FINAL- Steven Thomas repeated his title of 29er World Championadding Blair Tuke of NZL as his crew this time around.  The duo carried on their top sailingfrom the 49er Worlds the week prior pairing up and stepping into the 29er toplace no worse than 3^rd, and sailing so consistently they were able tonot sail the final 2 races.

The battle on the final day was between the Outteridgesiblings also of Australia.  In theend big brother Nathan with skipper Lauren Jeffries out sailed his sister totake 2^nd overall. Haylee with Iain Jensen as crew finished 3^rd overall just 2points behind.

Max Richardson and Alex Groves of GBR were the top placingyouth team finished 4^th in the Gold fleet while Ida Marie BaadNielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen of Denmark won the top placing female team.

The 54 boat silver fleet was won by Americans Paris Henkenwith Chris Rast as crew, another 49er Olympic sailor in the front of theboat.  The Bronze fleet was won bySinem Kurtbay and Ville Bergman of Finland with the Emerald fleet winners CaseyMcDermott and Chantelle Boudreau of Canada. 

The186 teams represented 20 countries including entries from Hong Kong, the CaymanIslands and United Arab Emirates as well as established European, America,Argentina and the ever strong Australians show the broad reach and popularityof the skiff and acceptance worldwide The 29er is an open class in the ISAF Youth World Championship.  This was the largest 29er WorldChampionship it the classes 10 year history. 

Day 5 - Aussies Dominate

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Steven Thomas and Blair Tuke (NZL) continued to dominate thecompetition at the 2009 29er Worlds by winning 3 of the 4 races held today onLake Garda.  With 2 more races tobe held to complete the series, they have virtually locked up the championship witha lead of 31 points.

The fight now seems to be focused on a sibling rivalrybetween Haylee Outteridge with 49er World Champion crew Iain Jensen as her crewand big brother Nathan Outteridge, last weeks 49er World Champion skipper whois in the front of the boat this week sailing with girlfriend LaurenJeffries.  5 points separate thepair.  Australian teams currentlyhold 4 of the 5 top positions with David O’Conor and Rhys Mara in 5^th.

The top youth team continues to be Max Richardson and AlexGroves of GBR who sit in 4^th with 53 points; the only non-Australianteam in the top 5.  The top women’steam is Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen of Denmark who sit in8^th overall in the silver fleet.

Todays conditions were strong Ora winds of 20 knots and biglake chop that created havoc among the fleets, but nothing that could not behandled.  Gold and silver fleetscompleted 4 races each while the bronze completed 3 and the emerald 2.

Day 4 - Aussies Continue to Roll 

The Australians hit their stride today taking the top 3positions leading into the 2^nd day of finals.  Steven Thomas (AUS) and Blair Tuke(NZL) have 9 points and a 20 point lead on fellow countrymen Lauren Jeffriesand Nathan Outteridge with 29 followed by younger sister Haylee Outteridge andIain Jensen with 32. 

Americans Judge Ryan and Matt Noble started off well with a7-3 but had a mishap when Ryan fell out of the boat in race 4 and were OCS inrace 5 dropping them to 11^th overall.  Meanwhile the top youth team position is held by MaxRichardson and Alex Groves of GBR who hold 4^th overall.

The Ora filled around noon today and was a steady 13-18 withpuffs to 20 knots.  While the Goldand Silver fleets were able to complete 4 races, the Bronze and Emerald wereonly able to finish 3 a piece. 

Adam Larvin and Ed Chapman of GBR lead the silver fleet,Stefan Gieser and Felix Meggendorfer of Germany the bronze and Nicklas Olrikand Jakob Lynnerup of Denmark lead the 53 boat emerald fleet.

Racingcontinues tomorrow and Saturday with the final series and to determine the 29erWorld Champions on Saturday. 

Day 3 - Aussies Lead into Finals

The Australian teams of Steven Thomas and Blair Tuke (NZL)and Haylee Outteridge and Iain Jensen are leading the 29er World qualifiersinto the fleet splits for gold, silver, bronze and emerald flights.  Outteridge/Jensen scored a 1-2-1 forthe day to move them ahead of US sailors Judge Ryan and Matt Noble who scored3-5-3 and remain in 3^rd overall.  Thomas and Tuke sailed a discard in their second race of theday posting 1-17-2 results.

The Ora filled early in today’s racing and began at 18 knotsincreasing to 20 knots out of the south. Four races were scheduled, but only 3 were completed per fleet.

The top youth team is Kevin Fischer and Glenn Gouron ofFrance who won all their races today launching them into 4^thoverall.  This team has won all theEuroCup events for the 29er Class in 2009 including the recently sailed KielWeek.   The top female team isBecky Diamond and Fiona Hampshire of Great Britain who sit in 35^thoverall.

Once protests are heard, the competitors will be split intotheir various groupings with the Gold fleet comprised of the top 25 teams andthe remainder split equally between Silver, Bronze and Emerald.

Racingcontinues tomorrow to begin the final series and determine the 29er WorldChampions on Saturday. 

DAY 2 - Tough at the Top

Matching race to race, Aussie Steven Thomas and Blar Tuke (NZL) won all 3 races in their flight while Americans Judge Ryan and Matt Noble equalled by winning all their races as well. The 2 teams are separated by 1 point and lead 3rd, yesterday's leaders of Haylee Outteridge and Iain Jensen, by 5 points.  Conditions were lighter today but built from 13 to 18 knots to give the sailors great conditions on Lake Garda.  The Aussies currently have 3 of the top 5 spots rounded out by the American team and Argentine team of Pepe Bettini and Fernando Gwozdz in 5th.

Racing continues tomorrow to close out the qualifying series. Photo by Ingrid Abery.

DAY 1 - Familiar Names Lead after Day 1

The names should be familiar after the finish of the 49erWorlds but only with a change of the skippers first name – Haylee.  As the younger sister of Nathan Outteridge, Hayley borrowed her brothers crew and are currently leading the 183 boat 29er World championship fleet sailing on Lake Garda.

Epic Lake Garda conditions gave the Race Committee andcompetitors a chance to stretch out and complete 3 races in the 4 flights.  Competition is tough with 2008 29erWorld Champion Steve Thomas (AUS) with Blair Tuke, borrowed from neighboringNew Zealand and also fresh off the 49er Worlds.  British sailors Tom Durham and George Hand round out the top3 all separated by 1 point.

Germany has shown up with 34 teams followed by the Britishwith 33, the United States with 18 and host country Italy with 15. This is thelargest 29er World Championship ever held and competitors span 20 countriesaround the world.

Competitors range from adults to young teenagers and manyare repeat competitors including Pepe Bettini from Argentina who is eager towin a Worlds after having come very close in 3 prior Championships.  American Matt Nobel has also finished 3^rdin 2 previous 29er Worlds and currently sits in 7^th crewing for USsailor Judge Ryan who finished 4^th in the 2008 ISAF Youth Worlds inDenmark.

Representatives from Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands andUnited Arab Emirates as well as established European, Americas and the everstrong Australians show the broad reach and popularity of the skiff andacceptance worldwide.

Three more races are scheduled for Tuesday.