Encore un australien! Beta Crucis gagne l’Open de France 2024 après un mémorable dernier jour à Cannes

 Par Robert Deaves

Beta Crucis (AUS 63, Martin CROSS, Bob STODDARD, John CROSS) has won the 5.5 Metre French Open after an eventful final day in Cannes in some spectacular conditions. They won the only race completed on Friday to win another title for Australia this summer.

Otto (NOR 68, Bent Christian WILHELMSEN, Herve CUNNINGHAM, Kyle GUNDERSEN) spent most of the race in third, and nearly took the win with all three top boats overlapped at the finish.

Skylla V (SUI 217, Andre BERNHEIM, Mark BUCHECKER, Urs WERNER) led the final race from a great port tack start to the last gate, but lost by less than a boatlength and ended up third overall.

The forecast was a big breeze, but it started to die soon after the start. Then a rogue mark left behind by the classic fleet caused confusion with the fleet heading in two directions, so shortly after was abandoned.

By the time it was restarted, the breeze was building and it was the closest race of the week with the top three boats together all the way round. Skylla V port tacked the fleet and held a good lead at some stages, but was ground down and passed by Beta Crucis on the final leg with Otto just second behind.

A second race was contemplated, but the wind was increasing and the forecast was for much more to come in, so the fkleet was sent back to the harbour with just ne more race completed.

So Beta Crucis wins the French Open with straight first places. It has been a. challenging week with days lots due to strong winds and no wind, but also a great atmosphere in the fleet and most will return next year or soon after.

Kyle Gundersen, on Otto, was only sailing his second 5.5 Metre regatta after stepping in for Lasse Berthelsen at short notice for a few days the World Championship in Benodet.

Originally from New Zealand, and now living in Seattle, USA, Kyle worked his way though many classes, before focussing on race management in the last two America’s Cups and Sail GP. “So,m I stepped away from sailing a bit but have been sailing more performance boats such as cats where systems are more important, but the systems still have to work.”

“I’ve known Lasse for many years and they needed some help getting the boat together and making some changes, and so I came in and helped out before the worlds, and came down to this one knowing I was also going to help out with some Etchells stuff, so it made sense to get into the team and feel how the boat sails. Every boat is a bit different.

“Bedodet was my first time in a 5.5 and it was an eye-opening experience. A lot of complicated systems but also a lot of thought-out systems that have progressed over time. The boats are very tweaky, but good in the way you can manipulate them in multiple ways. It’s very different to sail a boat that has so much righting moment that just being off the rail for a second is not major, so that’s different from sailing a light displacement boat, and there is a lot going on. 

“And it’s a lot of fun, a good group of people and close racing. I was very impressed in Benodet how close the Classics were to the Evolutions and the Moderns and lot of credit to the guys sailing them. They’ve brought them a long way from where there used to be back in the day.

“There is a good group of people sailing the boat and they are quite forgiving in a way, but you can also be half a knot off the pace and not even realise it.”

Some more 5.5 sailing in the future? “Depends on what happens. I’d like to do some more 5.5 sailing. We go from here to sail the Etchells in Miami, and a lot of the same systems utilised on the boats are also used on Etchells, so we’ll set up the boat for the winter season and go from there.”

Beta Crucis has become the second Australian team to win a major European event this summer after John Bacon won the world championship in Benodet, France, three weeks ago.

He said, “It has been an amazing event, with a few challenges with the weather but a beautiful regatta, as they always are in this part of the world. Obviously we are very pleased to have come all the way from Australia and win, and we had a bit of success this year with two boats winning races at the worlds and one boat winning the worlds, and we’ve done well here  and that’s encouraging and will hopefully encourage more people in Australia to come and sail in these wonderful craft.”

Today “It was a funny race and we were obviously conscious of our position and we sailed quite conservatively, but the rest of them were going for it. Going down the last run we got overtaken and the other boat was just behind so everyone was lining up. Then we came to a gybe to go to the finish and we were lucky that we already had our rig back, so gybed with full rig ad spinnaker down and managed to gybe inside Andre (Skylla V) and managed to just to sneak across the line ahead of them. We were quite lucky. And I think we all finished within five seconds of each other

“This is my third time here and I’ve always enjoyed it. I like it because it has the nice flavour between the competitive side, with normally wonderful sailing every day, but still a fantastic place to sail. I came here for the first time in 1976, and always had a soft spot for Cannes, so will almost certainly be back.”

Final results
1 Beta Crucis (AUS 63, Martin CROSS, Bob STODDARD, John CROSS) 3
2 Otto (NOR 68, Bent Christian WILHELMSEN, Herve CUNNINGHAM, Kyle GUNDERSEN) 7
3 Skylla V (SUI 217, Andre BERNHEIM, Mark BUCHECKER, Urs WERNER) 8
4 Ali Baba (GER 125, Wolf-Eberhard RICHTER, Beata KALLKOWSKI, Bernd SELIG) 13
5 Ali Baba in black (GER 84, Andreas HAUBOLD, Martina KLEMMT, Daniel BRAMBEER) 16
6 Singora (GER 37, Hans KOSTER, Mine KOSTER, Thore KIESBYE) 16

Full results here: https://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/RR2024#!/results?classId=30b8d348-aaca-47c5-9ef9-ec0d72e53f6c

https://robertdeaves.smugmug.com/Other/2024/2024-Regates-Royales-Cannes

Victoire d’anthologie pour le suisse Ali Baba dans une Scandinavian Gold Cup sous haute pression!

Par Rupert Holmes

All three boats finished today’s first race just six seconds apart. As Artemis (Kristian Nergaard, Johan Barne and Trond Solli-Saether) closed the line a couple of metres clear ahead of Ali Baba (Flavio Marazzi, Julie Marazzi and Eline Marazzi), John B (Gavin McKinney, Lars Horn Johannessen and Justin Cunningham) approached from the other direction, sailing much faster at a hotter angle. She sneaked in close to the committee boat to take victory by just two seconds.

Ali Baba and John B now both held two race wins, while Artemis had one, in the Scandinavian Gold Cup’s unique first to three wins format. With the remainder of the fleet having been eliminated after the first three races, only these three boats were competing today, creating a fascinating dynamic on the race course. There can, for instance, be a benefit in using match racing style tactics, yet these must be employed strategically and sparingly to avoid risk of the third-placed boat overtaking the leading pair.

In Race 6 John B and Artemis went to the right after the start, while Ali Baba was slower off the line and split to the left, but that didn’t pay. Artemis showed impressive boat speed and height on this leg and little more than 10 minutes after the start had built an unassailable lead that she extended to the finish.

With all three boats now tied with two race wins each, the final race became an all-or-nothing finale in which the tables turned on the very last windward leg.

Today’s very light airs – the breeze rarely reached six knots – made for slow-motion action, yet markedly raised the tension both for the competing teams and for onlookers. Artemis again had superior boat speed after the start and maintained a loose cover on John B, with Ali Baba slower round the first lap.

The two leaders tacked onto starboard at the start of the final upwind leg, while Ali Baba again split off to the side, this time going to the right. She then hooked into an advantageous wind shift, accompanied by marginally more breeze and by the end of the second beat had converted a 12 length deficit into an equally large lead that she held to the finish.

“We missed out in the first two races today,” says Flavio Marazzi, “and in the last one Kristian was already gone and ahead, so we tried to stay in the game and go extreme. That’s all we could do with the two boats going left. Then the wind went all the way right on the second upwind. Sometimes you are lucky and this was the time we got it right.

“We knew that the wind would shift to the right, but you can never really know when – it was super light, between two and four knots, and almost the Swiss lake conditions I don’t really like. I come here for a breeze to sail in full hiking conditions and that’s what we will hopefully get next week for the world championship.”

This week was the first time Eline and Julie, his 14 and 16 year old daughters, had won a race at a 5.5 Metre regatta, yet alone the whole event. “We didn’t really think that we could ever win,” says Julie. “For us it was like, we started this, we’re going to end it and it’s our first Scandinavian Gold Cup, so we’re just going to pull through till the end and see how it turns out. Winning it is obviously amazing, so we’re very happy.”

Today’s result also means three generations of the Marazzi family have won the trophy – Flavio was crewing for his father when they won it in Sydney some 20 years ago.

The older Evolution and Classic boats have also been competing this week, ahead of next week’s world championship, which is also hosted by the Yacht Club de l’Odet in Benodet, south Brittany.

Two boats in these divisions put in stunning performances to win their six race no discard series with an unbroken run of first places. Another Ali Baba, previously owned by Flavio Marazzi’s father and now sailed by former Olympic Star class sailor Wolf-Eberhard Richter, with Beata Kallkowski and Jorg Grunewald, won the Hankø Evolution Cup. Italian boat Manuela V (Guido Tommasi, Matteo Barison and Andrea Racchelli) also proved unbeatable in the Royal Haag Classic Cup.

Click for full results: https://www.yco-voile.fr/documents-onb/

L’australien Ku-Ring-Gai III est champion du monde 2024, à Bénodet

Par Robert Deaves

Ku-Ring-Gai III wins 2024 world championship, with final two races sailed in heavy airs in Benodet

Ku-Ring-Gai III wins 2024 world championship, with final two races sailed in heavy airs in Benodet

Despite never winning a race, Ku-Ring-Gai lll (John Bacon, Joost Houweling and Edward Wright) sailed an impressively consistent series in a fleet that’s fiercely competitive, yet also has an enviable level of camaraderie.

Bacon’s team was the sole one to count only top five results and only one other boat, Artemis (Kristian Nergaard, Johan Barne and Trond Solli-Saether), made it through the championship with a scoreline entirely inside the top 10. Nevertheless, overall victory was never a foregone conclusion for Ku-Ring-Gai III, as they picked up a disqualification for a start line infringement under the U flag in the second race. As a result, unlike many of the top boats, Bacon’s team didn’t have the luxury of being able to discard a lack lustre race.

“We had no room for error today and there was lots of wind,” says Bacon, “but we had two good races, with a couple of moments where it didn’t look so good. Most of the day we went pretty well, in solid breeze and rain. The rest of the regatta was pretty light – we were good in that and today we were even pretty good in the heavy air.

“We’ve had five or six years in 5.5s now and I can’t believe we just won a world championship – I’m just so glad to be here,” he adds. “I’ve stood on a lot of shoulders to get here – we’ve got a great crew, with two good guys who got me off the start and made me look good, so I’m absolutely delighted. It was a great regatta, with 10 races and a bit of every weather.”

The Jean Genie (Peter Morton, Andrew Palfrey, Ruairidh Scott) excelled in today’s stronger winds, winning both races by a comfortable margin. In doing so they became the only boat at the championship to win three races. “After being here for 12 days, we got the conditions we like, which is 16–17 knots of breeze and we loved it,” says Morton. “It was rainy and a little bit cold, but still worth it with the breeze and the boat just loves those sort of conditions. We felt pretty comfortable today, especially in the second race.”

Nevertheless, in that race there was a wind shift to the right when The Jean Genie was on the left and side of the course. “At the top mark Kristian Nergaard (Artemis) was pretty close,” continues Morton, “and at the end of the run we had maybe 10 metres. Then we went right on the second beat and ended up 100 metres in front, which was a nice, comfortable lead to take down to the finish.” However, today’s performance was not enough to elevate The Jean Genie into a podium position and she finished the regatta in fifth place overall.

Two second places today lifted Artemis to second overall, eight points behind Ku-Ring-Gai lll. Artemis also didn’t win a race, but was nevertheless impressively consistent, with five podium results and she never finished outside of the top eight.

“It’s been a long week with lots of different conditions – we had light airs and a couple of days with some good pressure, but today was the heavier day,” says Nergaard. “I think we’ve seen that all the top boats there had really high numbers at some point. John Bacon’s Australian team was vulnerable, given that they had a black flag on the first day, but they seemed to just be very consistent and did a fantastic job. They were always in the right place, especially in light airs, always on the right side, and they had a huge lead before the last day.”

Aspire (Przemek Gacek, Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Kilian Weise) took third overall in Gacek’s first 5.5 Metre world championship as helm, much to his delight, while Ali Baba (Flavio Marazzi, Julie Marazzi and Eline Marazzi) was fourth.

The accolade for first Corinthian team – equally as much of an achievement as winning the overall title – went to John B (Gavin McKinney, Lars Horn Johannessen and Mathias Dahlman), with Marie-Françoise XXII  (Jürg Menzi, Jürgen Eiermann and Kim Chabani) second and Shaolin (Patrick Zaugg, Andreas Kindlimann and Hans von Werdt) third.

Manuela V (Guido Tommasi, Matteo Barison and Andrea Racchelli) lead the classic fleet in a boat he has owned for a couple of decades and completely restored. ChlikaChlikaChlika (Antonin Radue, Pascal Radue and Patrick Huguenin) took victory in the Evolution division, ahead of another Ali Baba (Wolf-Eberhard Richter, Beata Kallkowski and Joerg Gruenwald), and Joker (Adrien Polaillon, Eric Polaillon and Jean-Baptiste Polaillon).

“This project is all about youth trying to learn about boats and to recover a nice old boat,” says Pascal Radue of ChlikaChlikaChlika. “It was an ex world championship winning boat from 1989 that hadn’t been really sailed properly for about 25 years. We refurbished it with a bunch of young people, including my two sons, who did it in a very young boatyard that just opened a few years ago and they learned a lot. It’s the first time we’ve competed in a 5.5 Metre regatta like this – it’s a nice atmosphere, we were in an absolutely stunning location and the organisation at the Yacht Club de l’Odet was very, very well done.”

Next year’s 5.5 Metre world championship will be held in Sopot, Poland and will be organised by Przemek Gacek, who helmed Aspire this year, while the 2026 event will be in Athens.

Open de France 5.5 – open métrique, Port-Louis du 26 au 29 mai / inscriptions ouvertes!

L’open métrique 2023 se courra encore à Port-Louis, après l’excellent succès de la première édition l’an dernier! Le club organisateur sera cette fois l’expérimenté Centre Nautique de Lorient, expert des régates de haut niveau dans les Coureaux. Port-Louis est juste le port le plus sympathique et le plus accueillant de cette rade, en plus d’être le mieux placé, proche de la sortie, à l’abri du courant… Certes la remontée de la rade et du Blavet est superbe, mais peu prendre un peu de temps contre le courant!

Korrigan (FRA 19) et Auguste 1er (FRA 47) attendent de pied ferme (hé oui, encore au sec: laques et vernis) leurs camarades et concurrents!

La concurrence de calendrier entre les mondiaux à Porto Cervo et les régates royales de Cannes ne permettent pas d’y courir cette année l’Open de France: c’est donc à Port-Louis que celui se tiendra. La première cible est celle d’un plateau plus nombreux que la flotte australienne! Et que les 8 mètres qui s’annoncent en nombre…

Avis de course:

Français: 4d8881_94bee710ba3e44c996765fbf537f5204.pdf (challengemetrique.fr)

Anglais: 4d8881_4e2c3262f76349ca8f597830edbebad2.pdf (challengemetrique.fr)

Logistique et autres données pratiques:

Open-Logistic | Challenge Metrique

Nouvelle saison 2023: des calendriers de régates très denses!

Pour cette saison 2023, le calendrier de régate est encore plutôt dense! On ne peut pas dire que notre classe et nos flottes manquent d’activité…

Il y en a pour toutes les ambitions: des retrouvailles sur l’eau aux régates internationales de plus haut niveau. Pour la côte Atlantique, le challenge métrique commence par l’open métrique de Port-Louis. Complété d’évènements originaux comme la semaine du Golfe et les voiles de la Citadelle, cela donne des occasions pour notre flotte de se retrouver quasiment tous les WE, de la mi-mai à la mi-août!

Côté international, cela commence dès la fin du mois d’avril et emmènera la flotte jusqu’au mondial à Porto Cervo en fin septembre (celui-ci s’annonce plutôt exceptionnel!).

CATEGORY A

26-28 February, 5.5m Australian Championship, Pittwater, Newport, NSW, Australia, RPAYC Website
27-29 April, Alpen Cup, CVT, Torbole, ITA (5-Nations 1) Register
26-29 May, Open de France, Atlantique, FRA (5-Nations 2) Website
3-4 June, Italian Open, Mandello del Lario, Lago di Como, ITA
9-11 June [8th craning, check in, dinner], Robbe & Berking Sterling Cup, Glücksburg, FSC, GER Manage2Sail
22-25 June, North American Spring Regatta, Lake Huron, Midland Bay, Midland (MBSC), Ontario, CAN
23-25 June, Salzkammergutpreis, AUT (5-Nations 3) Entry
19-20 August, Swiss Open, Grandson, Lake Neuchâtel, SUI (follows Joran Cup in CAT B) (5-Nations 4)
21-25 August, North American Fall Regatta, Lake Huron, Midland Bay, Midland (MBSC), Ontario, CAN
25-27 August, German Open, DTYC, Tutzing, GER (5-Nations 5) Club page Manage2Sail
20-29 September, Scandinavian Gold Cup and World Championship (event page)
YCCS, Costa Smerelda, Porto Cervo, Sardinia.  PROPOSAL (1.8mb PDF)
     Scandinavian Gold Cup and Class Cups: https://www.yccs.it/en/regattas-2023/international_55_metre_class__scandinavian_gold_cup-3312.html
     5.5 Metre World Championship: https://www.yccs.it/regate-2023/international_55_metre_class__world_championship-3311.htm
20 September Day 1: Registration + measurement
     21 September Day 2: Racing SGC and 5.5 Cups
     22 September Day 3: Racing SGC and 5.5 Cups
     23 September Day 4: Racing SGC and 5.5 Cups + registration + measurement
     24 Lay day (reserve day SGC) + registration + measurement
     25 September Day 5: Racing World Championship
     26 September Day 6: Racing World Championship
     27 September Day 7: Racing World Championship
     28 September Day 8: Racing World Championship
     29 September Day 9: Racing World Championship (Craning and Prizegiving)
14-15 October, Herbstpreis, Thun, SUI Club website Manage2Sail

CATEGORY B
3-5 March, St. Johann i. Pongau, AUT
31 March-2 April, Genoa Sailing Week. YCI, ITA Details
7-8 April, Osterregatta, Thun, SUI Manage2Sail
6-7 May, Volpina Trophy, Cerro di Laveno, Lake Maggiore, ITA
11-12 May, Coupe de Rolle, Lake Geneva, Rolle (SNR) Manage2Sail
13-14 May, Coupe de la Harpe, Lake Geneva, Rolle (SNR) Manage2Sail
27-29 May, International Whitsun Open, Rapperswil, Lake Zürich, SUI
27-29 May, Bronia Preis, Glücksburg, FSC, GER Manage2Sail
23-25 June RDV de la Belle Plaisance, Benodet, FRA
2 July, Berlin Klassic / VVSaW, Wannsee, Berlin, GER [5.5mR Classic & wooden Evo's & wooden Modern]  Manage2Sail
7-9 July, Berliner Bar 5.5mR & 6mR, Berlin, GER Manage2Sail
14-16 July, Trinité sur mer: Metric Challenge, FRA
29-31 July, Noirmoutier island: Metric Challenge, FRA
17-18, August, Joran Cup, Grandson, Lake Neuchâtel, SUI (precedes Swiss Open in CAT A)
28-30 August, Enoshima Trophy, DTYC, Tutzing, GER Club page Manage2Sai
7-8 October, Sünnschien Preis, NRV, Hamburg Alster, GER Manage2Sail

 

Les nouvelles de la classe internationale – avril 2023

La dernière lettre d’info de la classe, par Robert Deaves:

Int. 5.5 Metre News – April 2023 (mailchi.mp)

Porto Cervo • Pic Rolex/Borlenghi Int. 5.5 Metre News – April 2023 Dear all 5.5 Metre sailors, Most of the events for 2023 are now fixed and entries are open. The International race programme has been published on the website for 2023 and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at all 5.5 organised regattas. A lot of work goes into these, and the race organisers need all the support they can get. The first event of the was in Pittwater with Ku-Ring-Gai winning the Australian Championship again. Reports, results and more photos on the website here and here. A new issue of the fivepointfive magazine is being prepared. If you have any news stories or items for inclusion please send them to Robert as soon as possible at: [e-mail] SCANDINAVIAN GOLD CUP AND WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP These will be hosted by the Yacht Club Costa Smerelda in Porto Cervo, Sardinia. Entries are open on the following event webpages. Scandinavian Gold Cup: https://www.yccs.it/en/regattas-2023/international_55_metre_class__scandinavian_gold_cup-3312.html 5.5 Metre World Championship: https://www.yccs.it/regate-2023/international_55_metre_class__world_championship-3311.htm ALPEN CUP, TORBOLE • 27-29 April The first major European event of the year and the first event of the 5 Nations Cup. Entry form – 13 entries so far – and Notice of Race published here. FRENCH OPEN • 26-29 May The French Open has a new venue this year, the home of the Atlantic coast 5.5 Metre fleet. Second event of the 5 National Cup. Website and more information here ITALIAN OPEN, COMO • 3-4 June The Italian Open moves to the beautiful Lake Como and Weil be held at Mandello del Lario. More details soon ROBBE & BERKING STERLING CUP • 9-11 June Always a firm favourite, racing alongside the 12 Metre class on the Flensborg Fjord. Entry form and more details here. SALZKAMMERGUTPREIS • 23-25 June As usual, hosted by the Union Yacht Club, Traunsee, AUT. It is the third event of the 5 Nations Cup. Notice of Race and Entry Form here. SWISS OPEN, GRANDSON • 19-20 August After many requests the fleet is heading to Grandson on Lake Neuchâtel for what looks like an amazing event. It will be immediately preceded by the two day Joran Cup from 17-18, August. More details soon. GERMAN OPEN, TUTZING • 25-27 August The German Open is on the Starnberger See, Germany’s second largest lake and comes just after the Swiss Open for a solid block of 5.5 Metre sailing. Entry form and Notice of Race here. HERBSPREIS, THUNERSEE • 14-15 October The last major event of the year is the traditional Herbspreis on the beautiful Lake Thun. Entry form and more details here Thanks to the following suppliers and companies for their support:

Follow the Int. 5.5 Metre Class Class Website Facebook Fleet Database Photos Twitter Instagram Copyright © 2023 5.5mR Class Association, All rights reserved.

La saison 2023 a débuté down under: la preuve qu’en 5.5, la jeunesse ne fait pas tout!

Antipodes obligent, la saison annuelle des régates commence toujours par l’Australie…

Le championnat d’Australie s’est tenu du 26 au 28 février dernier, à Pittwater, de nouveau organisé par le Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club qui a réuni une belle flotte de douze 5.5, mélange de classiques, évolutions et modernes. Exactement le genre de flotte que l’on souhaite avoir en France pour les régates de cette nouvelle saison !

Comme quoi la jeunesse des plans ne fait pas tout, c’est un évolution qui remporte la mise! Ku-Ring-Gai (AUS 62) est un Meier-Schmidt fameux, ex-SUI 187 the Sting…

Compte-rendu détaillé: 2023 News (5class.org)

Open de France 2022: les vainqueurs!

La flotte aurait pu être numériquement plus nombreuse… mais elle n’aurait guère pu être de meilleure qualité!
Sa composition est un échantillon qui reflète bien la classe des 5.5, courant tous en temps réel, que ce soit classiques, modernes ou évolutions.

Sur un effectif de 12, nous avions ainsi:
- 7 modernes: SUI 201, NED 26, SUI 213, FRA 63, POL 17, NOR 68, BAH 25;
- 3 évolutions: FRA 43, SUI 175, GER 84;
- 2 classiques: GER 111 (vintage), GER 117 (modifié).
Le tout pour la représentation de 7 nations: FRA, SUI, GER, POL, NOR, BAH, NED.

Certes le podium est-il très moderne: on retient cependant de ces équipages l’expérience et l’excellent niveau d’entraînement! Ainsi Aspire – POL 17 s’octroit de nouveau la victoire en championnat de France, talonné par New Moon III – BAH 25 et Otto – NOR 68.

On notera aussi la très bonne performance d’Ali Baba – GER 84, qui se permet de passer le premier une première bouée au vent… Et accroche sérieusement la tête de flotte sur toutes les manches, étant ainsi le meilleur évolution. Le safran d’Alzira – GER 117 est peut-être ce qui lui permet de passer devant Rush VI – GER 111, un Ohlson pourtant exceptionnel au solide palmarès, notamment sous son précédent pavillon finlandais. En même temps, Alzira est dans un état impeccable, avec un excellent niveau de préparation!

Une excellente édition, qui ne prête qu’à souhaiter que, pour une prochaine édition, une telle flotte ne soit que la flotte française à laquelle s’adjoindrait le même effectif international!

Modernes (FRA 63, SUI 213), classique (GER 111), évolutions (GER 84, SUI 175) et modernes (BAH 25, POL 17), par Robert Deaves

Open de France – régates royales de Cannes: le polonais Aspire défend son titre de champion de France!

Par Robert Deaves – le 23 septembre 2022

Aspire chases New Moon

Aspire defends French Open title at Regates Royales in Cannes Aspire (POL 17, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Przemysław Gacek, Flavio Marazzi) has retained 5.5 Metre French Open title they won in 2021 after the final two races were sailed on Friday at the Regates Royales in Cannes. New Moon III (BAH 25, Mark Holowesko, Christoph Burger, Peter Vlasov) finished second while Otto (NOR 68, Bent Christian Wilhelmsen, Herve Cunningham, Lasse Berthelsen) finished third. Both are also former winners here, but the Polish team was unmatched this year, with great speed, manoeuvres, and almost flawless tactics. After a delay on shore to wait for wind, the fleet was sent out around midday in a slowly building breeze, but it was one of those hot, light wind days in Cannes and it never really developed to anything substantial. Pressure from the left and the right mixed the fleet but Aspire still led round and extended for a big win in Race 6 to wrap up the series with a race to spare. New Moon and Otto battled hard for second with New Moon crossing just ahead. All teams sailed the final race, even though the series was settled, with the weather mark set under the lee of the island after a 40-degree shift as the thermal wind started to build. New Moon started well and led all the way, though several times she let Aspire strike out alone and only stayed ahead because they crossed at the top, New Moon had right of way. But it was enough and they had legs downwind to build a gap. On the last downwind they extended to about 6-7 boatlengths to win the final race, and close the series. Aspire was second and Otto again third.

Highlights from Day 4 • https://youtu.be/O2fq1jRu2N0

Team Aspire

The first Evolution was Ali Baba (GER 84 Wolf-Eberhard Richter, Beata Kallkowski, Oliver Weiss) who also finished fiftgh overall, and had a great week, often competing equally with many of the moderns.The first Classic was Alzira (SUI 20/GER 117, Olaf Schulz, Holger Bock, Florian Hentschel). Alzira is actually owned by Jörg Sonntag, who this was helming No Stress, SUI 201/GER 122, a modern 5.5 Metre which has recently moved to Germany. As SUI 201 No Stress is a former double world championship winning boat with Jürg Menzi but was recently bought by Schulz.Sailing with Sonntag was a 21-year-old Bundesliga sailor, Jacob Rek, normally seen on a J 70. He has been sailing 5.5 Metres for around 2 years, crewing for Sonntag, and is really enjoying the racing and looking forward to doing more in the future. Jörg Sonntag’s daughter, Sandra Sonntag, also joined him for some racing this week and sums up why so many love sailing the 5.5 Metre in Cannes She said, “The speed, the competition and the camaraderie. It’s a lot of fun. You definitely have to be very alert. We have good chemistry on the boat and good peers on the other boats, so it’s also the culture. I love sailing 5.5 Metres because they are fast. They are wonderful boats.” “My dad starting sailing 5.5s in 2004. He sails a modern as well as the Classic Alzira. I join him once in a while. I was last here in Cannes in 2018. Cannes is beautiful. Everyone should come and visit in September, wonderful sailing and beautiful boats.” The 5.5 Metre Class hopes to return to Cannes again in 2024. Unfortunately in 2023, the Regates Royales clashes with the 5.5 Metre Scandinavian Gold Cup and World Championship in Porto Cervo, Sardinia. Meanwhile, the 2022 5.5 Metre international circuit concludes in two weeks’ time at the Herbstpreis on the Thunersee in Switzerland. Final results 1 Aspire (POL 17, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Przemysław Gacek, Flavio Marazzi) 7 2 New Moon III (BAH 25, Mark Holowesko, Christoph Burger, Peter Vlasov) 10 3 Otto (NOR 68, Bent Christian Wilhelmsen, Herve Cunningham, Lasse Berthelsen) 16 4 Pungin (SUI 213, Hans-Peter Schmid, Gilbert Dürr, Walter Dürr) 25 5 Ali Baba (GER 84, Wolf-Eberhard, Richter Beata Kallkowski, Oliver Weiss) 32 Full results here: https://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/RR2022#!/results?classId=95153101-9b4c-492d-870d-b0438cc4f35d Photo gallery here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fivepointfivemetre/albums/72177720302335029

Race 7

Feng Shui

Ali Baba and Bellagioia II

5.5 Metre fleet in Cannes (photo supplied)

Enez C’las II

5.5 Metre fleet in Cannes (photo supplied)

Close downwind in Race 6

No Stress

Aspire chases New Moon

Cheers!

 

Open de France – régates royales de Cannes: retour en été et confortable avance pour Aspire

Par Robert Deaves – le 22 septembre 2022

Aspire Three races and three wins for Aspire on third day in Cannes Aspire (POL 17, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Przemysław Gacek, Flavio Marazzi) has made it four wins in a row at the 2022 5.5 Metre French Open at the Regates Royales in Cannes after two more race wins on Thursday, with just one day left to sail. New Moon III (BAH 25, Mark Holowesko, Christoph Burger, Peter Vlasov) move up to second with two second places while Otto (NOR 68, Bent Christian Wilhelmsen, Herve Cunningham, Lasse Berthelsen) drop to third with two third places. The third day in Cannes was a glorious day for sailing, with more wind and sunshine than forecast and three great races. A third, non-counting race was a Tour des Isles, a coastal race between the islands of Ste Marguerite and Saint Honorat, that lie just off the Cannes coastline. Aspire had the upper hand in both points races, extending away for a comfortable win in the first and then a much closer win in the second. New Moon challenged for a while in the second race but the final beat put them back in fourth at the top, and they had to pull out all the stops on the final downwind to regain second, all down to the last approach to the gate, which they got spot on. The fleet then joined with the Dragons for the Tour des Iles race around the islands, which proved more interesting than many expected. New Moon, helmed by Christoph Burger, led to the first mark, only to lose the lead to Aspire, helmed by Przemysław Gacek, but regained it while sailing down the channel between the islands. Then, on the final leg back to a finish line off the port entrance, Aspire went slightly higher and benefitted from getting the puffs first and slowly regained the lead, crossing the finish line ahead by little more than a boat length. Highlights from Day 3 • https://youtu.be/3jJW05hSDa8 New Moon III Kusznierewicz explained the day, “We are really enjoying Cannes, Regates Royales, it is such beautiful racing here. Actually it’s also quite physical because we had a nice breeze from the east from 14-16 knots, but the wind is changing so it makes the racing interesting. The fleet sometimes keeps very close to each other and sometimes separates.“We had two up and down races today, which we had the great pleasure to win then we sailed round the islands, which is something new to us. But we enjoyed it, but this was the first race where Przemek was steering. Actually, we as team Aspire have a programme to bring Przemek on the helm. So far I was steering and he was learning and now he was steering. It was a very tight race with the New Moon team and just at the end we won! So for Przemek it will be a big celebration today.”Bellagioia II (SUI 175 Frédéric De Rutté, Matthieu Mac Gillycuddy, Frédéric Saudan) is in seventh place, the second of the three Evolutions taking part this week.De Rutté  said, “I am enjoying Cannes very much. I was here several times in the 1980s and back then we only sailed metre class boats  here, 12 metres, 6 metres and a lot of 5.5s. So this year I came back to enjoy the atmosphere of Cannes. We had a very nice day today. Yesterday we did not sail because it was too strong and today we had a lot of waves. We don’t get so much on our lake, but it was quite OK. In general we are very happy to be here. “We have been sailing the boat since 2007, and before that we had a Chance boat from 1976. I’ve been sailing 5.5s for 45 years.”   Built in cold laminated mahogany in 1992 by Chantier Naval Kolly near Geneva, Bellagioia II is a Philippe Meier and Sebastien Schmidt design. “The boat was designed more for light winds because it is a little bit smaller, but today we were quite happy with the performance of the boat.” After five races Aspire has a three-point lead with just two races to sail. Racing in Cannes concludes on Friday with light wind forecast. Results after 5 races 1 Aspire (POL 17, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Przemysław Gacek, Flavio Marazzi) 4 2 New Moon III (BAH 25, Mark Holowesko, Christoph Burger, Peter Vlasov) 7 3 Otto (NOR 68, Bent Christian Wilhelmsen, Herve Cunningham, Lasse Berthelsen) 10 4 Pungin (SUI 213, Hans-Peter Schmid, Gilbert Dürr, Walter Dürr) 17 5 Ali Baba (GER 84, Wolf-Eberhard, Richter Beata Kallkowski, Oliver Weiss) 18 Full results here: https://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/RR2022#!/results?classId=95153101-9b4c-492d-870d-b0438cc4f35d Photo gallery here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fivepointfivemetre/albums/72177720302306752 Bellagioia II Alzira Tour des Isles race Rush VI No Stress Ali Baba Enez C’las II Pungin Otto