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Eleven nations came to Lake Traunsee for the 2012 Micro World Championships and the alpine lake, a regular stop of the RC 44 Worlds Tour, welcomed the competitors from three continents with bright sunshine and 30 degrees but with little wind.

After spending day 1 ashore, the long distance kick started the event. After five hours and 25 miles, the Ogrodnik, Banaszczyk and Choroba took the lead and defended their yellow leader dot until the last day. Defending World Champions Piotr Tarnack, Rafal Becker and Krysztof Mongird were their strongest opponents and fought until the final race.

On day 3 the race committee managed two races to make the championship valid. There were no changes at the top but the fight for bronze intensified.

Austrians Helmut Czasny, Jakob Bonomo and Peter Wagner moved up into the podium places with a fourth in Race 3 but having led Race 4 the jib halyard broke and so did the hope for a place on the podium.

The remaining two races then saw the Russian team Gennadiy Svistunov, Grigorii Mikhalev and Oleg Eropunov move up to the third place while Ogrodnik, who missed out on a place at the Olympic Sailing Competition in the Men's 470, controlled the fleet to make sure that the title would go to Poland once more.

"It was a fantastic event here in Austria and we are so happy and delighted to be World Champions," said Piotr Ogrodnik. "We had a very tough year after missing the nations ticket at the 470 Worlds in Barcelona. But to stay on top of the podium in the Micro Worlds, it is a great feeling nevertheless! We look forward to the next year's World Championship which will take place in Sopot and we are ready to welcome our friends in our home water!"

In the sub-divisions of Racers and Cruisers, the Polish team also took home the prizes finishing first and second in the Racers division and coming second and third in the Cruisers ranking. It was only the World Champion of 2002, Philippe Benaben (FRA), who managed to win the Cruisers division.

The 2012 Micro Class World Championship took place from 20 - 25 August 2012 at the Union-Yachtclub Traunsee in Gmunden, Austria. Results and pictures are available from the club's website under www.uyct.at.