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Robertson, Wilson claim M32 World titles
07.17.2017
Excessive weather today granted Phil Robertson and the crew of ChinaOne Ningbo the win in the inaugural M32 World Championship. With rain squalls gusting up to 40 knots, principal race officer Mattias Dahlstrom was unable to hold any racing on the final day, and Robertson’s nine-point advantage on the leaderboard meant the New Zealander becomes the winner of the first ever world championship for this lightweight 32-foot catamaran class.
Robertson said he’d rather have raced but added: “It’s part of sailing, you’re dictated to by nature, and I think that’s the beauty of the sport. You’ve got to take whatever comes and unfortunately it’s ended like this. Too windy to race, it would have been nice to go out there and seal the deal on the race course, but I guess Mother Nature did it for us.”
The driving rain today came in stark contrast tothe previous three days of glorious, sunny days in Marstrand. “The racing here has been incredible,” said Robertson, who competes across a number of Grand Prix circuits in the sailing world. “A fleet of 15 M32s racing on one course is spectacular and it’s also very challenging. Reaching starts are very tough toget into the right position with that many boats. It’s very easy to be swallowed up by the pack. You’re fighting for every inch you can grab and every boat you can pass.”
The battle for second, third and fourth place wasvery close but it was Jonas Warrer who came out on top of that fight. The 200849er Olympic gold medalist enjoyed the frenetic reaching starts in these carbon-fibre speed machines. “It’s definitely something different to what I’m used to, a new experience for everyone. The adrenaline is really pumping forthose first 500 metres. It’s really close racing but because everyone’s on starboard tack, I think it’s maybe less dangerous than a traditional upwindstart.”
New Zealander Chris Steele steered CFA Sport Racing to third overall, just two points ahead of top Corinthian skipper Don Wilson at the helm of Convexity.
Read more at Scuttlebutt Sailing News.
Photo courtesy of Scuttlebutt Sailing News