2007 International Cadet World Championships update - 5th September 2007 

2007 International Cadet World Championships

On the 21st of July my brother Lewis and I headed off to Wales to compete as part of the Australian team at the 2007 International Cadet World Championships.

207 International Cadets made the journey to Pwllheli, Wales to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the class. Twelve Australian crews made the trip. Countries represented were Great Britain, Argentina, Poland, Russia, Spain, Hungary, Netherlands, Germany, The Czech Republic, Belarus, and Australia.

Three teams from Sandringham attended the regattas;

Odyssey Joel Aulich and Jarad Cavanagh
Shockwave Stephanie Strong and Anton Sasson
Brothers in Arms Sam and Lewis Duncan

The trip for us got off to a bad start. With fog in Melbourne we were re routed on to a different Qantas flight and as a result British Airways and Qantas lost all of our luggage. Fortunately for us we had all of our sailing gear packed into the container so the impact for Lewis and I was minimal. We never saw our bags for the entire trip but they were all at home waiting for us upon our return. The upside is that the airlines paid us good compensation and we were able to replace any items that we required.

We were fortunate enough to have a former UK Cadet sailor, Guy Brearey as our worlds team coach. Guy was familiar with the racing area, our competitors and race officials. The promotional fleet had dual World Cadet Champion, Paul Burnell, from Hobart as their coach. Paul won one of his titles at this venue.

The regatta started off with the British Nationals with over 150 boats competing, some boats elected not to compete. Racing was divided into 4 flights and sailed over trapezoid courses. In what was predominately a light weather series, 12 races were completed. Gains were hard to make and mistakes were punished quickly.

After the British Nationals the fleet was split into Worlds, Promotional (Gold and Silver) and Novice.

At the completion of the British Nationals we went straight into measuring for the worlds. Measuring was expected to be tough and this was indeed the case. The measurers checked the hulls very thoroughly and several boats were too narrow across the chines which resulted in several boats sporting rating bumps at the measurement point. This was the first time we had seen masts being checked for center of gravity and some boats needed weight added to the top of their masts. We were well prepared and passed measurement first time, only having to remove a rope handle from the top of our centerboard which was considered an extra fitting and therefore not allowed.

The first protest for the regatta was lodged before the first race even began with event director protesting the entire Spanish team for stealing hubcaps from cars after the opening ceremony. There were plenty more protests to follow.

The worlds started poorly with racing being cancelled for the invitation day and then again for the first days racing due to too much wind – or so they said. We would have sailed at SYC in these conditions. Being a heavy crew this was particularly disappointing for us. From there on it was back to the familiar light wind pattern with most days being between 5 – 10 knots, perfect for the smaller crews.

The RO loved black flags and one recall was enough for him to crack it out for each subsequent start.

As always consistency is the name of the game. The Australians all had good individual race performances but could never back it up in the next race. The defending Argentinean world champ however was consistent, never placing below 8th and successfully defended his title. He won a race by 2 ½ minutes which is a long way in a Cadet.

Argentina took first and second places with Poland taking third and fourth.

What did we learn;

• Be prepared before leaving home to minimise measurement issues.
• Good speed makes for good tactics.
• Goods starts and first beats are key. Sometimes the best starts were mid line away from the crowded ends.
• Plan mark roundings in advance. We were once carried past the bottom mark when a British boat couldn’t drop his kite. With nowhere to go, several boats slipped inside.
• Be aggressive on reaches.
• Be prepared for long days on the water as we were sailing a long way off shore.
• Crew weight is critical in a Cadet – 70-75 kg crew weights were not uncommon.
• Keep clear of the protest room. Lots of boats ended up with disqualifications.

In the British Nationals we placed 58th out of 153 and in the Worlds we came in 46th out of 74.

The 2008 World Championships are in the Netherlands and then Argentina in 2009.

Lewis and I would like to thank Sandringham Yacht Club for their generous financial support and for their continued ongoing support of junior sailing. We certainly learnt a lot from competing in our first overseas regatta together and look forward to representing Sandringham Yacht Club in the International 420 Nationals this Christmas.

Once again thank you for your support.

Sam Duncan
Skipper
Brothers in Arms