sunfish worlds 2011: racing video collection

here is a great collection of video taken during the 2011 Sunfish Worlds down in Curacao.  the whole video is about 22 minutes long, with a ton of video coverage out on the water during the Sunfish racing, as well as some video shots from the beach during the setup, and a few short interviews with sailors (not always in English, though).

the video gets really exciting at about 9 minutes in – the video below should start right there – and continues for about 5 or 6 minutes.  the wind must have been really strong, and the waves were really big, and you can see the Sunfish sailboats cresting up and over the wave peak, and riding the wave down into the trough, at times seeming to swallow up almost the whole Sunfish and sailor.

there is also an short 30-second interview (direct link) with the 2011 Sunfish Worlds champion, Matheus Dellagnelo. and a slideshow of photos at the end of the video, but for photos… you’re better off just browsing the hundreds of photos at the Sunfish Worlds 2011 Flickr stream.

sunfish worlds 2011: final minute – final race [video]

this video was posted up at SunfishWorlds2011.com – it is the view from the signal boat during last minute leading up to the start of the final race at this year’s Sunfish Worlds Championship in Curacao.

you can hear the strong winds blowing past the video camera, and see how the signal boat is rolling up and down with the waves out on the water.  certainly some challenging conditions for the sailors to battle through.

[edit: just realized my post title is misleading... it's the final minute BEFORE the final race STARTS.  oops.]

sunfish worlds 2011: Matheus is the champion!

ahead by 6 points going into the final day of racing at the 2011 Sunfish Worlds, Matheus Dellagnelo of Brazil held nothing back, as he went to sail for 1st place finishes in the first 2 races of the day, which mathematically gave him the crown without even having to sail in the 11th and final race.

matheus dellagnelo (photo by Marianne Lenos)

Matheus sailed with amazing consistency and finished with (3) 1st places, (3) 2nd places, (2) 3rd places, (1) 6th place, and (2) discards, including the DNC in the final race to finish with 21 points total, just enough to stay 1 point ahead of 2nd place Alexander Zimmerman of Peru, who won the final race.  behind him in 3rd place was Francisco Renna of Argentina, and Ard van Aanholt of the host country Curacao finished in 4th place.  David Loring of the USA, a 3-time Sunfish World Champion (recently in 2009), finished in 5th place.  the full results can be found here.

also, the top racers per category are as follows, per Sunfishworlds2011.c0m.  [Category: Sailor (Home country, overall place)]

• Junior: Ard van Aanholt (Curacao, 4th)
• Apprentice: Matheus Dellagnelo (Brazil, 1st)
• Apprentice Master: David Mendelblatt (USA, 9th)
• Master: Malcolm Smith (Bermuda, 14th)
• Grand Master:Richard van der Wal (Aruba, 46)
• Great Grand Master: Dolf van der Giessen (Curacao, 59)

I’m sure this evening is busy with the festivities and the awards ceremony will be tomorrow night, so I’m sure that SunfishWorlds2011.com will have more updates in the next day or two.  as usual, stop by and check out the hundreds of incredible photographs taken in Curacao, during the racing and on the beach areas.

matheus (photo by bea moedt)

 

sunfish worlds 2011: day 3

some of the day 3 racing was delayed due to rain, but they were able to get in 2 races.  Matheus Dellagnelo of Brazil maintains his hold of first place overall, finishing day 3 with a 3rd place and 2nd place finish.  Alexander Zimmerman of Peru with a 1st place and 4th place today moves up a spot to 2nd place overall.  Ard van Aanholt of the host country Curacao dropped one spot to 4th place overall, as he finished with a 9th and 10th today, allowing Francisco Renna of Argentina to move up 1 spot to 3rd place overall.

some of the photos from day 3 racing and the Annabaai parade have been uploaded (I would imagine more are in process).  the buildings are so colorful along the waterline!

day 3 - Annabaai parade (photo by Bea Moedt)

here is a video of a parade on the water in Annabaai today, with 70 Sunfish sailboats participating!

tomorrow is a day of rest, with racing to be concluded with up to 3 races on Friday, and the Awards Ceremony on Saturday.

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a day 3 recap from Luis Horacio Canuto of Argentina can be found at the Dingo Sailing Blog (here is an English translation).

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and there are now pictures of racing from day 2 that have been uploaded to the Flickr photostream.  the pictures aren’t all tagged, but photo credits should go to Bea Moedt, Marianne Lenos, Ltz Duin and Kurt Peterson.

day 2 racing

sunfish worlds 2011: day 2

after day 2 of the Sunfish Worlds 2011, there is a shuffling at the leaderboard, with Matheus Dellagnelo of Brazil taking hold of first place overall with (2) 2nd place races on day 2. Ard van Aanholt of the host country Curacao is currently holding onto 2nd place overall, only 3 points behind the leader.  the 1st race of day 2 was won by Alexander Zimmerman of Peru, who currently sits in 3rd place. the final 2 races of day 2 were both won by Francisco Renna of Argentina, moving him up into 4th place.

there aren’t as many photos posted today (yet?) of the racing, but still several shots from the beach of the Sunfish racing or coming back into shore, and there are some close-up shots of some of the sailors.  see the full set at Flickr here.

day 2 (photo by Bea Moedt)

a day 1 recap from Luis Horacio Canuto of Argentina can be found at the Dingo Sailing Blog (here is an English translation).

also, stop on over at Regatta-Fanatic, to get a recap of the Sunfish Youth Worlds from Rhône Findlay of St Maarten, who finished the Sunfish Youth Worlds in 16th place,  sailing in a boat that was mostly unfamiliar to him!

sunfish worlds 2011: practice race [video]

Paul-Jon Patin from the USA, also of StarboardPassage.com,  currently in (provisional) 4th place after 5 races at the Sunfish Worlds 2011, has uploaded a sweet video with excerpts from a run and the second beat during his practice race before the Sunfish Worlds.  it gives you a nice taste of the crazy wind and waves that these sailors are dealing with down in Curacao.

HT: Wet Pants Sailing on Twitter (@wetpantssailing)

sunfish worlds 2011: day 1

day 1 of the 2011 Sunfish Worlds is in the books, with 3 races completed this afternoon.  the current leader is a familiar face, David Loring of the USA, who has won the Sunfish Worlds three times already, with his latest win in 2009.  he holds a 3.5 point lead over Jon-Paul Patin of the USA, also a previous Sunfish Worlds winner (1992). [you can see a full list of previous Worlds champions here.]  the host country Curacao has 3 sailors currently in the top 10, led by Ard van Aanholt in 4th place, and Curacao has 9 sailors in the top 30. Jean Paul de Trazegnies from Peru, the winner of the 2011 Sunfish Youth Worlds a few days ago, is currently in 13th place.

as usual, there are some amazing photos of the sailing action out on the water, although apparently Bea Moedt is having some issues with the camera and water not getting along!  but you could have fooled me – these photos are fantastic, and it looks like amazing, and maybe a little bit crazy conditions out on the water.

photo by Bea Moedt

Laser Performance (@LaserPerform) has also posted several pictures from today on Facebook.

photo by Laser Performance

also, Gerard with Sunfishworlds2011.com posted some aerial photos that the Coast Guard shared with them – you can find several pictures at this Flickr folder.

photo by LT M.Q.J. Duin

sunfish youth worlds 2011: day 2, day 3 & results

on day 2 of the Sunfish Youth Worlds, Kevin Van Otterdijk from Curacao made up for a RAF (retire after finish) result from day 1, and took over 1st place by winning races 4 and 5, and taking 2nd place in race 6.  he held a slim 2-pt lead over Jean Paul de Trazegnies from Peru going into the final day of racing.

even though Kevin Van Otterdijk raced well on day 3, finishing with a 3rd place and a 2nd place in the 2 races, he was surpassed by Jean Paul de Trazegnies from Peru, who scored a bullet (1st place) in both of the final races, to be crowned the Sunfish Youth Worlds Champion, claiming 1st place by a single point over Kevin Van Otterdijk from Curacao.

Eugene Kendrikx from Curacao and Ivan Aponte from Puerto Rico took 3rd and 4th place.  Curacao finished with 6 of the top 10 youth sailors.  you can see the full results of all 8 races at Sunfishworlds2011.com.

Sunfish Youth Champion: Jean Paul (photo by Kurt Peterson)

as usual, there are great photos from days 2 and 3 of racing, as well as some of the closing/award ceremonies at the Sunfish Worlds 2011 Flickr stream.

photo by Kurt Peterson

photo by Bea Moedt

today will be busy still at Curacao, as they now prepare for the Sunfish Open Worlds racing, with check-in and a practice race held this afternoon.

sunfish youth worlds 2011: day 1

the 1st day of the Sunfish Youth Worlds is in the books, with 5 of the top 10 sailors (and 3 of the top 6) so far from the host country Curacao.  Jean Paul de Trazegnies from Peru holds 1st place with 7 points, but Ivan Aponte from Puerto Rico and Eugene Hendrikx from Curacao are 1 and 2 points behind him respectively.  for the full (provisional results), see the Sunfish Worlds 2011 website.

also, stop by and check out all the great photos posted at the Sunfish Worlds 2011 set on Flickr.

from Tuesday’s pictures, setting up the sailboats:

photo by Bea Moedt

and from Wednesday’s pictures, some great pictures of the opening ceremonies, and this one of a sailor heading out for a practice sail.

photo by Kurt Peterson

also, from Laser Performance on Twitter (@LaserPerform), check out a video of the “Harvest Dance” at the opening ceremonies – click on the video link to check the dancing and vibrant colors for the dancer’s outfits.

sunfish worlds 2011

the Sunfish Worlds for 2011 is only a few days away.  this year, the championship event is being held at Curacao at the Lions Dive & Beach Resort Curacao – which looks amazing!  there’s a nice aerial view (with notes) here. here’s another shot from above:

from the Sunfish Class website:

The Sunfish Class is returning to the beautiful island of Curaco for its 41st World Championship. Come visit the beautiful island and experience sailing at its finest!

It has been 20 years since the championship was last contested in the waters off Curacao. This year the Lions Dive Beach Resort will host the Youth and Open championships. From its protected beach, you sail only a couple of minutes into the open ocean where the steady trade winds blow.

the Sunfish Youth Worlds will be June 7th through 11th (Notice of Race, .pdf file), and the Sunfish Worlds will be June 12th through 18th (Notice of Race, .pdf file).

there is a great website that has been set up for the event this year: http://www.sunfishworlds2011.com/.  the website is loaded with a ton of great information for the event, including the schedule of activities, regular & junior racer profiles for those participating in the event, tons of past results and information from previous Sunfish Worlds, and even a link to a webcam at the harbor.  you can also download the event program (.pdf file).

also, as usual with any of the Sunfish Worlds events, you can order one of the Worlds event Sunfish boats – brand new boats that are provided for the Worlds by Laser Performance, and will have only been used for this regatta.  ordering from Curacao, though, will require shipping the boat back to the USA (or wherever you may be!).

for those interested in following the event – I will try to post information and updates that as I find it around on the internet, and you can follow on your own using the following updates:

• Twitter: @SunfishWorlds
• RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SunfishWorldChampionship
• Flickr (photos): http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunfishworlds/
• Facebook: Sunfish-World-Championships-2011-Curacao