Karsten Hitz wins the title with one race spare. Racing finally got under way to conclude the Championship yesterday in Bastad, Sweden.
Race 6
Karsten Hitz (GER) went into the final day with a 20 point lead but withlight airs he was looking a little worried. Race 6 got under way in a force 3 with a nasty chop left over from yesterday's gale force 8. The race started in shifty winds with Bart Bomans (BEL) making a strong challenge for the World Title with an early lead from Hedley Fletcher(BGR). Hitz was burried in the 20's at the first mark. Bomans motored away down wind for a big win followed by the veteran legend, Jorgan Lindhardtsen (DEN). The chasing pack finished very closely led by Thomas Hansson-Mild (SWE) and Fletcher. Hitz hit left up the last beat to make a remarkable recovery to 5th and retain his World Title.
Race 7
With Hitz already won gold, the battle for silver was on between Bomans and Hansson-Mild, with Hansson-Mild needing to beat Bomans by around 3 places. The race started in similar tricky conditions with Bomans once again picking the shifts righ to lead at the windward mark and win again with his excellent downwind speed. The chasing pack was again very tight especially when the wind went light up the last beat. Hitz won his title in style with another 2nd followed by Hansson-Mild and Nick Craig (GBR).
Hitz won't be able to rest on his laurels for long because the next world championships is in sunny New Zealand in January, only five months away.
Final Results:
|
First name |
Surname |
Country code |
Points |
| 1 |
Karsten |
Hitz |
GER |
14 |
| 2 |
Bart |
Bomans |
BEL |
23.4 |
| 3 |
Thomas |
Hansson-Mild |
SWE |
35.8 |
| 4 |
Jørgen |
Lindhardtsen |
DEN |
49.7 |
| 5 |
Nick |
Craig |
GBR |
55.7 |
| 6 |
Hedley |
Fletcher |
GBR |
61.7 |
| 7 |
Olle |
Albrektsson |
SWE |
94.7 |
| 8 |
Paul |
Rhodes |
NZL |
94.7 |
| 9 |
Greg |
Wilcox |
NZL |
102.7 |
| 10 |
Oliver |
Gronholz |
GER |
103 |
| 11 |
Mark |
Jackson |
AUS |
106.7 |
| 12 |
Adrian |
Mannering |
NZL |
126.7 |
| 13 |
Christian |
Midtgaard |
DEN |
130 |
| 14 |
Jonas |
Persson |
SWE |
131 |
| 15 |
Günther |
Arndt |
GER |
134 |
| 16 |
Pawel |
Pawlaczyk |
POL |
139 |
| 17 |
Hans |
Elkjaer |
SWE |
143 |
| 18 |
Robert |
Davis |
AUS |
151 |
| 19 |
Terry |
Curtis |
GBR |
152 |
| 20 |
Nitin |
Mongia |
GER |
153 |
| 21 |
Sonke |
Behrens |
GER |
161 |
| 22 |
Peder |
Thunander |
SWE |
165 |
| 23 |
David |
Carroll |
GBR |
170 |
| 24 |
David |
Hoogenboom |
NZL |
171 |
| 25 |
Michael |
Bachmann |
SUI |
174 |
| 26 |
Anders |
Persson |
SWE |
181 |
| 27 |
Martin |
von Zimmermann |
GER |
182 |
| 28 |
Will |
Turner |
GBR |
182 |
| 29 |
Peter |
Scheuerl |
GER |
183 |
| 30 |
Andrew |
Rushworth |
GBR |
200 |
| 31 |
Peter |
Wibroe |
DEN |
205 |
| 32 |
Ulf |
Brandt |
DEN |
213 |
| 33 |
Jesper |
Andersen |
DEN |
233 |
| 34 |
Andy |
Turner |
GBR |
242 |
| 35 |
Peter |
Burton |
AUS |
244 |
| 36 |
Gavin |
Waldron |
GBR |
251 |
| 37 |
Thomas |
Glas |
GER |
252 |
| 38 |
Grant |
Pedersen |
NZL |
259 |
| 39 |
David |
Munro |
NZL |
266 |
| 40 |
Alistair |
Deaves |
GBR |
267 |
| 41 |
Volkmar |
Kiene |
GER |
270 |
| 42 |
Dirk |
Dame |
GER |
280 |
| 43 |
Michak |
Leszczynski |
POL |
281 |
| 44 |
Dirk |
Gericke |
GER |
283 |
| 45 |
Fabian |
Gronhole |
GER |
284 |
| 46 |
Gautama |
Dutta |
GER |
284 |
| 47 |
Andrew |
Phillips |
NZL |
285 |
| 48 |
Max |
Nystedt |
SWE |
288 |
| 49 |
Peter |
Holzwarth |
GER |
294 |
| 50 |
Jörg |
Sylvester |
GER |
298 |
| 51 |
Rob |
Hengst |
NZL |
305 |
| 52 |
Christian |
Hartmann |
GER |
306 |
| 53 |
Greg |
Casey |
GBR |
318 |
| 54 |
Bill |
Tyler |
AUS |
322 |
| 55 |
Jesper |
Petersen |
DEN |
332 |
| 56 |
Berd |
Breitbart |
GER |
347 |
| 57 |
Peter |
Yates |
AUS |
359 |
| 58 |
Ivan |
Pedersen |
DEN |
366 |
| 59 |
Adrie |
Kuijpers |
NED |
368 |
| 60 |
Ingemar |
Janson |
SWE |
381 |
| 61 |
Maciej |
Nowaczyk |
POL |
382 |
| 62 |
Paul |
Richards |
AUS |
384 |
| 63 |
Damien |
Smith |
AUS |
384 |
| 64 |
Alan |
Atkin |
GBR |
402 |
| 65 |
Jörn |
Wille |
GER |
410 |
| 66 |
Darek |
Kras |
POL |
410 |
| 67 |
Frans |
Hawer |
BEL |
423 |
| 68 |
Per |
Jaensen |
SWE |
423 |
| 69 |
Daniel |
Groshl |
GER |
423 |
| 70 |
Bogdan |
Mogzorodynski |
POL |
426 |
| 71 |
Peter |
Blunt |
AUS |
431 |
| 72 |
Sarah |
Brewer |
GBR |
435 |
| 73 |
Raymond |
Dodard |
FRA |
452 |
| 74 |
Peter |
Turner |
GBR |
461 |
| 75 |
Juliane |
Hofmann |
GER |
463 |
| 76 |
Søren Peder |
Jensen |
DEN |
477 |
| 77 |
Lennarth |
Johansson |
SWE |
481 |
| 78 |
Gwyn |
Hagenaers |
BEL |
502 |
| 79 |
Henrik |
Sørgen |
DEN |
522 |
| 79 |
Yan |
Rialland |
FRA |
522 |
Nick Craig/News Editor