Tom Gillard in Simon Potts sta svetovna prvaka2013 Fireball World Champions are Tom Gillard and Simon Potts
Pred nekaj minutami se je v Portorožu končalo svetovno prvenstvo razreda fireball. 79 jadralcev iz Velike Britanije, Češke, Irske, Švice, Nemčije, Italije, Francije, Belgije, Kanade in Slovenije se je od nedelje borilo za prestižne naslove.
Današnji zadnji regatni dan bi lahko še marsikaj spremenil in večina jadralcev je upala, da bodo danes lahko odjadrali vsaj eno regato, deveto po vrsti, ki bi omogočila odbitek dveh najslabših uvrstitev. Veter jih žal danes ni uslišal, start je bil najprej prestavljen na zgodnje popoldne, ko se je flota v blagem maestralu le napotila na regatno polje. Prvi start je bil zaradi močnega zasuka vetra prekinjen že takoj po začetku predstartne procedure, skoraj dve uri kasneje pa se je z regatne jadrnice zaslišal signal za drugi poskus. Tudi tega je na žalost prekinil veter, ki je le 30 sekund pred začetkom regate močno obrnil in padel na manj kot pet vozlov, kar ne bi omogočilo veljavne regate. Do 15. ure, ko naj bi bil na zadnji regatni dan izpeljan zadnji možen start, je bilo le še 15 minut in ker veter ni obetal dovolj stabilnih razmer, se je regatni odbor odločil zaključiti regatni dan, s tem pa tudi jadralski del tega svetovnega prvenstva.
Včerajšnji rezultati so tako tudi uradna razvrstitev za svetvno prvenstvo. Vsi trije najprestižnejši naslovi so šli v angleške roke; svetovna prvaka sta postala Tom Gillard in Simon Potts (25 točk), podprvaka Christian Birrell in Sam Brearey (27 točk), tretje mesto pa sta zasedla evropska prvaka (naziv sta prijadrala prejšnji teden prav tako v Portorožu) Matt Burge in Richard Wagstaff (34 točk). Britanci so zasedli prvih enajst mest, sledita jim dve češki ekipi. Najbolje uvrščena slovenska posadka sta Marko Kocjančič in Aljaž Jadek na 24. mestu.
Tom Gillard in Simon Potts: »Odleglo nama je. Danes sicer nismo jadrali, čeprav sva si tega želela. Velika hvala najinemu sponzorju P&B in ostalim. Veliko regat smo odjadrali na tem svetovnem prvenstvu, a sva vseeno prepričana, da si je večina flote želela dveh zadnjih današnjih. Za nama je bilo kar nekaj ekip, ki bi se sicer spopadle za mesta med tretjim in šestim. Škoda, saj se je veter dvignil ravno ko je vodja regate Tonko objavil konec, torej – hvala Tonko!«
Christian Birrell in Sam Brearey: »Prvenstvo je bilo odlično organizirano, celotna slovenska ekipa se je res potrudila. Žal nama je, da danes nismo jadrali, mogoče bi vodja regate moral počakati še zadnjih 15 minut, ko se je naredilo nekaj vetra. Nekoliko sva razočarana, da nisva imela možnosti zajadrati v zadnjih dveh regatah, a če bi bolje jadrala v prvem delu prvenstva, tega zadnjega nastopa niti ne bi tako potrebovala. Vseeno, prvenstvo je bilo zelo dobro, Portorož ponuja odlične jadralne pogoje, vsi so bili zelo prijazni in gostoljubni, celotna britanska ekipa se je imela odlično.«
Matt Burge in Richard Wagstaff: »Seveda bi raje zmagala, vendar sva tudi s tretjim mestom zadovoljna. Sva na stopničkah, in če temu prištejemo še zmago na evropskem prvenstvu, je to res lep rezultat. Vedno so seveda prisotni razni “če-ji” in kar veliko je bilo regat, v katerih sva podarila kakšno mesto, ampak mislim, da je podobno tudi pri ostalih ekipah, saj so bili pogoji res zahtevni. Zadovoljna sva, lahko bi bilo tudi veliko slabše.«
Uradni rezultati so objavljeni v zavihku Rezultati.
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A lot could still change, but nothing actually changed on this last day of 2013 Fireball World Championship. The wind conditions didn’t look too promising in the morning and start was postponed until early afternoon, when the sea breeze was expected. It was around noon when AP went down and fleet was called on to the water, although the wind didn’t properly settle yet. Shifty conditions forced the sailors to wait a while before the first start, but the prestart procedure was cancelled after three minutes. The racing course was then moved in search for some better conditions, but 40 degrees difference in the wind direction between starting line and the upwind mark was obviously much too much. Finally, after more than two hours of waiting, the conditions were regular again and starting procedure was on, but cancelled with the AP up just 30 seconds before the start of race nine, due to another major wind shift and a huge drop of wind to less than 5 knots. It was 20 minutes before 3 pm, after which no warning signal could be given on this last day of racing. Next minutes of waiting didn’t offer any prospects of a fair start of the last race, and the race officer sent the fleet back. Yesterday’s results are now official final results of this Worlds. Big congratulations go to the new world champions Tom Gillard and Simon Potts (25 points), vice-champions Christian Birrell and Sam Brearey (27 points) and 2013 European champions Matt Burge and Richard Wagstaff, who finished third with 34 points. The best Slovenian crew are Marko Kocjančič and Aljaž Jadek on 24th.
Tom Gillard and Simon Potts: “We’re just relieved after today. We didn’t have any sailing, although we’d like to. Big thanks to the P&B and everyone else. It’s been a long series, we’re certain the whole fleet would appreciate the last two races, there’re a lot of boats behind us that would be fighting for third, fourth, fifth and sixth, so to get another sailing would’ve been good. It’s a shame that the breeze filled in just when he cancelled the race, so – thank you Tonko!
Christian Birrell and Sam Brearey: “The event was very good and very well managed, the whole Slovenian team did a really great job of it. It’s a shame we couldn’t race today, maybe the race officer should have held on for another 15 minutes, because we came in in a great breeze, which is a shame not to race in. We’re disappointed not to have the chance to fight out in the last race of the championship, but haven’t we done a bad job earlier on in the week, we wouldn’t have to. The event has been great, it’s a great place to sail, everyone has been very friendly, very welcoming to us all, all British team had a great time.”
Matt Burge and Richard Wagstaff: “We’d prefer to have won, obviously, but we’re happy with third, we’re on the podium. Especially with the last week result – a first and a third, we have a podium for both of them. Overall we’re happy. There’s always a lot of “what ifs” and quite a lot of races where we gave away a lot of positions, but I think that’s probably the same for every boat, because the conditions were hard. Of course we’re pleased, it could be an awful lot worse.”
Official results are posted in a Results folder.
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