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The breeze under six knots kept the competitors waiting on the water to start Race 9. When the breeze finally picked up the Race Committee had to move the course due to the shallow conditions. By then only one race could be sailed and the Australians won the title with one race to spare.
The battle was between local heroes Santiago LANGE and Carlos ESPINOLA (ARG) and double Olympic gold medallists Roman HAGARA and Hans Peter STEINACHER (AUT). Both teams started together in the middle of the starting line but the Argentineans went all the way to the right side of the course while the Austrians decided for the middle. Santiago and Carlos rounded in first, followed by Mitch BOOTH & Pim NIEUWENHIS in second and defending champions Fernando ECHAVARRI and Anton PAZ (ESP) in third. The Austrians rounded seventh.
By then the LANGE and ESPINOLA were leading by far and had nobody to threatened their lead. The ECHAVARRI and PAZ took over the second position on the third and last weather mark rounding followed by the Yann GUICAHRD and Alexandre GUYADER (FRA) in third. The HAGARA and STEINACHER didn't manage to improve their position and finished 11th.
LANGE and ESPINOLA crossed the finishing line in great style flying a hull to the hundreds of spectators watching the final race of the 2006 Worlds.
The French had a good campaign placing six teams in the top 15 with GUICAHRD and GUYADER finishing fifth overall. The Greek team of Iordanis PASCHALIDIS and Constantinos TRIGONIS were the fourth overall.
Darren BUNDOCK said about his result: 'The focus the whole year has been on this World Championship. This is the one we wanted and means a lot after the effort and preparation for this event. A lot has got to be said for our coach Mike FLETCHER he has coached me to five world championships now in the Olympic Class and coached Mitch Booth and John Forbes to one before I came along. His persistence before this regatta with getting our trimming techniques and speed right has probably won the regatta for us'.
'The pairs decision making skills this week has won the regatta for them, yesterday they made some of the best decisions when under pressure. On the starting line they knew when to push and when it was getting crowded and the risk was high to back out and find another hole. Decisions like that win world championships. Yesterday they showed the world they wanted this World championship', commented Fletch.
Final Results - Top Ten
Pos | Nation | Helm | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | Pts |
1 | AUS | Darren BUNDOCK | Glenn ASHBY | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | DNS | 23 |
2 | ARG | Santiago LANGE | Carlos ESPINOLA | 7 | 23 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 37 |
3 | AUT | Roman HAGARA | Hans Peter STEINACHER | 1 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 33 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 41 |
4 | GRE | Jordanis PASCHALIDES | Konstantinos TRIGONIS | 31 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 5 | 11 | 9 | 67 |
5 | FRA | Yann GUICHARD | Alexandre GUYADER | 9 | 31 | 14 | 18/rdg | 6 | 16 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 77 |
6 | GER | Johannes POLGAR | Florian SPALTEHOLZ | 15 | 1 | 28 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 27 | 80 |
7 | ESP | Fernando ECHAVARRI | Anton PAZ | 11 | 13 | 12 | 22 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 3 | 2 | 89 |
8 | FRA | Billy BESSON | Arnaud JARLEGAN | 10 | 21 | 15 | 1 | 18 | 3 | 21 | 9 | 24 | 98 |
9 | PUR | Enrique FIGUEROA | Jorge HERNANDEZ | 3 | 18 | 25 | 17 | 5 | 18 | 31 | 12 | 7 | 105 |
10 | FRA | Xavier REVIL | Christophe ESPAGNON | 2 | 5 | 22 | 24 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 26 | 25 | 108 |
For a complete list of all the news about the HSBC Tornado World Champonship 2006 CLICK HERE.