwis had been making
physical threats the night before after a protest on rule 42. A
security guard was brought in to look after the boats from then on.
Oh the serenity.

But wait, there’s more…

During one of these brilliant postponement things, Serious Simon
decides to measure the height of his spreader tips and compare it
to the other Brits. I’d noticed that the Pommie spreaders seemed to
vary in height in a strange coincidence with the crew weights back
in Travemunde and I did mention it to Squithy the Brit coach back
then - but after the evasive “I’ve only been in this class for a
while” answer I didn’t pursue it. So there goes Simon with his tape
measure - and low and behold one of the “other” teams notices. Tape
measures and cameras come out from every direction, and since
Tristan & Alains were 40mm higher than any other boat measured
- it looked as though those jury people were going to have another
fun night. The threat of protest continued to linger…

Thankfully again our boat went un-noticed by the Kiwargs, with our
spreaders being only a few mm different to CrewSaver’s… hmmm. But
what’s a few mm in spreader rake anyway when the boat builder
supplies a mast tip a good 12mm longer than the old one… no
wonder nobody buys British cars anymore…

And the race committee decides to go for a 9am start on the last
day in an effort to get the last of the races in. Silvaplana does
its thing again and we arrive to ice on the boat covers and several
hours of postponements - now that was worth it.

Finally Moloja decided to blow, and the last four races were on.
Only 6 points still separated the top 3, so the Championship was
still up for grabs. Lauri & Miikka decided to throw their hat
in the ring and won the first two races of the day, yet Tristan
& Alain scraped back into 3rd both times to still lead the
regatta by a point with two races to go. We came in with a 2nd, but
then fell out of contention a little when a 7th ruined the day. Not
to give up however we then went out and won the next race, yet
Tristan & Alain again sailed through the competition to finish
right behind us… damn!

It was still on for the last one… we rounded the first mark in an
average position, but then went hammer down to sail away from Lauri
& Miikka and pass even Tristan & Alain on the last work.
Some really dumb tacks on the line however saw us lose 2nd to both
Tristan and Ed… but it didn’t matter anyway, with the Finns being
close enough to maintain their lead over us.

The Poms had won… bugger eh.

So in the end we came close, but didn’t get it. The Fins have a
saying that roughly translates “if your aunt had wheels she’d be a
bus” and that kinda says a lot… maybe.

And we got some cow bells to take home for our
trouble.

A bit better than the official version
don’t you think?

A quick report written for 29er.org… I should get some photos
from Julian tomorrow… and maybe even results!

–

Finnish sailors Lauri Lehtinen & Miikka Pennanen lead the 29er
World Championships after 4 qualifying races. Only 3 points
separates the top 5 placings, with the British team of Tristan
Jacques & Alain Sign in 2nd followed by 2002 World Champion
John Winning & Sam Newton.

Switzerland’s Lake Silvaplana provided perfect conditions for the
85 boats competing, with 15-25 knots and flat water making for some
very fast races.

Other winners on day 1 were British sailors Justin Visser &
Simon Wheeler, with Australians David O’Connor & Scott Babbage
also scoring the first win of the regatta.

Series Place
Sail No
Helm
Crew
Series Points
Race 1
Race 2
Race 3
Race 4
Race 5
Race 6
Race 7
Race 8
Race 9
Race 10
Race 11
Race 12
Race 13
Race 14
Race 15

1
AUS648
David O’CONNOR
Scott BABBAGE
27
2
1
1
6
3
1
5
1
2
3
3
1
2
6
2

2
619
Tristan JAQUES
Alain SIGN
44
1
9
4
4
4
7
6
3
1
1
1
2
BFD41
1
BFD41

3
6
Ed CHAPMAN
Tom PEEL
45
8
6
22
2
2
2
1
BFD41
6
7
2
5
1
2
1

4
873
Jon WHITE
Alex CRUTTENDEN
91
21
21
19
13
15
4
2
2
3
11
4
3
5
5
5

5
781
James STEWARDSON
Tom MORRIS
92
7
3
10
11
6
3
14
6
8
10
8
6
10
22
4

6
DEN12
Helle ORM NEILSON
Maria GADE
99
14
11
5
5
5
8
9
5
10
6
9
10
6
11
10

7
7
Roger PHILIPS
Will CROCKER
119
18
29
21
26
13
5
BFD41
9
4
2
5
4
3
3
6

8
900
Justin VISSER
Simon WHEELER
123
5
4
7
17
8
6
3
BFD41
5
8
DNF41
9
BFD41
7
3

9
DEN884
Simon JENSON
Charlie WRIGHT
139
11
15
2
1
1
BFD41
12
BFD41
11
4
6
16
26
21
13

10
703
Sophie JONES
Ben McVEIGH
146
3
2
3
3
7
15
19
13
18
22
14
21
16
16
17

11
950
Dylan FLETCHER
Nick HOLLIS
156
15
19
15
12
9
11
7
10
BFD41
BFD41
7
14
12
14
11

12
934
Ben BURNS
Guy FILLMORE
157
20
18
31
30
17
10
8
BFD41
7
15
10
7
4
4
7

13
DEN686
Peter AMMUNDSEN
Kasper GIODESEN
163
9
20
24
8
DNF41
16
4
4
23
19
15
15
11
10
9

14
NZL056
Alberto BUSA
MATTEO BUSA
173
6
10
DNF41
9
10
9
17
18
17
13
18
19
15
12
DNF41

15
19
Harriet TRUMBLE
Mark HEATHER
175
4
24
6
25
OCS41
14
10
BFD41
15
9
11
8
18
23
8

16
726
Christina KING
Andy ROBERTSON
196
12
17
20
15
16
13
13
11
9
5
RET41
17
7
BFD41
BFD41

17
CAN964
Genevieve BOUGIE-BASTIEN
Veronique BOUGIE-BASTIEN
207.5
17
13
16
10
21
20.5
16
21
20
20
20
13
14
13
15

18
DEN608
Bo SCHULEIN
Rune RISSGAARD PETERSON
221
35
36
34
34
26
22
11
8
14
17
12
11
8
8
16

19
876
Julia NOBLE
James LYONS
243
16
16
13
19
12
28
25
16
DNF41
16
21
33
23
17
21

20
730
Jenny GAMMON
Pippa TAYLOR
247
OCS41
8
12
21
19
29
BFD41
7
19
21
16
26
20
27
22

21
169
Jenny TAYLOR
Samantha PERRY
264.5
13
23
17
18
18
20.5
23
BFD41
27
27
24
25
24
18
14

22
694
Jess SMITH
Mari SHEPHERD
268
23
5
14
7
RET41
23
22
BFD41
21
26
29
28
27
25
18

23
66
James BOYCE
Christopher FISHER
271
25
31
27
37
BFD41
31
24
17
16
BFD41
17
12
13
9
12

24
780
James WILKES
Ed WILKES
277.5
33
30
23
29
11
30
18
12
24
18
22
24
21
26
19.5

25
480
Edward REDFEARN
Steve MANN
279
22
32
33
31
20
12
BFD41
BFD41
12
12
19
20
28
15
23

26
734
Anne NOBLE
Dylon NOBLE
283
10
7
9
14
27
25
33
BFD41
28
25
23
29
29
24
DNF41

27
773
Gemma McINTYRE
Sophie ANDERSON
291
29
27
28
16
22
19
31
14
22
14
26
27
22
29
25

28
698
Huw HUMPHREYS
Max TODD
311
26
14
8
22
14
18
15
DNE41
32
NYF41
DNF41
22
17
BFD41
DNF41

29
312
Lucy TURNER
Lou CARTER
315
30
33
30
24
24
24
26
19
25
23
DNF41
18
19
20
DNF41

30
772
Karen SMALLEY
Chris CRABB
331.5
28
25
29
28
23
26
28
15
26
24
DNF41
30
30
DNF41
19.5

31
322
Dean RALPH
Simon JONES
351
31
12
25
DNF41
25
17
29
BFD41
33
28
28
32
31
19
DNF41

32
728
Guy BREAREY
Ryan VISSER
362
34
22
32
32
BFD41
BFD41
20
DNE41
13
BFD41
13
23
9
DNF41
DNF41

33
342
Sophie WHITE
James FOSKETT
378
24
28
11
23
31
27
27
DNE41
31
29
30
35
DNF41
DNF41
DNF41

34
736
Emma PORTEUS
Kirsty LYTTON
380
27
35
26
20
29
34
34
23
34
32
31
37
33
31
26

35
374
Tom FOSKETT
Tim NEEDHAM
406
36
38
36
36
33
35
21
BFD41
29
30
25
34
25
28
DNF41

36
167
Philip WALKER
Sam COLLINGWOOD
408
19
26
18
27
28
36
NYF41
22
DNF41
NYF41
DNF41
36
32
DNF41
DNF41

37
613
Jamie DICK
Allan MILL
417
37
34
38
39
32
32
32
20
DNF41
31
27
DNF41
BFD41
30
24

38
872
Henry WALLACE
Thomas PARTINGTON
454
38
39
37
38
30
33
30
25
30
NYF41
DNF41
31
RET41
DNF41
DNF41

39
939
David HOPPER
Steve HOPPER
489
DNS41
DNC41
DNC41
35
34
37
NYF41
24
DNF41
NYF41
DNF41
38
34
DNF41
DNF41

40
341
Tom CLARKSON
Anya de IONGH
506
32
37
35
33
RET41
DNF41
NYF41
DNF41
DNF41
NYF41
DNF41
DNF41
DNF41
DNF41
DNF41

In the end it was a very close series for the UK National
Championships. We started the final day with an 8 point lead (since
our 2nd drop was so bad - or good), but Tristan & Alain came
within a whisker of taking away their own title.

The day saw some sunny conditions and a building breeze up to over
25 knots for the final race. The first race saw us lead from a
mediocre start, defending over the short course to put another
point between us and Tristan. The second race saw us have an
absolutely terrible start, yet we clawed back upwind, then pulled
ourselves through the bunch into a 4th - unfortunately Tristan
& Alain were 1st. The lead goes down to 6 points with 2 races
to go.

In the next race we manage an even worse start - rouding the top
mark even further down the pack. Since our drop race was only a
6th, it would be pointless for us to continue unless we did that or
better - so we did. Tristan & Alain again won the race. Now the
gap goes to 2 points with 1 race to go.

This time the start is marginally better - but only just. Blasting
off the pin were Tristan & Alain again, with us following a few
boatlenghts behind. At the top mark Tristan rounds second, we us
rounding in about 7th. We manage to pull past 2 boats on the tight
reach across the top of the trapezoid - in 25 knots mind you. On
the next work up we tack inside two brits and round in 3rd, Tristan
finishes 2nd - and we win by a point!

Sounds close eh?

Well luckily for us, Tris & Alain were DSQ for race 2 - getting
caught by the black flag. The final margin ended up being much
larger.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens next week at the
Worlds…

The second day of racing at the UK Nationals provided some close
competition, with Ed & Tom putting together a string of good
results to move up into 2nd overall. We managed to keep things
consistent and stay in the lead, but with the quality of this fleet
- that could change quickly. A bit more wind on the 2nd day, and
more again forecast for Thursday.

Tristan & Alain didn’t have a good day again, but if they can
manage to get off the start line they should get a few
bullets.

Full
results are available on the WPSA site.

An updated list
of entries has also been posted for the Worlds, with 85
entrants and 2 from Australia.