Majthenyi and Domokos (HUN) Claim Flying Dutchman World Title

The 2014 Flying Dutchman World championships came to a close with the Hungarian pair of Szabolcs Majthenyi and Andras Domokos taking first place in the final race and continuing their series of great results throughout the week long regatta.

It wasn’t all plain sailing as they reached the first windward mark in sixth place but their superior boat speed allowed them to battle their way to the front by the end of the race finishing ahead of Italian brothers Nicola and Francesco Vespasiani by around 25 seconds. Third place in the last race went to defending World Champions Enno Kramer and Ard Geelkerken from the Netherlands who were another 45 seconds behind. This race was sailed in North Easterly winds of 15 knots with gusts up to 20, but as the tail enders crossed the finish line the breeze started to fade, and continued to do so until it reached only five knots with large shifts of up to 90 degrees, making the start of a second race impossible.

Overall Majthenyi and Domokos dominated the regatta counting five first places and one third to win by a comfortable margin of eight points ahead of defending world champions Kramer and Geelkerken who in turn were five points clear of the Vespasiani brothers in third position. The Vespasiani’s were level with the German pairing of Kay-uwe Ludke and Kai Schafers on points, but the Italians won out on the tie-break courtesy of their win in Race 3.

All in all the 2014 FD World Championships was a great event which without doubt tested the skills of the sailors in generally windy conditions with the majority of the races seeing strong winds at some stage. The World Champions certainly deserved their win and the fleet will be looking forward to their next Worlds in Sydney in January 2015.

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