Two races in 11-14 knot breezes Thursday proved that winning will be no easy task at the 2019 12 Metre World Championship.
The 21 strong fleet of 12 Metres from six nations sailed in the “upper Bay” north of the iconic Pell Bridge instead of “outside” on Rhode Island Sound where it was sailed for the first two days of the regatta.
The Grand Prix and Modern Divisions both saw extremely close racing that translated into slimmer margins on the scoreboard between first- and second-place positions.
Enterprise (US-27), helmed by Clay Deutsch won both races in Modern Division to close the gap on leader Challenge XII (KA-10), owned and helmed by Jack LeFort.
Deutsch, who chartered Enterprise from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Sailing Foundation and whose team has not had as much time in the boat as LeFort’s, called Challenge XII the gold-standard boat. “We’re very much alive and still in it, but they are still in the driver’s seat.”
LeFort described Challenge XII finishing almost overlapped with Enterprise in the first race and how it wound up fourth in the second race.
“We were approaching the first weather mark together with Enterprise when our jib sheet got caught in the traveler winch,” he said. “We had to take the top off the winch and by then everyone was gone.”
Once its spinnaker was flying, Challenge XII fought its way back up through the fleet. It has a four-point lead over Enterprise, which is tied on point score with Courageous (US-26), which is in third overall.
It was also moving day for Maggie and Gunther Buerman’s New Zealand (KZ-3) which posted a 1-2 in the Grand Prix Division with Brad Read and Lexi Gahagan co-skippering.
That closed the scoring gap to one point with Danish leader Legacy (KZ-5), which finished 3-3 today and was skippered by Thomas Andersen, with Jesper Bank calling tactics.
Also in the Grand Prix Division, Kookaburra II (KA-12), a second entry owned and skippered by Patrizio Bertelli with Brazil’s Torben Grael on the helm, lost its outhaul in the first race and came back to finish second, then won the second race and currently sits in third overall.
Meanwhile, in the Traditional Division Columbia (US-16), helmed by Kevin Hegarty and skippered by Anthony Chiurco posted finishes of 3-1 to hold a two-point lead over American Eagle (US-21), sailed by the Eagle 2019 Syndicate, which finished 2-3.
Nefertiti (US-19), owned and skippered by Jon Sears Wullschleger had the best showing of the day, winning the first race and taking second in race two for a third overall.
Nyala (US-12), owned by Italy’s Patrizio Bertelli and skippered by Mauro Pelaschier won both of its races to dominate the Vintage Division.
It holds a seven-point lead over Onawa (US-6), which is being sailed by Jim Blanusha, Steven Gewirz, Louis Girard, Earl McMillen, and Mark Watson. Onawa finished 2-4 today.
In the Spirit Division, America II (US-42), helmed by Scott Curtis is now ahead on a tiebreaker with America II (US-46), helmed by Michael Fortenbaugh.
2019 12 Metre Worlds – After Day Three 11 July
12mR – Grand Prix (4 Boats)
1. Legacy (KZ-5), Thomas Andersen / Jesper Bank, Den – 1 -1 -1 -1 -3 -3 ; 10 pts
2. New Zealand (KZ-3), Gunther & Maggie Buerman, USA – 2 -2 -2 -2 -1 -2 ; 11 pts
3. Kookaburra II (KA-12), Torben Grael / Patrizio Bertelli, ITA – 3 -3 -3 -3 -2 -1 ; 15 pts
4. Kiwi Magic (KZ-7), Johan Blach Petersen, DEN – 4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 ; 24 pts
12mR – Modern (8 Boats)
1. Challenge XII (KA-10), Jack LeFort, USA – 1 -2 -1 -1 -2 -4; 11 pts
2. Enterprise (US-27), Clayton & Nancy Deutsch, USA – 3 -4 -3 -3 -1 -1 ; 15 pts
3. Courageous (US-26), Isham / Glascock / Auersperg / Marsh, USA – 2 -1 -2 -4 -4 -2; 15 pts
4. Victory ’83 (K-22), Dennis Williams, USA – 4 -6 -4 -2 -3 -3 ; 22 pts
6. Freedom (US-30), Charles Robertson, USA – 5 -5 -6 -5 -5 -5 ; 31 pts
5. Intrepid (US-22), Jack Curtin, CAN – 6 -3 -5 -6 -6 -7; 33 pts
7. Defender (US-33), Dick Enersen, USA – 7 -7 -7 -7 -7 -6 ; 41 pts
8. Lionheart (K-18), Harry Graves, USA – 8 -8 -8 -8 -8 -8 ; 50 pts
12mR – Traditional (4 Boats)
1. Columbia (US-16), Kevin Hegarty / Anthony Chiurco, USA – 1 -2 -2 -1 -3 -1 ; 10 pts
2. American Eagle (US-21), Eagle 2019 Syndicate, USA – 2 -1 -1 -3 -2 -3 ; 12 pts
3. Nefertiti (US-19), Jon Sears Wullschleger, USA – 3 -3 -3 -2 -1 -2 ; 14 pts
4. Easterner (US-18), Scott Bernard, USA – 5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 ; 30 pts
12mR – Vintage (4 Boats)
1. Nyala (US-12), Mauro Pelaschier / Patrizio Bertell, ITA – 1 -2 -1 -1 -1 -1 ; 7 pts
2. Onawa (US-6), Blanusha / Gewirz / Girard / McMillen / Watson, USA – 2 -1 -3 -2 -2 -4 ; 14 pts
3. Blue Marlin (FIN-1), Henrik Andersin, FIN – 3 -3 -2 -3 -3 -2 ; 16 pts
4. Vema III (N-11), Johan Troye, NOR – 4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -3 ; 23 pts
12mR- Spirit (2 Boats)
1. America II (US-42), Scott Curtis, USA – 3 -1 -2 -1 -2 -3 ; 11 pts
2. America II (US-46), Michael Fortenbaugh, USA – 1 -2 -1 -2 -1 -3 ; 11 pts
