2011 International Lightning Class Association World Championship
Day 4 Report

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Buzios, Brazil

One race was completed today in the International Lightning Class Association World Championship. This put the regatta back on schedule due to the high winds and seas that delayed racing on Monday afternoon. The Chilian Team of Tito Gonzalez sailing with his son, Diego and Cristian Herman convincingly won the race and is now the sole leader of the regatta with 12 total points. Strong winds of 20+ kts and seas initally postponed racing this morning but then subsided by mid morning and allowed PRO, Claudio Buckup to run a perfect 5 leg windward-leward course in 15-17 kt winds.

Going into todays race the top four positions in this regatta were very close. These teams continued to show their talent and finished in the top 4 today. Behind Team Gonzalez, the USA team of David Starck sailing with his wife Jody and Ian Jones took a 3 today and are second overall with 14 total points. The Brazilian Team of Claus Biekarck, Gunner Ficker and Marcelo Batista da Silva continue to sail consistently and finished 4th to have a combined total of 15 points. Thomas Sumner, Felipe Brito and Fillipe Gil also from Brazil followed up their two bullets yesterday with a 2nd in todays race, condencing the points total even further. They are right on the heals of Stack and Biekarck in 4th place overall with 16 points.

The next three teams are all within one point of each other in the overall standings. In 5th Place, the Chilian Team of Cristobal Perez, Philipp Goyeneche and Ignacio Perez have 25 points. The USA Team of Will Brown, John Faus and Matty Schon are in 6th with 26 points and Felipe Robles, Pablo Lorca and Andres Guevara from Chile are in 7th place with 27 points.

Racing continues tomorrow with an 11 am warning, two races scheduled. Follow live text coverage of racing at www.lightningclass.org

The events have been made possible by support and grants received by the following sponsors:

  • Brazilian Sailing Federation – CBVM sponsored by Bradesco Bank, CPFL, Travel Ace and Tamoyo.

  • Rio de Janeiro Sailing Federation – FEVERJ

  • City of Búzios Sports and Tourism Secretary’s

  • Segurigraff HG – High Security Holograms

  • Sercon Ltda. A Steris Company

  • Saturno Tintas

  • Glassit Fiberglass

  • Bombril

  • Niagara Industrial

  • Cerveja Germânia

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - RESULTS AFTER DAY 4

Previous Reports - Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

Photo by Joel Auerbach:

TitoGonzalez

Bow #11 - Tito Gonzalez Mas, Diego Gonzalez Parro and Cristian Herman Sanhueza