18 World's - I can't believe we won
" I am still in shock that we won. Going into the last race it seemed very unlikely. To win we would need to finish first or second and the highly polished RMW Marine team would have to sail their worst race of the series. Mike, Rod and I all had a restful night, we all seemed resolved that whatever happens will happen.
But now it is race time. Just sailing an 18 can fry your nerves, add to that a shifty puffy 20 knot southerly with RMW match racing us during the prestart and you have the perfect chemestry for a brain explosion. Mike as usual is calm, aside from his frustration that I don't know how to match race. Rod is all wound up, but that is part of being a great forward hand; keyed up and ready to explode with incredible bursts of enegy at moments notice. Luckily for us the first start is a general recall because RMW got the best of us and we were over early. On the restart we scrape RMW off on another boat but commit a foul in the process, we spin a penaly turn, reach down the line, fine a hole and got a great start. RMW has a bad start and takes a clearing tack to the right, the right works and we round the first mark in seventh with RMW in 3rd.
It looked like it was all over. But Sydney Harbor is brutal, unforgivening and a very hard place to sail, anything can happen. We manage to control our intensity, sail a great race and work our way into second. At the last leeward mark RMW is in fourth and has it won, but they get on the wrong side of a shift and lose 2 boats on the final beat to the finish. We win the World's by .35 points but are confused by the scoring and did not find out that we had won until we hit the beach. It is so emotionallly rewarding, but I can't help feeling sorry for Rob, Dan and Peter on RMW, we have experienced the disappointment of second several times in the 505."
Howie Hamlin
A clarification of the method to be used for scoring a dead heat resulted in an amended points table being issued this morning prior to the start of Heat 7. As a consequence, the points advantage of series leader RMW Marine (having been one of the boats involved in the dead heat for second place in Heat 5) was reduced by 1.35 points - not a great amount, but significant for the fact that their nearest rivals, General Electric, could now retain the championship with either a first or second place in the final heat, instead of needing to finish in first position to take the overall victory as we believed yesterday. However, it would still be necessary for General Electric to beat RMW Marine by a couple of places, which increased the pressure on them even more.
The wind was again from the south east, fairly similar in strength to yesterday, but generally a little lighter in the lulls. The number two rig was again the popular choice, with RMW Marine on this occasion going along with the majority.After the only general recall of the series, the leading group comprised Tony Hannan on Total Recall, Howie Hamlin on General Electric, Jack Young on Computer Associates and Rob Greenhalgh on RMW Marine. There was quite a lot of place changing among the group, according to the roundabouts and swings of the breeze as it fluctuated in both direction and pressure, but Total Recall retained the lead most of the time. Gradually, the General Electric team began to make second place their own, and it was up to RMW Marine to keep on their tail and perhaps overtake if they could.
Surprisingly, after the many late surges made by the Brits in earlier heats, they just did not seem to have the necessary gas today, and not only failed to make any forward progress, but lost what had seemed a safe fourth position which would have given them the championship. The late charger on this occasion was Hugh Stodart on Express Post, who passed both RMW Marine and Computer Associates, and then for good measure Michael Coxon on Casio Seapathfinder also overtook RMW Marine.
It was a great disappointment for the British team, who had worn the orange jerseys of series leaders from the third to the seventh heat, and had their hearts set on winning this famous trophy, only to see it slip through their fingers by 0.35 of a point. Were they robbed? No, certainly not - they had their chances, but did not quite manage to take them.
Howie Hamlin, Mike Martin and Rod Howell on General Electric had looked rather shaky at the beginning of the series, and seemed unlikely to be able to retain the championship. Then they came good, and secured two excellent victories and a second place when it mattered, making them worthy winners.
Overall Results: (7 races, 1 discard)