From The Daily Sail:
Win for South Africa and Australia
The Hobie Tiger and Droggon Worlds came to a close after long delays due to light winds
On Saturday March 8, Australia and South Africa won the 2008 Hobie Tiger and Dragoon Worlds. It was a nerve breaking morning for the leaders in both fleets, as the lack of wind kept them waiting. The first attempt on the Dragoon course was cancelled after the wind died completely.
At about 1 pm, the race committee dropped the postponement flag and all teams left the beach. When the Tigers finally managed to start clean, Mark Laruffa and Daniel Sims (AUS) initially lost their golden position, but they fought back and won the title. Today’s scheduled final race for the Dragoons could not be sailed, due to the long postponement. That means that at the time limit of 3pm, Matt Whitehead and Megan Du Plessis (RSA) were declared the new Hobie Dragoon World Champions.
As the clock ticked this morning, sailors sat inside the party tent and played cards or socialized. Beach volleyball seemed to be popular amongst the youth. Meanwhile, Laruffa and Sims were close to their first World title ever. Mitch Booth and Tiffany Baring-Gould, representing the Netherlands, were only one point behind, so they were very keen to go. They got their chance in the afternoon, but patience was still needed. The wind was not stable enough, so the 62 Tigers floated for another hour. This was followed by two general recalls. Laruffa said, “That was nerve-racking, because I knew we were running out of time. They hoisted the black flag and it was pin-end favoured, so that was tricky. It could be all over at the start. Mitch was right at the pin and was leading at that moment.”
Booth and Baring-Gould came into the top mark in first, but had a problem with the spinnaker hoist. Laruffa and Sims rounded in tenth position, so at that stage the Dutch team was winning the regatta. “Unfortunately, the spinnaker halyard got stuck behind the spreader, so we lost three boats," Booth explained. "Near the bottom mark, we dropped the spinnaker sheet, so that cost us another three boats. We went from first to seventh and it was all over after this downwind.” Duncan Ross and Rick Nankin (RSA) took the lead and the final bullet.
According to Laruffa, they had a good first spinnaker hoist and caught two boats. “Everybody went to shore and we were just behind Shaun Ferry. We did not want to go over him, because that would limit our options. We slowed down and gibed away. Mischa Heemskerk did the same,” Sims explained.
Halfway the run, the Australians gybed back to cover Booth. They gained another three competitors at the gate and rounded the left hand mark. “Mischa chose the other side and Mitch followed us, which was good," Sims continued. "We just had to keep him behind us, so we tacked when he tacked. We actually wore different shirts today, so Mitch would not recognize us on the course.” Laruffa and Sims finished third and won the Hobie Tiger World Title 2008. “This is Mark’s first win in 27 years of trying,” Sims concluded. “I had to be careful not to cry at the finish," continued Laruffa. "My partner at home is in tears.”
Although Laruffa has finally achieved his goal, he does not speak about retiring: “It is only starting. This time I did not party during the championship.” Baring-Gould, crewing for Booth, won silver at her first multihull event ever: “I am very happy with our result and I will be definitely back in the catamarans.” Robbie Lovig and Lachlan Gibson had never sailed a Hobie Tiger World Championship before, but they go home with a bronze medal. “We are pretty pleased, because it was really tight with close racing. Mark was exceptional this week. We have exceeded our own targets, because we wanted to be in the top five. We only started twelfth months ago.”
“I am so nervous”, said Matt Whitehead this morning. Despite his domination throughout the whole championship, he was still thinking of the best strategy to secure the title. But in the end, he did not need it, as they ran out of time. “The wind was perfect, but it was already 3 pm,” Whitehead explained. His dream came true, he and his crew Megan Du Plessis became the new Hobie Dragoon World Champions. Whitehead said: “I just sat there and couldn’t believe it. It will sink in. This week has been great fun with awesome sailing and it was well planned.” His mother Tracy Whitehead did a wonderful job on organizing the event. His father Colin Whitehead, Hobie 16 World Champion 1978, finished 15th at the Tiger Worlds. As soon as he came back to shore, he gave his son a big hug and a champion’s bath in the Langebaan Lagoon. Son Whitehead continued; “It will be a big party tonight. My whole family is here, which is cool. They have been a great support for me. My dream was to win these Dragoon Worlds in my home town and it has come true.” His crew Du Plessis seemed to be overwhelmed as well: “It feels awesome. In a way I am happy, but I am also disappointed that it is over now.”
Ewald Erasmus and Riccardo Suttner-Scalco won silver. Erasmus: “It is a great experience to meet all these people. I definitely enjoyed it.” Geert and Thomas Schouten won bronze in the open class and Petrus Smith and Ewie Loubser in the junior class. Smith: “It feels quite nice. I will be probably up all night, together with Matt.” Most of the South African youth sailors will meet each other again in two weeks at the qualification for the ISAF Youth Worlds 2008 in Denmark. That means they will switch to the Hobie 16 with spinnaker.
Results:
Tiger
1 AUS M.Laruffa and D.Sims Total pts: 43 (10,3,1,1,2,7,3,9,64,3,1,3)
2 NED M.Booth and T.Baring-Gould Total pts: 50 (11,4,2,4,5,2,6,7,4,4,3,9)
3 AUS R.Lovig and L.Gibson Total pts: 53 (3,1,3,3,4,11,64,4,3,12,4,5)
4 NED M.Heemskerk and B.Tentij Total pts: 55 (4,11,7,2,1,5,8,1,64,1,13,2)
5 RSA S.Ferry and J.Van Der Vyfer Total pts: 65 (1,2,5,10,64,6,9,3,8,8,9,4)
6 BEL C.Brouwer and D.Bundock Total pts: 72 (17,8,6,64,16,1,2,2,6,6,2,6)
7 RSA D.Ross and R.Nankin Total pts: 96 (6,7,8,14,18,4,12,17,1,64,8,1)
8 RSA A.Lawrence and I.Schabort Total pts: 99 (16,5,12,5,6,18,1,12,64,2,10,12)
9 RSA B.Dodds and P.Dodds Total pts: 103 (9,16,4,17,8,20,10,10,7,9,6,7)
10 RSA H.Hale and S.Botes Total pts: 114 (7,13,17,7,12,10,7,13,5,11,12,17)
Dragoon
1 RSA M.Whitehead and M.Du Plessis Total pts: 8 (1,1,1,1,2,1,1,1,1)
2 RSA E.Erasmus and R.Suttner -Scalco Total pts: 18 (2,1,3,6,6,1,1,1,3)
3 NED G.Schouten and T.Schouten Total pts: 23 (5,2,2,3,1,2,8,3,5)
4 RSA P.Smith and E.Loubser Total pts: 25 (4,6,2,2,1,2,2,14,6)
5 RSA D.McLean and S.Du Plessis Total pts: 27,2,8,7,3,2,4,4,3,2)
6 RSA G.Norton and C.Norton Total pts: 31,1,14,1,1,4,6,3,4,11)
7 RSA R.Hayes and D.Maidment Total pts: 35 (7,3,4,5,3,3,10,2,8)
8 NED U.Vrijburg and D.Vrijburg Total pts: 36,6,2,3,5,7,5,7,5,3)
9 RSA S.Walker and B.Hayward Total pts: 37 (6,12,4,4,8,4,5,5,1)
10 RSA A.Fourie and C.Lord Total pts: 40,5,5,6,2,6,7,6,6,4)
