South Africa wins the Hobie World Cat 2018 ahead of Germany and Italy
It was the best starting field so far, that ever in a Hobie World Cat in the surf before Westerland / Sylt went to the start. With nearly 100 national and international titles, the 10 teams from Denmark, Hong Kong, France, South Africa, Germany, Italy, Brazil, the USA, Australia and the Netherlands were the sporting highlight of the Sylt Sailing Week 2018.
The wind & weather conditions on Sylt showed once again that everything is possible. The first races were sailed in low winds to a maximum of 10 knots, the wind refreshed within a few hours and demanded the participants a lot. But even in such demanding conditions, the 10 invited teams set the bar extremely high. “Such perfect starts, as we have seen here in Westerland, you rarely see,” said Jens Hannemann, press spokesman of PROSAIL. “All teams come to the beach within a minute to land the final sprint to the finish.”
Despite the changeable and unfamiliar weather conditions, there was always a good mood among the sailors and the audience. By the finish onshore, holidaymakers, visitors to the beach and sailing fans were able to experience the races up close. Under applause and cheers, the teams were expected by the spectators already on the beach.
Due to the sometimes very long travel of the teams, Tuesday was supposed to be the first day of sailing, but the wind longed by the sailors, didn’t arrive. However, the time was used by the sailors to build the boats and sails and to adjust to himself. The first attempts to sail a race on Tuesday were unsuccessful.
On Wednesday there was the perfect day on the water, despite the initial weak wind. There was something of everything: light wind, light wave, refreshing wind, strong gusts and an ever more uplifting wave and surf. In the first race Italy prevailed with a victory first at the top of the 10 teams. With increasing wind, the cravings of the sailors increased for more races. South Africa, the secret favorite, did not want to settle for 9th place in the first race and climbed to the top of the overall results list after 5 races on the same day.
On Thursday, the skipper meeting was already scheduled an hour earlier, as the wind should fall asleep in the afternoon. The start and the first lap were promising, but then the wind stopped, which meant a break in the race. Unfortunately, no further races were possible on this day.
By a gathering storm in the evening and to ensure the safety of the sailors and the boats, all boats were dismantled and brought behind the dike.
The storm did not cause any damage and the sailors rebuilt their boats on Friday. But the effects of the storm low ensured that both on Friday and on Saturday no races came about. The wind would have been sailable, but the wave thwarted the organizers.
On the alleged last day of the Hobie World Cat and thus also of the Sylt Sailing Week, the wind was again at its best and it could be added another 6 races in the overall standings.
The South Africans Blaine and Roxanne Kay Dodds were able to prevail against Jens Goritz and Katrin Wiese-Dohse from Germany and against Antonello Ciabatti and Luisa Mereu from Italy.
The German Jens Goritz from the island Föhr, before the day still tied with the South Africans, could not manage to keep the strong South Africans in check. After 11 races, the lead had grown to 6 points. The highly-traded Danes, just two weeks ago European champions of Hobie 16, could not meet their own expectations.
“For us organizers, it was not easy to tell the sailors that we could not get on the water for three days,” says Jens Hannemann, press spokesman for the World Cat and the Sylt Sailing Week. “But the sailors did a fantastic job and just took the time to explore the beautiful island of Sylt and party a lot.”
Willy Trautmann also draws a positive balance of the Sylt Sailing Week. “It started in Caribbean, that we had to get the big change in weather this week, of course, is very annoying, but fortunately we can not influence the weather. Our sailors, our entire team and our partners are just great. I’m looking forward to the next year. ”
More about the Hobie World Cat: www.worldcatsailing.com
contact media:
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