ADESSO VELA

Robert Scheidt, Bruno Prada, Xavier Rohart, Mark Reynolds, Hal Haenel, Pelle Petterson, Anders Ekstrom, Hamish Pepper, Freddy Loof, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Dominik Zycki, Alexander Hagen . What do they have in common? They are past and present Star World Champions and they represent just a fraction of the talent-laden 95-boat fleet that will be competing for the 2009 Star World Championship title in Varberg, Sweden during the first week of August.
If this year's European championship regatta schedule, which has included such regattas as the Eastern European Championship, the Delta Lloyd Regatta, Kiel Week and the European Championship is the true indicator of who will grab this year's title, it's going to be a slugfest. Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) and Freddy Loof and Johan Tillander (SWE) spar against each other on Lake Garda and elevate the competition to fisticuffs when there are trophies at stake. Neither team has fallen out of the top four at the major regattas that they have attended this year and Scheidt /Prada have edged out Loof/Tillander more often than not. The most recent faceoff was at the European Championships early in July when Scheidt/Prada topped the fleet and beat 2008 Olympic Gold Medalists, Iain Percy and Andrew "Bart" Simpson (GBR) and Loof/Tillander by four points. The sailing was so tight that the combined scores of this three 2008 Olympic Medalist teams was less than the score for the fourth place boat.
Percy /Simpson will not be in the fray. Any team that tops Scheidt/Prada and Loof/Tillander will have to sail flawlessly and had better make sure that they approach the first weather mark of the final races of the 2009 Star World Championship well ahead and out of range of these savages.
Reigning Star World Champions Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki (POL) have been MIA since the Olympics. If they approach this World Championship with a "nothing to lose and no pressure" attitude, they may come out on top again. Their boat is fast, but they are going to need afterburners to jet away from the Brazilians and the Swedes.

Lynn Fitzpatrick
www.worldregattas.com

Event site: www.giveandgo.se/vss/