Dragon Worlds, Dublin 2007

by Michael Holmes

Who would have thought that you could win a world Championship with 70.7 points, and be absolutely last in your discard?  Well that is what happened to Tommy Muller in GER 996. It must also have been particularly galling for Markus Wieser in UKR 777 who only needed to finish in the top 19 in race 6 to take the title, but could only manage 49^th. And there was a number of other boats rueing their fortunes in a similar manner. 

These results were not a reflection of a bad regatta, except for the 3^rd race, which should have been “binned” immediately after the start. The fitful wind died for long periods and 32 of the 71 boats entered could not make the finish before time limit expired! The loss of the last two races due to a lack of wind was another contributory factor, but the real reason was that in a high quality fleet any error of judgment was penalised harshly. The race committee logged boats around every mark and then displayed the resultant changes on a chart after the racing, it made for very interesting reading!

As you might have expected the level of hospitality from the Irish was outstanding, made even more welcoming by the fact that the first 500 pints of the “black stuff” were free from the bar every evening! 

The BDA fleet were represented by 11 boats and by after the first race the out look was looking promising for the “Brits” as GBR 616  “Jerboa”, Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, Ron Rosenberg & Jon Mortimer from Cowes, won the race, having led the fleet from the first mark.  GBR 688 “Quicksilver III”, Robert Campbell, Matt Walker, & Marc Ellis finished a storming 3^rd. Lying in the late teens at the beginning of the second beat they chose the correct way up the beat and propelled themselves into third, from where they maintained the position to the finish. GBR 700 “Princess Jalina” David Palmer, Kasper Harsberg & Henry Bagnall had a very similar race to Robert Campbell, the BDA Chairman picking the right way up the second beat and finished 5^th.

This proved to be the only race of the week when crews were required to hike out as a slow moving “High” built over the centre of Ireland and the winds became increasing light as the week progressed. 

Second race and reality began to set in for the English Fleet, GBR 708 “Rumours” Len Jones, Clause Hoj Jensen& Jamie Lea were 6^th at the first mark but could not maintain their position slipping to 16^th by the finish. The only British boat in the top 10 finishing 9^th was GBR 623 Quintin Strauss, Nigel Young & Maurice O'Connell after sailing a very consistent race. 

The third race, which I have already alluded to, is best forgotten for many of the British fleet that suffered 4 “dnf” and 1 “ocs”. The wind died soon after the start and then filled in fitfully from both the extremities, in these conditions the best placed home fleet performance came from GBR 720 “Aimee”, Graham Bailey, Julia Bailey & David Heritage who were round the last mark before the wind died completely (I can't remember if that was for the 4 or 5 the time) and were clear of the melee that ensued behind them, finishing 5^th.  GBR 717 “Nereid”, Patrick Gifford, Michael Gifford & Charles Sprak had an interesting race they were 38^th at the first mark, fell to second from last at the last mark, took a flyer inshore then ended up spinnakering to the line, finishing 34^th, the time limit expiring two boats later.

The fourth race was sailed in marginally better conditions, and the “Brits” performance improved dramatically with GBR 723 Quintin Strauss finishing 2^nd and GBR 708 Len Jones 3^rd having swapped positions from the first mark.

Wednesday was the second “two-race day” and the fleet were out on the water early, may be the English succumbed to the Irish hospitality, but they could not show the from of the previous day. GBR 708 “Rumours” put in a very consistence performance finishing 10^th in the 5^th race and along with a 14^th in the 6^th race helped him to his 3^rd overall. The other consistent performer of the day was GBR 717 Patrick Gifford who was top British boat in both races finishing 8^th in race 5 and 12^th in the 6^th race.    

Sixth race should have been “Hand Of Fortunes” Mike Holmes, James Holmes & Alex Burnett's best result having had a great start arriving 6^th at the first mark, then climbed to 4^th on the ensuing run. Coming into the last mark “Hands Off” was still up there contending for 5^th when a disputed call for water took place with a German. The Jury boat saw it differently from Mike and blew their whistle and waved flags “Hands Off” felt obliged to take her turns and finished 17^th.

Thursday morning, the fleet were held ashore due lack of wind, with the 1 o'clock start postponed for 2 hours.  When finally afloat the sea breeze never fully asserted itself over the gradient wind and after 3 attempts to start the Race Officer abandoned racing for the day, possibly mindful that on the social front it was the Gala Dinner evening. What a great evening, you can always tell when you have had a good one, by when looking at your watch seeing it is 1:30, but would have guessed it was nearer 11:30.

Friday morning and the conditions were very similar to the previous day, but with a start scheduled for 11:00 and cut off time of 14:00 hrs we never stood a chance. The Race Officer abandoned racing before we ever got afloat. With the sun shining and a large number of sore heads there were not many grumbles, particularly as it allowed for a much more relaxed packing away of the boats.

I have not mentioned Poul Hoj Jensen GBR 725, although representing Denmark he is a quasi “Brit” these days. He like a lot of the fleet had an up and down week. Having won the practice race he could not go on to replicate that performance during the championship itself. His best placed position being 8^th and finishing 12^th overall. The top placed “Brit” was Len Jones in “Rumours” finishing 3^rd overall, which was a terrific performance in the conditions, as both Rob & Gavia proved with their great results this was a week that could easily make fools even of the best professionals but this was not a bad regatta because of that!