A dramatic final race in Sønderborg, Denmark saw Britain’s John ROBERTSON, Hannah STODEL and Stephen THOMAS claim the 2005 IFDS Disabled Sailing Championship title in the three-person keelboat. Meanwhile Paralympic gold medallist Damien SEGUIN (FRA) sat out the last day in the single-person keelboat having secured victory with another dominant display on Saturday.
ROBERTSON, STODEL and THOMAS went in to the final race in the three-person keelboat Sonar knowing they would have to finish at least two places above the overnight leaders, the Norwegian team of Jostein STORDAHL, Aleksander WANG-HANSEN and Per Eugen KRISTIANSEN, to claim the gold medal. Behind the leading pair the battle for the final podium position was also set for a tight finish with Jens KROKER, Holger SCHÖNENBERG and Tobias SCHUETZ (GER) just four points ahead of Israel’s Paralympic Champions Dror COHEN, Efrati ARNON and Benny VEXLER.
It was another Israeli team, Tzur AVI, Pertzman BARUCH and Dahan SHIOMO who took victory in the final race, their second bullet in two days securing them fifth position overall. ROBERTSON, STODEL and THOMAS put the pressure on the leaders by coming in second and when COHEN, ARNON and VEXLER crossed the line in third, the gold medal for Britain was secured.
KROKER, SCHÖNENBERG and SCHUETZ came in fourth to take the bronze medal, whilst STORDAHL, WANG-HANSEN and KRISTIANSEN eventually crossing the line in eighth position. Despite a disappointing couple of days at the end of the series the Norwegian team can reflect on a very successful Championship where they have improved greatly on the eleven position they finished at the Paralympics in Athens.
SEGUIN had already claimed the single-person keelboat title in the 2.4 Metre on Saturday and with six bullets and two second places in nine races, the Frenchman was undisputedly the number one sailor in Sønderborg. With the top spot decided the final race became a battle for silver between Kieler Woche winner and past World Champion Heiko KRÖGER (GER) and Paralympic bronze medallist, Thierry SCHMITTER (NED). KRÖGER used all his experience and match raced SCHMITTER to the finish with the pair eventually coming in 23 and 21 respectively and KRÖGER taking the silver medal.
Nick SCANDONE (USA) completed a great couple of days to collect his second bullet of the Championship whilst Helena LUCAS (GBR) took second place and fourth overall, with Megan PASCOE (GBR) seventh to just hold off SCANDONE and hang on to fifth place overall.
After the success of the Championship in Denmark, all eyes turn to Perth, Australia where the 2006 Worlds, the first of the qualification regattas for the 2008 Paralympic Games, is set to take place in January next year.
2.4 Metre Top Ten Results
| Pos |
Nation |
Helm |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
R4 |
R5 |
R6 |
R7 |
R8 |
R9 |
Pts |
| 1 |
FRA |
Damien SEGUIN |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
(DNC) |
10 |
| 2 |
GER |
Heiko KRÖGER |
2 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
5 |
(23) |
26 |
| 3 |
NED |
Thierry SCHMITTER |
3 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
7 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
(21) |
29 |
| 4 |
GBR |
Helena LUCAS |
4 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
9 |
9 |
(13) |
2 |
36 |
| 5 |
GBR |
Megan PASCOE |
11 |
(13) |
5 |
9 |
6 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
53 |
| 6 |
USA |
Nick SCANDONE |
12 |
8 |
8 |
(16) |
11 |
11 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
54 |
| 7 |
NED |
Ruud VAN HOLSTEIJN |
(15) |
10 |
10 |
5 |
9 |
6 |
8 |
12 |
3 |
63 |
| 8 |
DEN |
Jens ALS ANDERSEN |
7 |
6 |
9 |
(DNF) |
12 |
8 |
10 |
8 |
5 |
65 |
| 9 |
CAN |
Paul TINGLEY |
(24) |
7 |
7 |
8 |
5 |
7 |
15 |
9 |
9 |
67 |
| 10 |
NOR |
Bjørnar ERIKSTAD |
5 |
5 |
DNC |
(DNF) |
4 |
10 |
4 |
3 |
6 |
72 |
Sonar Top Ten Results
| Pos |
Nation |
Helm |
Crew |
Crew |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
R4 |
R5 |
R6 |
R7 |
R8 |
R9 |
Pts |
| 1 |
GBR |
John ROBERTSON |
Hannah STODEL |
Stephen THOMAS |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
(7) |
2 |
18 |
| 2 |
NOR |
Jostein STORDAHL |
Aleksander WANG-HANSEN |
Per EUGEN KRISTIANSEN |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
(10) |
4 |
8 |
23 |
| 3 |
GER |
Jens KROKER |
Holger SCHÖNENBERG |
Tobias SCHUETZ |
5 |
(9) |
3 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
26 |
| 4 |
ISR |
Dror COHEN |
Efrati ARNON |
Benny VEXLER |
1 |
2 |
8 |
3 |
2 |
(DNF) |
4 |
6 |
3 |
29 |
| 5 |
ISR |
Tzur AVI |
Pertzman BARUCH |
Dahan SHIOMO |
4 |
5 |
10 |
6 |
10 |
(DNF) |
1 |
3 |
1 |
40 |
| 6 |
IRL |
John C. TWOMEY |
Brian O'MAHONY |
Anthony HEGARTY |
11 |
6 |
4 |
9 |
6 |
(DNC) |
3 |
2 |
5 |
46 |
| 7 |
GER |
Olfa JAKOBS |
Hans-Peter REICHL |
Peter MÜNTER |
6 |
4 |
6 |
5 |
7 |
4 |
9 |
(10) |
7 |
48 |
| 8 |
IRL |
Paul MCCARTHY |
Paul RYAN |
Chris TOMAS |
7 |
10 |
9 |
(DSQ) |
5 |
5 |
8 |
8 |
6 |
58 |
| 9 |
CAN |
Ken KELLY |
Brian MACKIE |
Don TERLSON |
10 |
7 |
5 |
8 |
8 |
6 |
6 |
11 |
(DSQ) |
61 |
| 10 |
ESP |
Enrique VIVES |
Jose MARIA LASTRA |
Francisco PEREZ |
8 |
8 |
7 |
7 |
DNF |
(DNC) |
7 |
9 |
10 |
72 |
ISAF. Image, World Champions John ROBERTSON, Hannah STODEL and Stephen THOMAS:© photoworld.click.dk