Foto copyright P. Garenne / GPO
Fuente info Sailworld
Class40 World Championship winner decided
Mundial 40’ Gijon - Class40 World Championship.
Thierry Bouchard on Mistral Loisirs-Pôle Santé Elior can be happy about his new Akilaria RC2 and his crew. He came to test himself against the other Class40s and to test the assets of his new boat and ended up coming first in the last round of this World Championship, beating Jean-Edouard Criquioche’s Groupe Picoty and Gonzalo Botin’s Tales.
Third today was the Spanish team who stay at the top of the podium and become the new Class40 World Champions. The French team onboard Mistral Loisirs-Pôle Santé Elior were just two point behind, while the previous title-holder Ned Collier-Wakefield, Concise 2, was nine points back. Thomas Ruyant’s Destination Dunkerque scores fourth in front of Vecteur Plus, Sam Manuard, fifth.
Five races including two coastal courses took place on the waters of Gijon during this championship. Five boats quickly took the lead and the consistency award goes to… Gonzalo Botin on Tales. He scored three seconds, one first and one third.
Thierry Bouchard on Mistral Loisirs-Pôle Santé Elior scored 1,1,3,3,4. For Ned Collier-Wakefield on Concise 2, his eighth place in yesterday’s coastal course cost him dearly; 1,1,4,5,8.
Gonzalo Botin (Tales), Class40 World Champion in 2010: 'We only got to enjoy the victory once we were back in the port. This adds one more victory to our credit but this one is an important one for the Class40, which is quite recent. Today was tight, the breeze was very light, and we almost didn’t make it. Our main opponant was really close behind. Fort he first time we were not first to reach the windward mark, but we managed to catch up and get back on top. As I said yesterday, we had to get through today to see what we are capable of. We were consistent and it all worked out. Today we were third but we did better on the previous races. Nothing was ever sure. We fought against several countries and I am really happy about this outcome. This Lombard Design deck is really good and has just been picked out to be produced in series. I hope this victory contributes to developing the Class40 in Spain. The boats are easy, fun and adaptable. It’s a wonderful result that adds up to the rest of the Spanish victories in many sports.'
Thierry Bouchard (Mistral Loisirs-Pôle Santé Elior), second in the overall ranking: 'We are rather happy about this result. But most of all the boat went quite fast and we really enjoyed ourselves. We were able to compare our boat to the others, which was one of the reasons for coming here. We usually sail in the Mediterranean so it was interresting to see the boats on the Atlantic. We still have some things to work on though, like the speed under spinnaker. For the moment we are preparing the boat for single-handed sailing because I’m leaving tonight for the Fastnet in Ireland, this is part of the qualifications for the Route du Rhum.'
Ned Collier Wakefield (Concise 2), third in the overall ranking: 'We’re a bit disappointed of course, we didn’t do as well as we could have. It all came down to the weather, the light breeze didn’t favour us. We had about 15 knots of wind yesterday, and scored two bullets. We just needed the same conditions today. Plus, there were very good sailors here for this competition, the Spanish sailed really well. It was a beautiful race, congratulations to them. And we really enjoyed being in Spain. Now we’re getting back to England and we’ll do the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race, and a lot more races. Then we will be here next year for the 2011 Class40 World Championship on our new boat, the Concise 3, this way we can get our title back.'
General Rankings - Mundial 40’ Gijon after 5 races:
1. ESP65 – TALES (Gonzalo Botin) – 10 points
2. FRA83 – MISTRAL LOISIRS-POLE SANTÉ ELIOR (Thierry Bouchard) – 12 points
3. GBR93 - CONCISE 2 (Ned Collier Wakefield) – 19 points
4. FRA88 – DESTINATION DUNKERQUE (Thomas Ruyant) – 21 points – OCS en cours
5. SMR84 – VECTEUR PLUS (Sam Manuard) – 31 points
6. FRA85 - GROUPE PICOTY (Jean-Edouard Criquioche) – 33 points
7. GER66 – RED (Mathias Müller) – 35 points - OCS en cours
8. GBR90 – 40 DEGREES (Peter Harding) – 37 points
9. NED75 – MOONPALACE (Adriaan Van Oord & Roeland Frassens) – 43 points
10. FRA26 – MARIE TOIT-CAEN LA MER (Marc Lepesqueux) – 49 points
11. RSA23 – PHESHEYA RACING (Nick Leggatt) – 49 points
12. FRA91 – KOGANE (Patrice Bougard) – 51 points
13. FRA56 – NEURODON.FR/ESPOIR EN TETE (Christian Chardonnal) – 66 points
14. FRA20 – AUX FILLES DE L’EAU (Anna Corbella) – 69 points
