Bergstrom takes the lead

Howard Hamlin wins the second race of the World Championship

The american Howard Hamlin, world champion in 1999, was the winner of the second race (sponsored by Casino Estoril) of the Quebramar - 505 World Championship, in Cascais.

With the wind rounding 8/10 knots, the american team Howard Hamlin / Mike Martin - world champions in 1999 and North American champions in 1996 and 1999) -, was always in the front positions of the race, that they ended at the first place.

The swedes Johan Molund (european 470 champion) and Johan Barne came second, followed by Ryan Cox / Carl Smit, from the United States.

The swedish driver, that is part of the Atenas 2004 olympic project in 470 class, consider this was na extremely good result: «The things went really well after yesterdays disaster(they ended on the 44th place). It´s the first time I do this of "gate-start" and it's a bit complicated. Yesterday, for example, we ended up on the wrong side but today we got our little revenge. There are many races left and we are just going to try to do our best».

Meanwhile, another swede, Krister Bergstrom, five times world champion and the defender of the title, was the main figure of todays race with a spectacular recuperation, that allowed him to finish in fourth place and take the overall lead. «It's is very difficult to sail with this conditions, with the wind coming and going, and as we came behind in the start we weren't able to go to the sides we wanted to. Our recuperation we made was very good and one more result like this one would be excellent», he affirmed to MySkipper.com.

Álvaro Marinho / Tiago Marcelino was the best portuguese team, ending at the 19th place. However, Afonso Domingos / Henrique Anjos (21st), where in evidence after rounding the first bouy at the fifth place and the second at fourth place. But, the lack of experience in this kind of boats, throw them down to the 21st position.

In the overall classification, Álvaro Marinho and Tiago Marcelino are the best portuguese crew, as they satnd at the 24th position.

For tomorrow there are scheduled two races. The first starts at 12 p.m.

Aires Afonseca

Howard Hamlin / Mike Martin win the Casino Estoril Race

Five-time world Champ assumes 505 Quebramar World Championship lead

The American team, paired by Howard Hamlin/ Mike Martin won the second race of the 505 Quebramar World Championship, sailed today off the bay of Cascais. Portuguese crew, Alvaro Marinho / Tiago Marcelino, were the best Portuguese representatives in today's race, while five-time world champion - Krister Bergstrom / Thomas Moss, assumed the Championship lead with a 4 point advantage to the second positioned.

Although the sailing conditions are still far from perfect, the strong West wind (8-10 knots) helped make this second race a competitive one. Howard Hamlin / Mike Martin - 1999 505 World Champions, and American Champions in 470, crossed the finishing line in the first position.

«We are quite pleased with the championship lead, but it is only the beginning of this competition and there is yet a lot of work to be done. We made an excellent recovery in the second round; we passed from 20th to 4th. It would be very positive if we managed to continue this way», remarked Krister Bergstrom.

Among Portuguese, the team Medis crew, Alvaro Marinho / Tiago Marcelino, was the best classified, wining the 19th position in the Casino Estoril race, while Afonso Domingos / Henrique Anjos made the 21st position and Mario Matos Rosa / Pedro Bello Vozone, the 88th position.

«It was quite a troubled race for us. In the middle of the race the trapeze rope gave in and broke, making us flip. We lost some positions, but while we were at beat we managed a good recovery», remarked Alvaro Marinho, who still had to: «dive into the water to release the spinnaker sheet which was stuck on the center board. Anyhow, I think it was a good race and we hope to evolve throughout the rest of the Championship».

Afonso Domingos / Henrique Anjos, who ended yesterday's race in 23rd, were disqualified in result of a protest presented by an opponent.

DCA

Graffic with the evolution of the 3rd race

Bergstrom and Moss move into lead....
...after the second race at the 505 World Championship in Cascais, Portugal

After the light winds and biased first leg of Day 1, a change of wind direction enabled the Race Officer for the 505 World Championships to set the course for Day 2 further out to sea and clear of moored commercial shipping.

With the wind steadily increasing during the morning the crews were hopeful that they would get a chance to stretch their legs trapezing.

However by the time the fleet got away the wind was only blowing Force 2 and again the Atlantic swell was present.

With a better windward leg set, the way up the first beat was to hit either of the corners and not work the way up the middle. At the first windwark mark it was a USA one-two, with Ryan Cox and Carl Smit leading from Howard Hamlin and Mike Martin followed by the Swedes, Johan Barne and Johan Moluno.

The British contingent were lead by Simon Payne and Bill Masterman rounding the windward mark with many boats between them and Ian Pinnell and Tim Hancock. Day one winner Van Munster was well down the pack outside the top 50.

Following the run and subsequent windward leg the top three remained the same, Payne had moved up to seventh and Pinnell had once again started to climb up through the fleet. The top twenty had broken well clear of the rest of the fleet as they started the second reaching legs.

As the leaders gybed at the wing mark the approaching rain clouds brought more wind and the crews were able to enjoy tight three-sail reaching down the swell.

By the finish Hamlin had overtaken Cox and went on to win. On the last beat, Barne came through to second place while Krister Bergstrom and Thomas Moss (Sweden) who were 20 at the first windward mark came through to take fourth with Nick Adamson and Alan Norman (USA) fifth.

Of the Brits Pinnell overtook Payne to finish in ninth though overall not a good day for the UK fleet.

Leading positions after two races

1 Krister Bergstrom and Thomas Moss SWE 8655 8pts
2 Wolfgang Hunger and Holger Jess GER 8788 12pts
3 Ryan Cox and Carl Smit USA 8631 12pts
4 Daniel Thompson and Andrew Zinn USA 8762 12pts
5 Hugh Stoddart and Simon Gorman AUS 8784 13pts
6 Ian Pinnell and Tim Hancock GBR 8774 15pts

Leading British Placings
10 Simon Payne and Bill Masterman GBR 8773 21pts
29 Martin Goult and Gordon Russell GBR 8460 61pts
30 Chips Howarth and Paul Young GBR 8752 65pts

Author : © Steve Arkley. Published : 23 Sept 2001