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Daily
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Day Five cancelled for lack of wind.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
The final 2 Races, 15 and 16, were not sailed and the Championship is over. |
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Day Four
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Race 11 - won by Jon Emmett
(Races from the three previous days can be found by scrolling down below)
Jon started the day where he left off yesterday by making it five firsts in a row. He also won the 14th race but that still left him a point out of third. The two firsts were pulled off in the most difficult conditions Kingston has to offer - a north west wind behind a cold front that passed through in the morning. When this happens in Kingston, the offshore wind produces shifts of up to 25 degrees and, yesterday, frequent and sudden occillations in wind strength between 6 and 18 knots. Boat speed becomes secondary to "sailing smart". Below, the first start was clean.
 Despite a so-so start, Emmett arrives at the weather mark overlapped with current regatta leader Daren Choy SIN55  They are closely followed by Nathan Tang SIN1  Bermudan Owen Siese BER3050 arrives at the weather mark in 7th after a "smart" leg. He would end up 6th matching his best finish of 6th in the fourth race.
 A little further back Marina Maffesanti JAM3105 leads Elizabeth Wauchope CAY3063 and Ruth Ho SIN8  Playing the shifts better than the rest, Jon Emmett arrives at the weather mark the second time alone in first but with Darren Choy SIN 5 (out of the picture) not far behind.  Starting down the last run, two Bermudans who would finish 6th and 7th - Owen Siese BER3050 and Brian Bulhoes BER 3062. Brian is currently the top Bermudan in 14th place  Michael Louzada BRA1111 was looking for strong finishes to complement his good day on the water yesterday. Here he is in 8th, just ahead of Najwa Jumali SIN to weather and Denise Chagas BRA2220 to leeward. These two would end up 9th and 10th
Emmett holds off Choy on the run, rounds the leeward mark just clear ahead and holds his position on the short sprint to the line. 
Race 12 - won by Michael Louzada BRA
This is Michael's second World Championship but his first win! He had to work for it as the Singapore and Bermudan sailors behind him were marginally faster in the lighter patches.
Another clean start to race 12
First time up, Louzada BRA1111 is second as they plane away from the weather mark. He would lose a Owen Siese BER on this reach and start the second beat in 3rd. 
Second time up, he is in first  However, there were, left to right, two Singapore and one Bermudan sailor very close behind 
Louzada BRA gets his first WC gun  Owen Siese BER with third place and his best race of the regatta 
It was getting a bit chilly for Owen Siese of the Burmuda contingent here lunching between starts!  Race 13 - won by Terrence Choo SIN
This race was all Singapore, all the way, with the only challenge in the top 15 places coming from Brian Bulhoes BER in 9th, Fabio Ramos BRA in 10th and Sarah Douglas CAN in 15th. Darren continued his consistent finishes with another 2nd putting him almost out of reach.
Below at the first mark - nothing but Singapore! The rest of the fleet. Emmett GBR, extreme right, was down about 14th.
 Second windward mark, Terrence Choo SIN has opened up a small lead and it was enough to hold off Choy SIN in second place.
The only two boats to challenge the top 10 - Fabio Ramos BRA, (3rd in the Worlds in Thailand), and Brian Bulhoes BER3062 in 9th and 10th. They would reverse positions on the run to the finish
The last run to the finish. Geneve Teo SIN3, Denise Chagas BRA2220, Marina Maffesanti JAM3105 and Sarah Douglas CAN2683 Race 14 - Won by Jon Emmett GBR
This would be Emmett's 6th win in his last 8 races and would bring him within a point of 3rd but still with no hope of catching the current leader Darren Choy SIN and defending his 2008 World Championship
The last start of the day - clean.
Ian Barrows ISV8008 covers Terrence Choo SIN55 going in to the top mark. Emmett GBR3074 is close behind
Emmett GBR in 3rd around the first weather mark behind Ian Barrows ISV8008, who lead, and Terrence Choo SIN10. Emmett would pass both sailors on the last beat when they both overstood the weather mark. Barrows would finish 2nd and Choo 3rd.
Sarah Douglas CAN2683, up with series leader Darren Choy SIN55 after her best windward leg of the series. Chai Xun SIN6 follows
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Day Three (Scroll down for Days 1 and 2)
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Race 7 - Won by Jon Emmett GBR
The Kingston thermal arrived but it did not wait for its usual 1:00 pm appearance. By the start of Race 7, winds were in the 14 -16 knot range and the RC set a double sausage for the race. The fleet got away on the first start with Ian Barrows ISV again down at the pin. This time he got it as seen in the sequence below but note the start of Ling Ying Koh SIN18 in the centre of the line, taking full advantage of the sag.
Below. GUN!!
With the wind came a dramatic change in the leader board. At the end of the first sausage, defending champ Jon Emmett GBR had a huge lead over all but Brazilian sailor Michael Louzada and it looked like a replay of some of their races in Weymouth in 2008. Below, they approach the bottom mark with no other sailors in sight. In fact, Jon had turned over at the start of the run! While swimming, Michael passed him but, seen here, Jon had regained the lead by the bottom mark.
A full round later, again at the bottom mark before coming across to the finish line, the positions are the same but Michael has whittled down Jon's lead a little - but not enough!
Below, Jon planes in to the finish.
Below, Michael comes in to the finish in second with the lead boats of the fleet approaching the leeward mark (out of sight on the left of the photo).
Jeremiah Yeo SIN11 finishes 3rd with his best race of the series.
Najwa Jumali SIN2 comes in 5th.
Darren Choy SIN55, the current leader of the regatta after the day's racing, comes in 6th.
Nathan Tang SIN1 is 7th.
Mark Wong SIN9 is 12th.
Brazilian Denise Chagas comes in 13th. At day's end she was third behind Germaine Teo SIN12 and Najwa Jumali SIN2 in the women's overall standings and, at age 45, she is leading the Master's Tropy (for sailors over 40). Race 8 - won by Jon Emmett GBR
An apology! Shortly after the following pictures of the start sequence of Race 8 were taken, the camera man went for an unscheduled swim! As a result there is, unfortunately, no further commentary after this sequence.
Races 9 and 10 were also won by Jon Emmett giving him 4 for 4 on the day. Right behind him was Michael Louzada BRA who had a 2,2,2,8 (after a capsize while in 2nd). These two sit in 5th and 6th overall.
Starting sequence for the second start of Race 8 under the Black flag.
The boat with its nose out in front is Jon Emmett.
It is not immediately apparent from the photo above but, observed from the committee boat, it was noticably obvious that Jon Emmett, amongst the heaviest in the regatta, was sailing with more twist in his sail than even the lightest sailors in the fleet. Perhaps there is a message here for the lightweights! Flat is fast, (and a lot more comfortable!)
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Day Two
Monday, August 24, 2009
Race Three - won by Terrence Choo SIN
The forecast was calling for the Kingston thermal to arrive late in the afternoon but, prior to its arrival, there was enough air to start racing and the Committee did not want to waste it - and it does not always arrive! As a result the race was sailed in about 6 - 7 knots and flat water.
 At the start, under a black flag, Jon Emmett got pinned at the Committee end and had little choice but to head off to the right as he is seen doing below. Unfortunately, left was the way to go and he was in the teens at the weather mark. However, he sailed well and got back to 9th.
 Below, Ling Ying Koh SIN18 and Germaine Teo SIN6 lead denise Chagas BRA 2220 around the first weather mark.
 The lead pack down the first run below.
 Race Four - won by Nathan Tang SIN
This race, was also started under the black flag and, as can be seen below at the time of the gun, it was a clean start. Najwa Jumali had a spectacular start and can be seen a full boat length out in front down at the Committee boat.
 Below, right aqfter the start, both Ian Barrows ISV and Brian Bulhoes BER had good clean air but neither would capitalize on it ending up 12th and 33rd respectively.
 However, another Bermudan, Owen Siese, was having his best race of the regatta and is seen below coming into the weather mark just behind Terrence Choo SIN and Chai Xun SIN.
 Natasha Yokoyama SIN, not seen in the picture above, also gets inside Owen at the mark. He would sail a solid race and go on to finish 6. He is the top Bermudan boat at this point, sitting in 17th.
 This was supposed to be a reach, below, but a wind shift turned it into a run!
Action at the gybe mark.
Below, Owen Siese BER finishes 6th.
Sarah Douglas CAN, in 11th, leads Ian Barrows ISV, Jen Tan SIN14 and Denise Chagas BRA2220 across the finish.
 Race Five - won by Najwa Jumali SIN
Ian Barrows ISV had made up his mind that he would start at the port end and set up to leeward of the fleet with about 45 seconds to go.
 However, he was well behind the line and Natasha Yokoyama, SIN 9, hardened up over top of him and took the pin. See below
 Below, Ian still had room bertween himself and the Singapore boat and got a clean start and a good lane which he worked all the way to the top arriving at the weather mark third.
 At the weather mark it was Najwa Jumali leading but second was Brian Bulhoes from Bermuda, having his best race of the series. Below, he is seen just inside Ian Barrows ISV who is in third.  Brian Belhoes would eventually lose 2nd place to Darren Choy SIN and Ian Barrows would slip to 6th.
Race Six - won by Terrence Choo SIN
The last race was started in about 8 - 9 knots. It was a pity that nothing transpired to postpone the race because, right after the finish, the Kingston thermal arrived but, by then, the maximum prescribed four races had been sailed.
Below Michael Louzada BRA111 sets up at the Committee and gets the best start at that end. He would go on to a fifth place which he combined with a fifth in the fourth race to overtake fellow Brazilian Denise Chagas in the standings. Comentary is not available for the race but a gallery of photos follows.
     Down the last leg and across to the finish, Ian Barrows ISV is seen with his vang having separated from the mast and the large leech out of control. He would finish in 18th just behind Jon Emmett GBR, ahead of him in the photo, and Christopher Delaney CAY to leeward.
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Day One
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Race 1
Won by Mark Wong SIN
It started after a postponement as the wind clocked and faded and then finally started in very light air. Below, the fleet, after two very agressive starts, was put under the black flag and finally got away.
The wind slowly died throughout the race but the wind was not the real story!
It was a day of "firsts" for a young US Virgin Islands sailor, Ian Barrows. Sailing a Byte for the FIRST time, in his FIRST race, in the FIRST Race of the Championship, at the end of the FIRST beat, guess who arrives at the mark FIRST! Below he rounds ahead of a block of 5 Singapore sailors sailing in fairly familiar conditions for them!
The 5 Singapore sailors, seen below about to round and, coming up on port, Bermudan Owen Siese #3050.
Below, Ian's lead at the first weather mark (downwind boat on extreme right).
He held this very narrow lead all the way down to the bottom mark and started back up the second beat of the double windward/leeward in first palce, staying on port and followed closely by defending World Champion Jon Emmett from Weymouth UK who had sailed his way through the pack. The sailors behind this pair pushed off to the left and it paid off handsomely as the wind backed and stayed a little stronger on the left side. Jon extracted himself a little better rounding the top mark in 5th and holding it to the finish. Ian, however, rounded well down but sailed an excellent run back into 8th by the end.
Mark Wong of Singapore sailed by far the beat best, being the first over to the left and was never challenged to the finish. He was followed by four countrymen, Najwa Jumali, Terrence Choo and Germaine Teo and, in 6th behind Jon Emmett, Clement Lim.
Below, Mark is seen comfortably in the lead as the wind all but runs out.
Race Two
Won by Ian Barrows ISV
This race almost never happened! The wind completely died after the first race and the fleet drifted for close to an hour. The scene below was typical as Jon Emmett relaxed at a rib.
However Race Officer David Sprague kept hanging in there, even after several of the coach boats had actually collected their flock and were starting a tow home. All of a sudden, from 180 degrees to the first race, the wind filled in with boats actually starting to plane! The course was hurriedly reset and, after two false starts at what the fleet percieved to be a heavily favoured committee boat end, and then under a black flag, the race was on.
The wind had dropped well below planing to about 8 knots but it held steady the rest of the race. Below, right after the start, left to right, SIN 18 Ling Ying Koh, SIN 8 Ruth Ho,
USA 1515 Dan Ouellet from San Francisco, GBR 3054 Richard Whitehouse, CAN 2289 Violet Stafford and CAN 33 Signy Anderson.
Koh would lead all the way to the first mark but was challenged half way up the beat by Michael Louzada from Brazil (4th in the Worlds in Weymouth in 2008). Michael got out of phase and missed a port tack shift but still got around the weather mark 3rd. Below he is seen squeezing in ahead of Terrence Choo.
What is more interesting is the boat crossing just behind them, ISV sailor Ian Barrows who would round in sixth place, hold it all the way down the run and end up back at the weather mark in third place at the end of the second beat.
He sailed almost straight down the run which put him on the right side of the course. Below he is seen half way down the run, at the extreme right of the screen, at which point it was difficult to tell whether he was third or tenth as the lead boats were all gybing their way down the run in an effort to keep a clear lane.
He never wavered. He stayed on port tack all the way, sailing very deep to avoid the gybe, see below, but somehow managing to keep his cool, maintain his speed and his inside position as the boats to leeward closed in on him.
Below, he has held his position and has the inside at the last mark. A brilliant piece of sailing!
From there, it was leave the mark to port and sail 100 yards across the bow of the committee boat for his first place finish below! He now sits third overall.
Ian was followed by Terrence Choo, Clement Lim, Xun Chai, Nathan Tan and Najwa Jumali, all from Singapore.
After two races, the top six are Terrence Choo SIN, Najwa Jumali SIN, Ian Barrows ISV, Clement Lim SIN, Nathan Tang SIN and Mark Wong SIN. Elsewhere in the standings, Denise Chagas leads the Brazilians in 11th and Sarah Douglas leads the Canadians in 12th.
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