Punta Ala Worlds 2015: Report by Bob Griffits

Bob Griffits has been sending complete reports from Australia for years and now he describes his experience at Punta Ala. Regarding Rules we'll publish an interview with IACA Chief Measurer , Graham Harbour.

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"The 2015 World Championship is now wrapped up and the record is that once again Glenn Ashby is the new, and recurrent World Champion. The pre-race guidebook suggested that the event would be a battle between Glenn Ashby and Mischa Heemskirk and this is how the event played out. It proved to be a closely fought battle. Both sailors are highly skilled, have mastered the art of foiling, and have the hours of training well in excess of virtually any other in the fleet. They both featured the deck sweeping mainsails, which theoretically offer a new level of efficiency, and helpful in the small margins which are critical at the top end of the fleet.

The battle for third place on the podium was realistically the only contest for the remainder of the fleet. In the end it was Manuel Calavia from Spain who prevailed. Forth place went to former World Champion, Steven Brewin from Australia, whilst the emerging talent of countryman Jason Waterhouse took out the fifth position.

Jason recently won the Nacra 17 test Olympic test event in Rio, and also is a star on the Extreme 40 Circuit. The racing over five days was conducted more or less on schedule (given the perennial vagaries of the Wind Gods) ina testing spectrum, from the Class minimum of 5 to 6 knots on the last two days , up to near the Class maximum at around 20 knots during race seven. The venue was truly superb . The extensive Punta Ala Camping Resort, nestled amongst the Pine Trees, just behind the golden sands of the beachfront, easily accommodated the sailors together with their families, and logistically offered great facilities for all off water activities.

The weather also cooperated with temperatures in the high 20 's , and crystal clear blue skies illuminating the Tyrrhenian Sea in it's renown Azzure hue. The Race Committee across both the A and B racing courses conducted the racing in an impeccable, fair , and timely manner. The only downside for the whole regatta was the failure of one of the USA containers to be able to clear the Italian Port Authorities which meant six or seven American sailors were unable to participate after making the trip across the Atlantic. Overall the overall event was magnificent, and in terms of climate, logistics, and natural beauty, it will be difficult to surpass.

The dominant issue arising at the World Annual General Meeting, was the voting regarding the voting on the removal of Rule 8. The resolution to remove Rule 8, petitioned by the USA Fleet, and supported by the United Kingdom , failed by the barest of margins. The resolution achieved achieved 66.34% of vote, falling tantalisingly close of the required 66.666666 required allow a rule change under the Class Constitution. This rule will remain a polarising issue for the class, and no doubt will be revisited in future.

The AGM in it's wisdom resolved to have the Technical Committee look at the issue with a view to coming up with suggestions that can be put to the membership in future which may perhaps help facilitate foiling, but do not destroy the essential catamaran nature of the class. In the meantime the developments will roll onwards. Technology never sleeps.

The Australian Team will shortly return home to a Spring and Summer of great A Class competition. The high point will be the Australian National Championship, to be held on Lake Macquarie, New South Wales in early January. This event will feature James Spithill and his after guard from the Oracle America's Cup group, Nathan Outteridge from Artemis, and hopefully Glenn Ashby provided his other Team Zealand commitments allow him time to attend."

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