GBR 785 “Alfie” helmed by Lawrie Smith, crewed by Ossie Stewart and Joost Houweling won the 10th Hans-Detmar Wagner Cup in Torbole’, Lake Garda..
It was a very exciting final day in Torbole’ with teams up very early for an 8am start !! Yes fellow sailors, 8am start… this was to hopefully catch the early morning “Northerly” (Peler) breeze that so often see’s many wind surfer’s an other keen sailors have a “full-on” two to three hours of fun before a “pasta” lunch… But, although a race was started, it had to be stopped on the first down-wind leg as the wind completely died away…..
However, the ever reliable “Southerly” (Ora) wind arrived by 12.30 and teams were quickly assembled by the very experienced International Race Officer, Carmelo Paroli and his assistant Carla Malauvovia (pictured below), so racing began under an immediate Black Flag at around 1pm, with a view to get a second race started before the 2.30pm final warning signal limit….. 🙂
Our excellent International Race Officer Carmelo and his team relax between races in Lake Garda.
In the first race both GER 10 Vincent Hoesch and GBR 785 Lawrie Smith made a “jump” on the fleet from the pin end of the line to have their own “private” battle which Lawrie eventually won to give him the overall lead. Whilst fighting hard to maintain a top “podium” position, GER 1125 helmed by Stephan Link, Frank Butzmann and Michi Lip were sailing well and indeed maintained their form to finish a very creditable 3rd overall..
3rd Overall, GER 1125 Stephan Link, Frank Butzmann and Michi Lip..
Another team having an excellent day were UAE 9 “Desert Eagle” helmed by Henrik Witzmann and crewed by Theis Palm and Georgi Leonchuk, in fact their final two results pulled them up to 2nd place over as GER 10 “Billy Boy” (Vincie Hoesch) team’s challenged slipped away during the final race.
Runner’s Up, UAE 9 “Desert Eagle” Henrik Witzmann, Theis Palm & Georgi Leonchuk.
But there was no stopping the overall winner’s… the GBR 786 team in “Alfie”. Who after finishing in 2nd place last year, made no mistake of taking this years “10th Anniversay Title” of this wonderful event…. Very well done to Lawrie Smith, Joost Houweling and the ever young Oswald Simon Stewart !!
In closing, we would all like to thank once again, the excellent helpers and volunteers of the Circolo Vera Torbole’, with President Gianfranco Tonelli at the helm, this club is in such excellent hands….
Once again all these wonderful photo’s have been kindly supplied by the Free Lance Professional Christopher Nordhoff… visit his web site for many more “action” pictures!
Higher, Faster, Longer…………….. Stavros. (USA 310)…