Kristian Nergaard, Johan Barne and Trond Solli-Sæther sailing Artemis XIV won the 5.5 Metre World Championship in Helsinki, Finland.
It was a dramatic final day in which Artemis XIV first lost the overall lead and then reclaimed it in the final thrilling race.
Defending champions Mark Holowesko, Christoph Burger and Peter Vlasov sailing New Moon (BAH 21) finished second while 2017 World Champions, Gavin McKinney, Mathias Dahlman and Lars Horn Johannessen in John B (BAH 22) finished third.
In winning the world title, Artemis XIV also takes the double after winning the Scandinavian Gold Cup last week, the first time this feat has been achieved since 2011, when it was also sailed in Helsinki.
Kristian Nergaard explained his day “To win the world championship today was great for the team, for Trond and Johan, as New Moon beat us in the first race and it was very uncertain, so we said we cannot be defensive in the second race and had to get the best start, and that’s what we did and New Moon had a bad start and we had the advantage at the start and were on the right shifts and in the right place all the way.”
In the Evolution fleet, John Bacon, Terry Wetton and James Mayjor sailing Ku-Ring-Gai (AUS 62) dominated all week, as she did in last week’s Hankø Evolution Cup, and finished 11th in the overall standings.
They take the Frank Tolhurst Perpetual Trophy back to Australia, where it came from, ready to be raced at Pittwater next year.
Likewise in the 10-strong Classic fleet, Tara (FIN 53) of Roope Juhonen, Janne Heikkilä and Pekka Honkavaara has been consistently the best boat over the two weeks and takes the Quail Trophy.
Trial (FIN 4) of Ville Harkke, Sami Ekblad and Pete Lindström takes The Trofeo Italia for the best Classic Boat with an attached rudder.
The strong Finnish Classic fleet this week is proof the there is gaining interest and enthusiasm for racing the older boats and they certainly bring some extra beauty to the fleet, and given the right breaks have shown more than a few transoms to the newer boats this week.
5.5 Metre World Championship
1st Artemis XIV (NOR 57 Kristian Nergaard, Johan Barne, Trond Solli-Sæther) 15 pts
2nd New Moon (BAH 21 Mark Holowesko, Christoph Burger, Peter Vlasov) 16 pts
3rd John B (BAH 22 Gavin McKinney, Mathias Dahlman, Lars Horn Johannessen) 21 pts
4th Caracole (SUI 214 Bernard Haissly, Nicolas Berthoud, Daniel Stampfli) 25 pts
5th Girls On Film (GBR 40 Peter Morton, Ben Cornish, Sam Haines) 27 pts
6th Marie-Françoise XIX (SUI 228 Jürg Menzi, Bo Selko, Knude Rasmussen) 30 pts
7th Otto (SUI 209 Bent Christian Wilhelmsen, Lasse Berthelsen, Luka Strahovnik) 38 pts
8th 5Billy5 (ITA 79 Hemming Hanses, Melker Lundberg, Isak Nordlund) 40 pts
9th Beta Crucis (AUS 63 Martin Cross, Bob Stoddard, Martin Bunch) 42 pts
10th Clark Kent (NOR 64 Craig Symonette, Michael Dungston, Marc Ryan) 48 pts
