FD Worlds 2004
Warnemünde – Germany
27 July – 3 August

94 FDs from 12 nations enjoyed the hospitality provided by the Berlin and Rostock Yacht Clubs who hosted the 2004 FD World Championships in the beautiful resort town of Warnemunde on the Baltic coast.

Sunshine and temperatures in the high 20s were experienced for most of the championship. The onshore facilties were excellent with ample places to park boats, trailers and dozens of camper vans and tents that are a feature of the German sailing scene. A large sports centre accommodated many competitors and officials and there is ample hotel and bed & breakfast accommodation in Warnemunde and surrounding area.

The hospitality onshore extended to welcome free beer and food after each race and a magnificent sailors dinner in a nearby restaurant with great entertainment.

The first two days saw the usual measurement checks and thus was handled very efficiently by a team from Britain under the leadership of John Best and the direction of IFDCO Chief Measurer Peter Hinrichsen (Canada). Meanwhile IFDCO VP Championships, Stephen Parry, was fully occupied ensuring that the Sailing Instructions were redrafted to meet IFDCO requirements and that the Jury members and Race officer were fully briefed on the Class guidelines.

The opening ceremony took place on the quay in bright sunshine with speeches from local dignitaries and representatives of the two host Yacht Clubs and IFDCO.

With a very large sailing area just off the very popular Warnemunde beach and the support of so many experienced sailors and local Government it was easy to understand why Warnemunde had hosted so many major sailing events and had hoped to be the sailing venue for the 2012 Olympics.

The racing proved to be very challenging with mainly light variable winds and wind driven surface currents. The lack of practice in starting in large fleets proved problematic for several teams and at the windward mark many boats underestimated the strength of the current.

7 teams from Britain participated in the event and arrived with a wide range of experience and aspirations.

Toby Dale & James Cole were looking to improve on their 8^th at the 2003 Worlds in Melbourne. Faced with the vast experience of so many FD sailors including former World and Olympic medal winners they finished a very creditable 7^th.

Jon Williams & Alex Rogers sailing in their first major FD event quickly improved, finishing a very impressive 17^th in the fifth race and 34^th overall.

Peter Doran & Richard Phillips were amongst the 11 competitors sailing for the 100+ Trophy (awarded to top team with helm and crew aged over 100 years) and were in the middle of the fleet where small distances separate large numbers of boats. The 100+ Trophy was won by former World champions Ian McCrossin & James Cook who finished 12^th overall.

Tony Lyall & Colin Burns suffered from a series of poor starts and despite good boat speed were unable to recover such is the depth of talent in the FD fleet.

Victoria Parry & Ben Stirrup sailing their first World Championships and were one of the youngest teams present, Victoria was eligible for the under 26 Trophy which was won by Killian Konig (GER) who was 35^th overall and for the Lady Helm Trophy which was won by Dolores Sanchez-Herrero (ESP) 51st overall.

Victoria & Ben were involved in one of the main dramas of the week. A storm arose during the 4th race which was abandoned due to winds reaching 38 knots at the windward mark leaving boats scattered around the race course. Victoria was hit by a wave near the entrance to the harbour and washed out of the back of her FD. Ben sensibly capsized and a passing sports boat tried to tow Vicky back to the FD but narrowly missed cutting her with the propellers and then sped off leaving Vicky to swim to the FD in large waves. After righting the FD there was no choice but to sail straight into a small cove and onto the rocks. Miraculously neither Ben nor Vicky were hurt and the only damage to the FD was some scratched gel coat on the bow. A couple of other FDs ended up on the long sandy beach. Damage to the fleet was limited to 6 broken masts, one broken centreboard and some damaged light wind sails – the forecast had been force 2-3.

Julian & Cathy Bridges were way below their normal form. Cathy withdrew with shoulder injuries after the second race. Julian as always was the life and soul of the party. They turned their attention to the magnificent tall ships which were sailing into Warnemunde/Rostock for the Hanse Sail event that started on 5 August.

Jamie Whitaker (almost youngest competitor) and Pete Hadfield sailing one of the oldest FDs in the event succeeded in their goal of not being last. They made some excellent starts and in some races managed to keep in touch with the main fleet for a lap of the old style Olympic course.

The event was marred by the lack of racing on the last two days when the winds were light and variable. In the view of many seasoned competitors there was enough wind to race and there were strong feelings that a more experienced race officer would have succeeded in getting the fleet away for the remaining three races if he had followed the guidelines provided by the Class in relation to the use of the Black Flag and bow numbers. Curiously on several occasions the race officer abandoned black flag starts a few seconds before the staring gun rather than BFD competitors over the line and let fleet start.

Despite the fact that only 5 races were sailed the Hungarian and Danish teams clearly dominated the event and were first and second overall with two wins each. The Hungarians won the Mexican Hat for best team without a discard – their discard was a second!

The Class will be going to Hungary for their Worlds in 2005 and it is likely that future Worlds will be in USA (2006), Spain (2007), New Zealand (2008). For more news and information about the FD Class see www.sailfd.org

Overall

British Results

 For more photos and full results see www.sailfd.org/worlds2004.htm