Danish Nats 2014: Pontus Johnsson Champ
Nice detailed report sent by Thomas Paasch.
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Danish Nationals – Wind, Weeds, Breakdowns & Revenge
"This past weekend, 27th and 28th of September, the Danish Nationals were held at Hellerup Sailing Club, just north of Copenhagen, as a joint event with the Contender class.
The weather was beautiful for this time of year, the wind was blowing offshore and provided some flat water conditions in the race area, but on the other hand the wind was very gusty. In the first race we had several incidents:
1. Nils Bunkenburg's mast was cut in half by the mast of a port boat trying to pass close behind him in a starboard/port situation, taking him out for the entire event.
2. The defending champion Lars Schrøder capsized and broke a shroud, taking him out for the 3 first races.
3. One rudder of Thomas Paasch cracked open and ripped off the T foil, taking him out for the first day.
Wind increased during the day, close to the limit, and many where fighting to stay upright, and at the end of the day Pontus Johnson of Sweden was the man in the lead with 4 wins on his Marström M5 with C-foils and Gran-sails.
Sunday was another beautiful day, but with less wind. Like the day before there was quite some weed in the water, creating problems for the sailors and requiring some foils up-and-down action or even putting the boat in reverse to clear the weed.
The fight for the lead continued between Pontus and Thilo Keller from Germany. They made a good job keeping their heads out of the boat and finding the right path through the gusts and lulls of the course, and after another 6 races (10 in total) Pontus was victorious, getting his revenge over Thilo, who won the German Nationals in front of Pontus earlier this year.
The Danes were being 'polite' and left the podium to the foreign sailors, with Guido Schulte of Germany completing the podium."
Full results : http://a-cat.dk/sites/default/files/A-Cat_Danish_2014.pdf
Pictures here: http://www.baadmagasinet.dk/badmagasinets-galleri/a-cat-dm-2014
