Sunfish Master Worlds 2005 report

The 2005 World Masters and Open European Championship (27 June – 3 July 2005 at Workum, The Netherlands) are over and done. For us, Sunfish Racing Class Nederland, it is a fantastic event to look back at. It was also a very nice way to celebrate our 25th anniversary. Due to the positive reactions we can safely say that the sailors and their family from abroad had a great time here with us.
We had all sorts of wind but mostly a little less wind then usual on the Ijsselmeer. The only problem was the fact that Vanguard had sent the wrong sails with the 6 new boats, which were chartered by the sailors from abroad. The right sails, sent by express mail, arrived too late and everyone started with spare sails from other sailors. This turned out to be not so bad after all because of the moderate winds so everyone kept sailing with the borrowed sails.
The starts where serious business. Friday (3rd day), after two general recalls, the black flag was raised. The whole fleet stayed close together, thus, chances for everyone. Malcolm Smith (Bermuda) however often took the lead. Not without a fight I might add. Due to his late registration there was no new boat left for Malcolm, so he borrowed an old boat from the Committee. He used all the small Sunfish gear from Bermuda, including a new plastic rudder. In Workum came the shock of his life, that he did not borrow a 5-year-old Sunfish, he thought, but a real “masters” Sunfish from 1972. This “antique” boat (as Malcolm called it) was only occasionally used and proved to be a good, stiff (Alcort) boat that could match the new ones. Malcolm managed to sail 7 first places out of 9 races and the other 2 races he finished second!
Dirk Resler from the USA, competing in the Open European Championship, also managed to finish in the top three every race, so he was second overall. The very relaxed way this young man seems to sail make us believe we haven’t heard the last of him yet.
Three women also competed, one of them only in the OEC. They stayed close together and mingled with the men in the fleet. Miranda van Boven from the Netherlands won the title best woman in the Open European Championship.
In the category Master, Hans de Waard from the Netherlands finished in first place. Andre Christiaan (NL) and Gijs Willem van Omme (NL) both scored 89 points in the Grand Master category but due to a fifth place Andre became the winner.
In the Supreme Grand Master category, with the emphasis on Supreme, Erik Erickson (USA) very convincingly took first place.
During the Opening Ceremony every sailor had to tell a short story why he or she was sailing Sunfish before receiving a nice orange sailorsbag with small presents and an orange poloshirt with the special logo of the event.
During the barbecue Wednesday evening we kept it dry in spite of the grey clouds surrounding us. Sheltered from the wind the temperature was good enough to sit outside the whole evening with plenty beer from the draught. Friday afternoon a boat trip was organized through the Frisian channels. This was much appreciated by the foreign competitors and their families.
The Award Ceremony and dinner, to complete the event, took place in a relaxing atmosphere, with nice prices for the winners in each category, overall prices and some souvenirs memory for each participant and the local regatta committee.