THE RHODES 1997 PWA WORLD CUP

Day 4, the final day of the Rhodes 1997 PWA World Cup and the wind kicked in early to between 12-15 knots. However, as the race crew went onto the water to set a slalom course continuing the incomplete race 9#, the wind dropped off a couple of knots. The forecast from the local Rhodes airport just 5km up the coast stated that the wind would not build over the downwind wind limit for some time and so Race director Didier Lafitte chose to complete race 9# in 16 man, upwind racing format.

The early rounds of race 9# on day 3 had proven troublesome to complete. Several sailors had competed in the wrong heat and the slightly inconsistent wind conditions had forced several heats to be re-run. The first heat of the day on day 4# was the fourth re-run of heat 1!

The results of heat 1 did not differ significantly from the previous three aborted attempts, in fact US-933 Kevin Pritchard crossed the line ahead of K-66 Nik Baker all four times. KA-0 Steve Allen comfortably won the first semi-final with a 50 metre lead over S-39 Christoffer Rappe and KV-11 Finian Maynard.

Principal Race Officer Frank Rouget chose to leave the start-line at a similar length to the 32 man heats used in earlier rounds and the long, un-biased start line made the start-line fascinating to watch with 8 sailors heading off on either tack. In the second semi it was K-66 Nik Baker who started well and read the shifts to take the first qualifying spot ahead of S-10 Anders Bringdal and US-933 Kevin Pritchard. KC-1 Sam Ireland, E-9 Eduardo Bellini and K-77 Anthony Baker all qualified for the final.

It was KA-0 Steve Allen who took the victory in Race 9# ahead of S-10 Anders Bringdal and US-93 Matt Pritchard. KC-1 Sam Ireland finished in 4th position, his highest finish of the contest. The final results after race 9# left S-10 Anders Bringdal as the convincing winner of the 1997 Rhodes PWA World Cup with five wins, three second positions and one fifth position. S-39 Christoffer Rappe and KA-0 Steve Allen finished in second and third position, separated by just 2 points.

The World Cup win for Anders Bringdal will have very little effect on the top 20 of the 1997 PWA Race Rankings but will help Anders psychologically after his recent drop from 2nd to 4th in the Race Ranking after Paros. US-93 Matt Pritchard who moved to 3rd position behind E-11 Bjorn Dunkerbeck and US-34 Micah Buzianis after Paros finished in 4th position here in Rhodes, just 1 point clear of K-66 Nik Baker.

The next stop on the PWA World Tour is the 1997 PWA British World Cup in Brighton between 2-7th Sepetember.

source: SSM Freesports / Dan Atkins