Due to a storm warning for Friday, the fleet completed their eighth and final race of the 50th 5.5m IC World Championship 2012 in Boltenhagen, Germany, a day early on Thursday. The top three remained unchanged with the Artemis XIV (NOR 57) of Kristian Nergaard, Trond Solli Sæther and Johan Barne winning the world championship. Two time World Champion Flavio Marazzi, Stefan Hatka and Marc Friedrich finished second with Ali-Baba (SUI 224) and Oro Nero (GER 55) helmed by German sailing legend Jochen Schümann with owner Henning Ueck and Ole Hansen took third place.
Winner of the Evolution division was the Criollo (GER 30) under skipper Andreas Christiansen, Carsten Kemmling and Haymo Jepsen. They beat the next Evolution boat, winner of the Hankø Evolution Cup 2012, Matti Muoniovaara’s My Shout (AUS 82), by 33 points and finished in 16th place overall with four Modern yachts behind them.
Among the Classic boats, which were built during the Olympic years of the International 5.5m Class, Lutz von Meyerinck who sailed his Blueprint (GER 33) with son Felix von Meyerinck and Oscar de Felice, lead from the first to the last race. After just having won the Royal Kaag Classic Cup 2012 the crew started confidently into the races and managed to achieve three top 20 results.
The 45 year old yacht, one of the first in the 5.5 metre class to have been designed with a separate rudder, was even able to charge ahead of all Evolution boats in the results of day one. They came 21st in the overall results and won the Quail Cup for the best Classic boat during the world championship.
To honour the 60 year anniversary of the first Olympic Games with 5.5m IC participation there was a special prize awarded to those boats which are still in the same condition today as the Rating Rules of the class demanded during their Olympic time.
Representing each of the Olympic Games during that period the following boats received specially engraved silver prizes: Linge design Madrisa (GER 38) for the year 1952, Sim-Sala-Bim (GER 80), a Boesch design for 1956, the Copponex boat Korrigan (FRA 19) for the 1960 Games, the Meltemi (GER 66), a Bjarne Aas design for 1964 and the Corona (GER 16), designed by Bill Luders, for the Games of 1968.
5.5m World Championships - Final leading Results:
1. Artemis XIV, Krstian Nergaard: 1, (13), 3, 1, 1, 3 1, 7
2. Ali-Baba, Flavio Marazzi: 2, 4, 1, 3, 2, 4, (7), 5
3. Oro Nero, Jochen Schümann: 6, 3, 2, (12), 3, 1
Best Evolution result:
16. Criollo, Andreas Christiansen: 13, (29), 10, 14, 14, 14, 12, 20
Best Classic result:
21. Blueprint, Lutz von Meyerinck: 16, 18, 22, 22, (25), 18, 21, 21
Full 5.5m Results available here
G New
15 September 2012 10:25