2019 RS Aero Worlds Recap

It has been an awesome RS Aero Worlds and results are in from Australia. Sailors had a fantastic mix of conditions and competitive racing, with Black Rock Yacht Club hosting sailors from around the world. Congratulations to US sailors Marc Jacobi and Derek Bottles for placing 2nd in the RS Aero 7 and RS Aero 9 fleets, respectively. We're already looking forward to the 4th RS Aero World Champs 2020 - Columbia Gorge RA, Oregon, USA later this year!

RECAP FROM DEREK BOTTLES

The 2019 and Third RS Aero World Championships were sailed out of Black Rock Yacht Club on Port Philip Bay, just down the beach from Melbourne, Australia over New Year’s Week.

70 teams from around the world (Germany, UK, Japan, Norway and the USA) traveled down under to see what the host Australians have been up to in their growing fleet of RS Aeros.

RS supplied 30 brand new charter boats. I went straight from the airport to the YC and ended up getting a useful test sail in to check the boat and my settings before I could check into our rental house. All the RS Aeros are well prepared and I can jump right into any boat and sail it to its potential. I sail the boat just as it comes from the factory, all I do is adjust the lines for the Vang and Cunningham to make sure they have maximum effective travel and I add a few tape marks on the vang and mast so I can repeat my upwind settings at the leeward mark and add a bit of line with tape around the tiller extension to make it easier to grip on ripping fast reaches between the tiller and the foam handle.

The first day of racing was blown out with 40 knot winds and temps peaking at 106F but we sailed 4 day four races on the second day with wind between 15-22knots and very steep waves. These waves tripped me up plenty, I kept stuffing the bow and flipping while fighting for the lead rather than backing off a bit and taking a safe second – I scored 3,7,7,2. We had New Year’s Day off and I used the time to gather my thoughts and figure out what I was doing wrong. I added a safety knot 60 cm back on my mainsheet from letting the boom out 90 deg per O’Brien’s recommendation and focused on steering more for balance than outright speed when going down the waves. I knew I had to get good scores on the board and did just that for the second day, making sure to stay between the mark and the boats behind to finish 2,2,2,2 for the day and move up from 4th to 2nd place. On the third day of racing, with second place fairly secure and a less wind and waves I felt I could take a bit more risk and sail the shifts rather than cover the boats behind – I finished the day 1,2,2,1. The high winds returned for the last day and the RC abandoned sailing as the winds did not appear to be easing below 30 knots anytime soon and thus I secured the silver medal in the RS 9 fleet.

There is strong international interest in the next Worlds that will be sailed in at Cascade Locks, OR in Aug. and I look forward to racing in “home” waters.

This regatta report generously written and provided by Derek Bottles. Thanks Derek!

RESULTS

Aero 5 Rig

1. Sophie Jackson AUS

2. David Ellis GBR

3. Megan Ridgway AUS

Aero 7 Rig

1. Rhett Gowans AUS

2. Marc Jacobi USA

3. Noah Rees GBR

Aero 9 Rig

1. Liam Willis GBR