Cordero repeats as Sunfish world champion
By Doran Cushing
|
Eduardo Cordero of Venezuela saved his best performance for last at the 2000 Sunfish Class World Championships on Sarasota Bay. He led the two closing day races from start to finish, defending the world title he captured in hurricane-disrupted Puerto Rico last year. The regatta was held Nov. 13-17, hosted by the Sarasota Sailing Squadron on City Island at Sarasota, FL. "Consistency is the name of the game in these conditions," the 28-year-old sailor said. "The conditions here were a test of skill, and it was the most difficult championship I've won." Cordero, now a five-time champion in the 14-foot Sunfish, had only one bad race in the eight-race series, finishing in the top eight in the 104-boat international field seven times. His only slip came in race four when the light and shifty conditions left him on the wrong side of the course with most of the fleet ahead of him. "I had made a good comeback to finish 28th in that first race Wednesday. I had been maybe 80th early in the race," Cordero added. Oskar Johansson of Canada, the gold medal winner in Sunfish at the 1999 Pan Am Games, had led the five-day series since the second day but slipped to second overall with finishes of 20th and 13th in the closing day's moderate but sometimes fluky wind conditions. North American champion Jeff Linton of Tampa, FL, finished third overall by winning a tie-breaker over former world champion Malcolm Smith of Bermuda, who dropped to the fourth spot. Linton now has five top-five finishes in Sunfish world championships to match his five North American championships in the class, but he was not pleased with his performance. "I sucked," Linton said candidly after posting two eleventh-place finishes on the final day. Don Martinborough of Nassau, Bahamas, finished fifth after leading the regatta on day one. Sixty-three-year-old Dick Tillman of Merritt Island, FL, was the top master division racer, finishing sixth overall. Jo Anne Weberlein of Houston, TX, was the top woman sailor. She dropped one spot in the standings on the final day while finishing seventh overall. Luis Alberto Olcese of Peru, an Olympic sailor in the Laser Class, rounded out the top ten finishers, winning one race and finishing second in two others. Rod Koch of St. Petersburg, FL, closed out the regatta with a 5-9 record to move up to 12th overall after three difficult races earlier in the week.  Doran Cushing photo |
 Doran Cushing photo Charlie Clifton of Sarasota finished 25th overall and third in the masters division. Joe Blouin, Jr., of Tampa, despite being disqualified in two races for premature starts, finished 31st overall and was fourth in the masters division. The Sunfish world championships opened Nov. 13 on Sarasota Bay with an international fleet of 104 racers from 12 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and a dozen foreign countries. Leading after day one was Martinborough, followed by Johansson, Cordero, and Weberlein. The top Florida sailor was Jeff Linton, who was in fifth place after two races sailed in light to moderate wind conditions. Oskar Johansson moved into the lead after two days of the championship with Venezuelan Cordero in second place, five points behind Johansson after three races. First day leader Don Martinborough held third place despite a mental error at the finish which cost him a share of the overall lead. Martinborough failed to cross the finish line properly--mistaking a pin end spotter boat as the finish boat--while holding down seventh place at the end of the physically demanding race and dropped to 19th after discovering his mistake and returning to the finish line. Paul-Jon Patin of the Bronx, NY, led the eight-plus mile race from start to finish and moved up to eighth place overall. Racing had been delayed three hours on the second day of the event as a rainy storm front swept across Sarasota Bay just after noon. The 104-boat fleet had their hands full when the rain stopped as race officials opted for one long race instead of the two races which had been scheduled. With winds exceeding 20 knots at times and steep waves blasting the 14-foot dinghies, it became a matter of endurance as much as skill. Several competitors were unable to finish the race due to gear failures, and there was one minor injury brought on by the rough conditions. Rod Koch of St. Petersburg was the top local finisher on day two, placing sixth as he moved up to sixth in the overall standings. "I'm whipped," Koch said as he sailed back to the host Sarasota Sailing Squadron after the 90-minute race. |
Top 50 of 104 boats 1. Eduardo Cordero 28; 2. Oskar Johansson 35; 3. Jeff Linton 50; 4. Malcolm Smith 50; 5. Don Martinborough 68; 6. Dick Tillman 94; 7. Jo Anne Weberlein 94.5; 8. Damian Payne 103; 9. Eduardo Gonzales 107; 10. Luis Alberto Olcese 108; 11. Larry Suter 112; 12. Rod Koch 124; 13. Bishop Steiffel 132; 14. Kenny Mockridge 143.5; 15. Diego Zimmermann 158; 16. Paul-Jon Patin 161; 17. Carlos Abisambra 162; 18. Jorge Santiago, Jr. 168; 19. Andreas Flebbe 169; 20. Dan Feldman 186; 21. Ash Beatty 194.9; 22. Todd Edwards 197; 23. Hank Saurage 197; 24. Paula Douat 201; 25. Charlie Clifton 203; 26. Paul Van Alphen 207; 27. Vicenzo Scargiali 216; 28. Willo Cappelleti 220.5; 29. Peter Stanton 224; 30. Peyton Hassinger 224; 31. Joe Blouin 225; 32. Leonardo Perez 226; 33. Niek Kort 227; 34. Jef Olson 232; 35. Anne Cottrell Patin 242; 36. Giancario Mazzini 245; 37. Scott Stanton 252; 38. Juan Del Solar 253.2; 39. Kathy Remmer 266; 40. John Swan 275; 41. Don Bergman 277; 42. Ron Groenhart 282; 43. Peter Jan De Vin 286; 44. Jim Koehler 289; 45. Tony Elliot 307; 46. Mike Scriver 307; 47. Mindy Strauley 308; 48. Rita Steele 314; 49. Sipke Stapert 316; 50. Jon Wedemeyer 321
| Bits and pieces from the worlds The Sarasota Sailing Squadron wasn't supposed to host this event. When Bonaire had to bail out due to internal problems, the Sarasota group led by Cindy Clifton took on the event with very short notice. It didn't show as everyone involved seemed more than pleased with everything that happened, and what happened was a regatta with something for everyone.
"It has been a spectacular event, and the people at the squadron have been great... they did a super job for us," Duggan said after the event. |
Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000 Southwinds Media.
All rights reserved.