Port Elizabeth / South Africa, November 3rd 2005 On Thursday the competitors of the 17th Hobie 16 Worlds in South Africa finally got a full day of action. After yesterday’s 40 knots offshore wind in Port Elizabeth, there was a nice and steady breeze all day long. The semi-final series of ten races were completed. Brazil took three bullets and Australia two. Both teams Tim Shuwalow / Cameron Hooper (AUS) and Juliano Viana / Sebastiao Gomes (BRA) won twice. The Aussies are in first position after the semi-finals, followed by the South African teams Ferry/Le Sueur and Dodd/Dodd. The battle for gold is tied, so it is going to be an exciting final day.

Race 4 to 6: Shuwalow and Hooper grab the lead
Today’s conditions have arrived right in time, as the Hobie 16 Worlds 2005 are coming to an end and the weather has been very tricky. The fourth semi-final race had to be cancelled again on Wednesday, due to a 40 knot offshore wind that all of a sudden came in during the starting procedure. This morning, the race committee decided to use short courses (upwind, downwind, finish), in order to catch up on the schedule. Blaine and Roxanne Dodds from South Africa were in the lead at the first upwind mark, followed by the British youngsters Tom Phipps and Andrew Taylor. Both of them choose for the left side of the course. Tim Shuwalow and Cameron Hooper (AUS) went to the right. The finish was close, but the Aussies caught a puff and beat father and daughter Dodds at the line. Shuwalow: "We got it just before them." All teams swopped their boats quickly and sailed out again. The Germans Wiese-Dohse and Versi Gehrmann took the lead from the beginning and sailed a conservative fifth race. They went inshore after the upwind mark and increased their lead. "It was nerve-racking", said Gehrmann afterwards. Blaine and Roxanne Dodds finished second. Race six showed exciting competition between Australia and South Africa. Shaun Ferry and Michele le Sueur (RSA) were heading from the seaside of the course towards the finish, as Shuwalow and Hooper came from inshore. The South Africans got a header and fell back to a second position. Shuwalow, who works for the Volvo Ocean Race organization, took advantage of a lift an won: "We had a nice pressure on the run downwind."

On Tuesday November 1st 2005, Ingo Delius and Katrin Wiese-Dohse from Germany won the third race of the semi-finals for the 17th Hobie 16 Worlds in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. They were first at the upwind mark and never lost their leading position in the battle with the US team of Bob Merrick and Mike Huang. Apparently, the Americans had bad luck with an OCS (early start). The South-Africans William and Lucinda Edwards took over the second place, followed by Paul Lagesse and Tyran Kerford (RSA). The fourth race, today's second, had to be cancelled again, due to a lack of wind.

Port Elizabeth / South Africa, October 31st 2005 -- South Africa and Puerto Rico in the lead
On day one of the semi-finals for the Hobie Cat 16 Worlds 2005 in South Africa, the competitors faced light conditions for a change. Today’s surf did not cause any problems either. The first race on Monday October 31st showed close racing in the top. Shaun Ferry and Michele Le Sueur from South Africa went inshore, took advantage of a lift and finished first. The current World Champion Hobie Tiger, Enrique Figueroa and his crew Carla Malatrasi from Puerto Rico, won the second race after the French guys Chichemanian/Bruges had to take a penalty. The tropical colours of Port Elizabeth area were covered by smoke today, as a fire further inland has been a spoil-sport for the last couple of days.

Fleet one: Flier between the rocks pays
"We undertacked the mark and were lucky to get a lift", said Michele Le Sueur after their victory. "We could double trapeze, as everybody else sat inside." Ferry and Le Sueur had a bad start: "We had dirty air and we were pushed up, so we were forced to tack." They took a flier inshore and sailed between the rocks just outside the surf towards the upwind mark. Le Sueur: "That paid, so we decided to go back in the second beat and this time we tacked earlier." That was their golden move, since it opened up a comfortable lead. At their finish, the South African people cheered for their fellow-countrymen. The French teams of Thomas Richards/Moana Trankcart and Cédric Bader/Yann Montoya sailed consistently in the top three and finished respectively second and third. Bader: "We did not take any risk and staid with the fleet. Our start was bad, but we went to the right side on the left. There was more wind and the waves pushed us up."

Port Elizabeth / South Africa, October 30th 2005
Veronique Telva and Guillain Kaya from Tahiti won the open qualifier round for the Hobie Cat 16 World Championships 2005 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. On Sunday October 30th, they finished second in the first race, in which the locals Andrew Ward and Steve Arnold took the victory. Maxime Clercq and Yoann Bonte from France just barely won the second race. It was another spectacular day, as sailing off and towards the beach became a tough challenge. The surf was high with an offshore wind that was not really strong ashore. Everybody around helped the sailors. The beach master gave advices through the microphone and the public encouraged the competitors and clapped for every successful action.

First fleet: Bad luck
Although the seventeenth Hobie Cat 16 Worlds experienced the biggest storm and waves so far on Saturday, this Sunday morning started calm. After a postponement, the teams were allowed to leave the beach at 11.30 am for today’s first race. Allan Lawrence and Nicola Francis (RSA) took the lead from the beginning, but capsized just before the finish. Francis: "We were by miles ahead, but while reaching downwind, Allan got washed off and we could not keep it up. We came in fourth, but we are very disappointed of course. Yesterday, we broke the tiller bar prior to the start, so we have had bad luck so far." Andrew Ward and Steve Arnold took advantage of their fellow-countrymen and won the race. Ward: "We had a clear start at the middle of the line. We had 18 to 25 knots out there and the swell from yesterday was difficult. Especially downwind, you had to keep your bow up. We rounded the top mark in fourth position, took an early gibe and came second at the gate." The boys from Tahiti were second, followed by Fletcher Warren and Georgia Myers from New Zealand.

Landing safely on the beach was the final challenge for the first fleet, as the wind came straight ahead of them. John Dinsdale from Hobie Cat France watched the teams coming in and gave them advices and complimented their actions: "Catch your wave! Well done number 20. See, they were on the back of the boat and nothing happened." It was like a real time show with lots of spectators. Christian Wright and Charlie Clement from Hong Kong caught the best ride and surfed their way down to the shore and just missed another H16: "We went off so quickly."

Port Elizabeth / South Africa, October 29th 2005
On Saturday October 29th 2005, France and Tahiti won the first race in the open qualifier round for the seventeenth Hobie Cat 16 Worlds in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Both teams, Alban Bruna / Jean Bernaz (FRA) and Telva Veronique / Kaya Guillain (TAH), gained convincingly their first victory. Although the conditions looked perfect this morning, they became rough again and further racing was abandoned. Spectators had a good time on the pier watching the spectacular sailing of the H16 crews out on the Indian Ocean. Back on the beach, all hands were needed to bring the equipment safely in.

Race one
After yesterday’s complete cancellation of competition due to a 40 knots offshore wind, today started with a nice breeze from almost the opposite direction. It increased very quickly before the first start and already shifted to the north-west. The starting gun was fired at 10:00 hours AM, with about 20 knots of wind and it continued to build up. Most of the teams went to the left side of the course. Only six decided to try their luck on the right, which did not pay off. The H16s that took a long starboard tack also fell behind, but the ones that took an early flier came out best. Bruno and Bernaz were first at the upwind mark: "We kept this position throughout the race. It was difficult sailing with high and short waves." They finished about three hundred meters ahead of the runners-up, Fletcher Warren and Georgia Myers from New Zealand. Meanwhile, eleven crews out of forty-three gave up due to the wild conditions. Boats were blown over and the beach master warned the competitors of the next race: "The wind and surf are picking up. If you do not feel comfortable, do not go out. If you want to reef your mainsail, there are ropes available."