Racing report from Iain Murray and Andrew Palfrey

Report by Lynn Fitzgerald, World Regattas.com and Delta Lloyd Regatta

Day One - races 1 and 2:
Dressed in dry suits and fleece hats, over 566 Olympic class sailboats took to the water on Wednesday for the first day of the Delta Lloyd Regatta 2008 in Medemblick, Holland. Medemblick’s harbor is crowded with all sorts of boats that get used. Big and small, glass and wooden, you can tell that the Dutch have spent lots of time during the low light days of the winter sanding, varnishing, waxing and polishing so that they can maximize their time on the water during the summer when the sun rises early and doesn’t set until well after 10:00 pm. Some of these boats are so well maintained that they’ve been plying the Ijsselmeer and the Suydersee since the 19th century. They are a sharp and pleasant contrast to the eleven Olympic class dinghies, skiffs, sailboards and multihulls that are here.

For getting off to an early start this morning, the Stars got the best breeze of the day during their first set of races. The chilly breeze kicked up some waves and everybody warmed up under sunny skies and lots of physical activity.

It looked as if Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams (NZL) were going to be yet another team to earn two bullets today. They won the first race in moderate air that dropped to 7-8 knots by the time their long windward-leeward twice around race came to a close. They also held the lead midway through the second race that was in 6-8 knot winds. From the time that the fleet set off on their second lap of the course through the finish, they were passed by three other past world champion teams and Flavio Marazzi and Enrico DeMaria (SUI) and Tom Lofstedt and Krister Carlsson (SWE). Marazzi/DeMaria recently qualified for the Olympics with their fourth place finish at the 2008 Star Worlds and have not let up on their training. Lofstedt/Krister have been training with Sweden’s Olympic representatives Loof/Ekstrom and it shows. The 23- boat fleet is top heavy with talent.

There is a tradition at this regatta in which the winners of the day race an elimination series in mini 12 meters. They singlehand these small keelboats that are complete with a jib and a wheel rather than a tiller. Racing takes place in the basin where boathandling is at a premium because in addition to adjusting to puffs and shifts, competitors have to avoid docks, docked boats, other fleets returning from racing and cruising boats that are oblivious to the racing. Robert Scheidt proved that he can handle every boat that he gets into with aplomb. Scheidt was able to beat his final match race opponent, France’s 470 skipper Nicolas Charbonnier by a leg. Scheidt walked away from his miniature keelboat experience with wet shorts and a bottle of champagne.

Day Two - races 3 and 4:
Fair skies and a 7-8 knot easterly breeze greeted sailors this morning on the Ijsselmeer in Medemblik, Holland during the second day of the Delta Lloyd Regatta 2008. The breeze faded as the day wore on so that some of the fleets that started their sets later in the day had a difficult time finishing their races within the time limit and had to wait for the breeze to fill later in the afternoon, as was the case with the Tornados or were challenged in very light conditions. Some of the fleets experienced big enough shifts so that there were course changes, but today’s winners bested everybody by finding pressure and staying in it once they found it.

2008 Star World Champions Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki (POL) were low point in the Star fleet today with a 2,4 and moved up to 4th in the rankings. Light air speedsters Flavio Marazzi and Enrico de Maria (SUI) shot to the top of the Star fleet with a 6, 1 and are just ahead of Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams (NZL) who won today’s first race.

Positions changed considerably throughout both races and more yellow flags were handed out by the jury than usual. Today’s winner Mateusz Kusznierewicz commented on the Rule 42 calls, “the judges are very good here.” Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson (GBR) who were winning the first race of the day before they acquired their second yellow flag are smarting a bit from the resulting DNF.

The first seven positions are held by teams heading to Qingdao for the Olympics. With ten races scheduled, we’re a long way from the Medal Round, but Alexander Sclonski and Keen Frithjof (GER) are sitting in tenth with 29 points and four boats are right behind them with 30 points.

Day three - races 5 and 6
On the third day of the Delta Lloyd Regatta 2008, the sailing conditions varied from light, to medium to stronger conditions. All competitors had to adapt to the changing circumstances on the Ijsselmeer off the coast of Medemblik. The morning breeze was about 10 knots, decreasing to only 5-8 knots and picking up again to about 16 knots.

Today’s first Star race was interesting to watch. Pepper and Williams from New Zealand missed the start, because of issues with their jib halyard. And the Italians Negri/Viale had to leave the course, due to an OCS. The British Percy/Simpson were first at the upwind mark, followed by the Polish Kusznierewicz/Zycki and the Irish duo O’Leary/Milne. The Swiss leaders rounded in fifth position. The fleet split up in the second beat and it was again the British team that was leading at the top mark. The Polish World Champions 2008 were second, followed by yesterday’s leaders Marazzi and Da Maria from Italy and the Brazilians Scheidt/Prada. The top three boats battled it out on the last run. The final meters turned out to be a real photo finish, with the Swiss boat positioned windward from the others. They won the fight. Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada took the second bullet and are second overall after six results. Marazzi and De Maria remained in the lead.

Day four - races seven and eight
On the fourth day the competition heated up. The eastern breeze was a bit stronger and the water was still choppy. Match racing, OCS’s and different conditions brought some changes in ranking and leaders. Going into the final Medal Races tomorrow, the pressure is full on for the top ten ranked teams. The rest of the fleets will also do one more race. According to the weather forecast, the wind will pick up to force 5.

The second start of the Star fleet saw many OCS’s, six to be specific. The 2007 Star World Champions Scheidt and Prada (BRA) were among them and dropped to a fifth place overall.