Name: WASZP - the one design foiler
Brand: WASZP
Price: 11400.00 USD
Availability: InStock
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Ferguson claims 2nd Aussie title!

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WASZP Nationals to Sorrento

The 2021 WASZP Nationals Championships went off with a bang at the spiritual home of WASZP in Australia, Sorrento Sailing and Couta Boat Club.

With fresh breeze forecast over the 3 day event, the nature of the WASZP being an extremely flexible class allowed the race committee to ‘front end’ the event. With 31 competitors coming from 3 states, the quality in the fleet was complimented by a number of first timers who are absolutely loving what the WASZP has to offer. The friendly nature of the class and willingness of the top guys/girls to share information is a feature of the event.

Racing kicked off on Friday afternoon in absolutely glamour Sorrento conditions, 18-22 knots and flat water allowed the RO to get 5 quick races in on Friday afternoon. There were some awesome battles at the top of the fleet and with the one-design nature of the class providing insanely close racing all the way down the fleet allowed everyone to have their own individual battles.

Reigning champion Jack Ferguson from Sydney and regular protagonists Tom Trotman and Ben Gunther all had good days. Unfortunately, in race 4 there was a start line pile-up involving Gunther and Trotman, which in hindsight cost them valuable points towards the end of the event.

The Masters battle was going strong in the middle of the fleet with Ed Wray, Rod Muller and Leigh Hein all battling it out in the middle of the fleet. It was also amazing to see a lot of the first timers getting around the course for 2 laps of majority of the racing.

The RO made the call to have racing at 10am on the Saturday, this would allow the class to get racing in before a wintery blast was due in Melbourne. 2 races were able to be completed on a compressed course in 20-25knots and with gusts up to 29knots by the end of the 2nd race. The durability and ability of the WASZP to handle these conditions, although tough 22 boats were able to finish both races with a number of the first-timers again getting around 2 laps within the finishing window. !

Trotman and Gunther showed their heavy air skills trading wins in the 2 races, while Jack Ferguson did enough with a 6th and pipping Trotman for a 2nd in the last race to take the Championship. With 7 races completed, the fleet headed in knowing that a series had been completed, even if no more racing was feasible.

Saturday afternoon was spent with the new Virtual Reality WASZP racing thanks to developer MarineVerse coming down for an on-site activation. Sailors had an opportunity to post a fastest time and compete against each other in the VR world. The national AGM was also held with state based coaching programs a focus for the class heading forward, also more events being added to the calendar means WASZP should be able to activate all boats (110) in around AUS. This season the class had over 70 individual boats race at state/national level around the country and we can not wait for more certainty around borders so we can activate more events and bigger fleets.

The call was made at 5pm to cancel Sunday allowing everyone to pack their boats up and head off on Sunday, something visitors were very thankful for. Well done to all competitors and race management for getting a fantastic series away.

FULL RESULTS >>> https://sailingresults.net/sa/results/overall.aspx?ID=80455.1

GLOBAL RANKINGS (IWCM Only) >>> https://racehub.waszp.com/eventdetail/35

Next year we head back to Perth and the Perth Dinghy Sailing Club, with a 20+ boat local fleet, we are hopeful of getting 60+ boats to the event for the nationals. The Swan River provides the ideal location for WASZP sailing. The association in conjunction with the manufacturer sponsorship will be looking at semi-subsidised shipping options for the event, meaning 40+ eastern states boats should be ale to attend and compliment the growing local fleet. The event will be held from the 21st-25th of January 2022.

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10th Apr 2021