The Tornado Worlds 1997 in Bermuda
(Note: this is a raw, un-edited version of the article)

List of Participants:

Argentina
S. Lange (N/A)
Austria
A. Hagara & W. Moser (AUT 337)
Australia
D. Bundock & J. Forbes (AUS 303); A.
MacPherson & A. Williams (AUS 300); A.
Lanndenberger & D. Vanderkof (AUS 308); M.
Booth & A. Beachel (AUS 1)
Belgium
W. de Peuter & L. Verelest (BEL 28)
Bermuda
A. Burland & C. Nash (BER 7); G. Astwood &
D. Payne (BER 19); S. Dickinson & G. Lambert
(BER 21); J. Kempe & J. Stephenson (BER 25);
M. McBeath & E. Bardgett (BER 23); A. Powell
& G. Clinton (BER 26)
Brazil
L. Grael & A. Schmidt (BRA 50); A. Sousa & T.
dos Santos (BRA 39); R. Fernandez & R.
Fernandez (BRA 40); J. Viana & J. Gomes (BRA
41); M. de'Almeida & W. de'Almeida (BRA 42);
F. Jacobina & L. Lantas (BRA 44); J. Jesus & M.
Massa (BRA 45); C. Cardosa & T. Monteiro
(BRA 46); M. Reitz & A. Alvarez (BRA 47); S.
Tomassini & V. Passos (BRA 48); C. Freitas & R.
Wright (BRA 49)
Bulgaria
A. Georgiv (N/A)
Canada
D. Sweeney & K. Smith (CAN 364); M. Peers &
R. Jance (CAN 362); N. Purves-Smith & J. Dick
(CAN 365)
Denmark
S. Hansen & H. Hansen (DEN 51)
France
O. Backes & L. Voiron (FRA 257); X. Revil & S.
Ammour (FRA 256); P. Pennee & Y. Guichard
(FRA 264); J. C. Mourniac & N. Mourniac (FRA
267); F. LePeutree & F. Citeau (FRA 263); C.
Clevenot & Y. Quernec (FRA 261)
Germany
H. Sach & C. Sach (GER 1018); D. Kuhlmann &
J. Kuhlmann (GER 1021); J. Polgar & C. Happel
(GER 1031); R. Gaebler & R. Scwall (GER
1036); A. Behem & C. Storman (GER 1020); C.
Weise & M. Stippa (GER 952); R. Martens & R.
Rabbe (GER 1047); T. Rob & J. Rob (GER
1034); F. Will & T. Stransky (GER 1039); J. Wolf
& F. Parlow (GER 953)
Great Britain
T. Reid & T. Hewitt (GBR 401); J. Pierce & B.
Roche (GBR 395); S. Gummer & M. Harrison
(GBR 397); W. Sunnucks & W. Crossley (GBR
396); B. Sandeman & W. Howden (GBR 400)
Italy
L. Bodini & M. Bodini (ITA 238); M. Pirinoli & S.
Alberto (ITA 247)
Netherlands
R. Von Teylingem & H. Derchser (NED 1); P.
Boog & B. Boog (NED 135)
New Zealand
S. Manning & A. Robertson (NZL 80); M.
Philpott & A. Duncan (NZL 78)
Poland
M. Zbigniew & K. Bolestaw (POL 28)
Russia
K. Emelyanov & A. Yanin (RUS 41)
South Africa
G. Elliott & V. Elliott (RSA 41)
Spain
F. Leon & J. L. Ballester (ESP 1)
Sweden
G. Marstrom & P. Brown (SWE 191); M. Nyberg
& M. Strandberg (SWE 194)
Switzerland
W. Steiner & A. Schiess (SUI 213)
USA
R. Daniel & J. Brenier (USA 804); J. McCarthy &
G. Ross (USA 767); A. Shafer & J. Tomko (USA
792); J. Lovell & C. Ogletree (USA 808); L.
Guck & P. J. Shafer (USA 802); M. Grandfield &
B. Tompkins (USA 801); D. Graf & L. Graf (USA
782); R. Feeny & B. Doyle (USA 783)
November 9
There was a two hour delay due to shifty winds. Races started in light winds from the south west and varied in speed and direction. The race committee superbly moved the marks to suit the ever-changing wind direction. J. Polgar and C. Happel from Germany started at the port end and maintained their lead to the finish. Fellow countrymen and current world champion Roland Gaebler and Rene Schwall worked their way up through the fleet to finish second. A strong showing also came from the Brazilians who finished third, fourth and fifth, with double bronze medalist Lars Grael fourth. Canadians Dave Sweeney and Kevin Smith were sixth, gold medalists F.Leon and J-L Ballester of Spain eighth and Mitch Booth ofAustralia eleventh. The exciting side event The Bacardi Blast held after the races resulted in the first heat, in strong winds, won by D.Bundock and J. Forbes of Australia in 14.51 secs with P. Boogand H. Derscher second. The 500 ft sprint is across the face of a cruise ship berth in front of spectators who loved the action. Eventually, the first real Bacardi Blast was won by the Danish crew of S. Hansen and H. Hansen in 44.56 secs with speedsters Gaebler and Schwall from Germany second.

Race Day 2, November 10
After a great sail out to Murray's Anchorage, in 15 knots, hot and sunny, the wind moderated before the start and continued to fall throughout. Shifty winds meant there again had to be several mark changes. The eventual winners, Fernando Leon and Jose Ballester (Spanish - ESP 1) led for the whole race and after 2 races were leading the series. Second that day and second overall were Pennec and Guichard from France. Third were Mourniac and Mourniac - also from France. Only 25 boats managed to finish in the time limit. Race number 3 was not started due to the lack of wind.

Race Day 3, November 11
Finally, the breeze in Bermuda has co-operated with the racers and organizers here in Hamilton. Day 3 offered two races, the first sailed in 15 knots and the second sailed in a blustery 20-30 knot southwester. Many of the Worlds Top Tornado teams showed their stuff today, led by Mitch Booth of Australia. Booth, with teammate Adam Beashel, scored a 2nd and 1st in the two races, improving from their DNF score yesterday after failing to finish the race in the allotted time limit. Booth and Beashel were joined in the leader pack by Fernando Leon of Spain, Roland Gaebler of Germany and Daren Bundock of Australia. After four races the Spanish team of Leon and Ballester lead the overall scoring, followed closely bythe German teams of Gaebler and Schwall and Polger and Happel. The day's sailing featured plenty of thrills and spills as many of the competitors capsized or came close. The "Wild Thing," the technique in which the boats sail precariously on one hull while sailing downwind at speeds in excess of 25 miles per hour, provided plenty of action as more than one boat buried its bows and cartwheeled forward into a capsize, throwing the crew 50 feet in the offing. Two boats had their sterns removed rather rudely when opposing competitors misjudged close maneuvers and hit at high speed, literally slicing off the back two feet of the hull, including the rudders!

Rest day, Wednesday, November 12
Competitors have a well-earned rest day today. A chance to enjoy Bermuda's many attractions. Those from Australia, Britain and New Zealand who are members of their National Trust organizations back home have an advantage in that they can visit, without cost, any of the properties and museums of the Bermuda National Trust, with its fully reciprocal membership arrangements with their own prominent National Trusts. It's a lovely way to spend a relaxing Bermuda day before they resume racing. And those from Britain, Canada, France and the United States of America, or any spouses accompanying them, can get some interesting facts in our exclusive historical files Bermuda's Links with Britain, Bermuda's Links with Canada, Bermuda's Links with France and Bermuda's Links with the USA.

Race Day 4, Thursday, November 13
Title-holder Roland Gabler of Germany was very upset after finding out on the day after the Rest Day he had been relegated from second to tenth place overall. He was penalized belatedly for a premature start in the third race and protested strongly but in vain. He was a very unhappy man as a result and the peculiar timing of the news which affected his standings may well have influenced his performance in the fifth race held today, again involving 64 boats from 20 countries. However, he and crewman Reni Schwall managed to achieve sixth place in today's race, as a result of which they were no longer tenth overall but seventh overall as of today. Having an excellent day today were the French pair of Pennec and Guichard, who won the race and moved up to second overall. Also having a rewarding day were the current Olympic champions from Spain, Fernando Leon and Jose Luis Ballester. They were third today and extended their overall first place position to 18 points. In third place overall, despite their 17th place in today's race, their worst to date, are Roland Gabler's German training partners Johannes Polgar and Cursten Happel. Australians Darren Bundock and John Forbes have begun to find some consistency, with their second-place finish today keeping them in the Top Teno verall. Because there were such very light and shifty winds throughout the day, only the one race was sailed today. Two races of the original 10 planned have now been lost because of the lack of wind. The Championship could be decided over a total of eight. Six must be completed for the Championship to be valid. With two scheduled for tomorrow, it is very fortunate for all the competitors that the advance weather forecast calls for 20-plus knot winds for tomorrow, Friday, November 14. Race Day 5, Friday, November 1464 boats from 20 countries raced in the Great Sound of Bermuda. There were very strong winds of 18 to 23 knots, almost at the upper limit of Tornado racing, for the 2 races today, to bring the total races to 7. With a discard of the worst score allowed after 6 races total, today's results brought some changes to the overall standings. The French had the best day with their boats at the top of both races. The racing was challenging for the participants and exciting for the spectators, with the boats traveling at high speeds with lots of spray. Position changes happened quickly. Conditions also resulted in many capsizes and in a number of boats sustaining damage to sails and masts. A British boat, Gummer/Harrison, and the Russian team of Emelyanov/Yanin, are out of the regatta, with a broken mast and a destroyed mainsail respectively. A number of sailors, judging the conditions to be above their skills, retired from the day's sailing to join the spectator crowd to watch the Bacardi Blast sprint series as the boats returned to the harbour. First race winner was Mourniac/Mourniac of France, second place to another French boat, Le Peutrec/Citeau, and third to Gaebler/Schwall from Germany. Second race for the day and 7thof the Championship saw first place going to one of the fleet's known heavy-air experts, Australia's Booth/Beachel, with second and third again to the pair of French teams, this time with LePeutrec/Citeau ahead and third place to Mourniac/Mourniac. Overall at this point, from the results of all seven races held to date, Spain's Leon/Ballester, the 1996 Olympic gold medalists, are still leading with 27 points after 1 discard. But now in second place is Germany's Gaebler/Schwall with 30 points, and third place is Australia's Bundock/Forbes, with 42 points. Final Race Day, Saturday, November 15In one of the closest and most exciting finishes in years, the new Tornado World Champion was not known until the first four boats were across the finish line in the final race, the 8th of the series. It wassailed in strong west winds that began at 15 knots and finished gusting over 20knots. The series leader going into the race, the1996 Olympic Gold Medalists Leon/Ballester of Spain, needed to stay no more than three places behind Germany's Gaebler/Schwall, or in the event that the Germans would win the race, two places behind, in order to win the Championship. The race began with the Germans taking an early lead, and with the Spanish back in ninth on the first downwind, it seemed that Gaebler and his crewman would win their second World title in a row. By the middle of the race, however, the Spanish looked to be winners, climbing to fourth with Gaebler/Schwall slipping to second with a broken main outhaul line, letting the Australian team of Booth/Beashel get ahead. So the real race began, with everyone watching to see if either Gaebler/Schwall could retake Booth/Beashel, or if Leon/Ballester could gain one more place over another Australian boat, Lanndenberger/Vankerkof. As the final downwind developed, Gaebler/Schwall were able to get free and ahead of Booth/Beashel while Leon/Ballester were steadily gaining on the other Australian. The Germans won the race, the next 30 seconds were nerve-wracking for all watching to see if Leon/Ballester could get the one more place they needed. They didn't. Their fourth place across the line left them tied with the Germans on final points, but the German team won the World Championship on the tie-breaker. Each boat had one first place, but Gaebler/Schwall had a second to the next-best finish of Leon/Ballester, a third, giving Gaebler and his teammate Schwall the title by the slimmest margin in any Tornado Worlds competition. The Australian team of Booth/Beaschel would have been the overall winners had the disputed light-air second race been thrown out by the Jury. After considerable time considering all possible evidence, however, the Jury held that the second race was correct and let the result stand, leaving the Australians with third place overall. Germany, which sent its team over to train more two weeks before the event, found its money well-spent. It had three teams in the top10, with Polgar/Happel fourth and the Sach brothers ninth. Fifth went to the Australian team of Bundock/Forbes. The sailors go home after enjoying perhaps strange weather, but excellent hospitality thanks to their Bermudian hosts and good memories of another Tornado Worlds, spiced by the enthusiastic participation of Bacardi Rum as title sponsor.