Trials Preview at Thailand: Brouwer-Goodall on a Viper, 1st
Press Release – Viper Class Association www.viperclass.org
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Multiple Olympian Carolijn Brouwer and crewmate Brett Goodall have sailed their Viper to victory in the Pattaya International Multihull Festival with the boat outperforming its rivals for a spot on the 2016 Olympic program at the week-long event.
In total seven boats will strut their stuff at the upcoming evaluation trials in Spain to determine the new multihull class for the Rio Olympics, with Dutchwoman Brouwer and Australian Goodall beating all four of their rivals (Hobie Tiger, Tornado, Spitfire, Nacra F16) who raced in the same division in Thailand for the overall crown.
“It’s always great to start the year with a win and while we always have faith in the Viper’s performance I have to admit I was a little rusty after a nice break over Christmas,” said Brouwer, a former world silver medallist in the old Olympic Tornado class and mum to baby Kyle, about to celebrate his first birthday.
“I sometimes forget just how fast and fun Vipers are. We’ve had a ball all week and beating everyone else is icing on the cake.
“It’s also great to see Jason (Waterhouse) and Lisa Darmanin doing so well because they are sailing opposite to us with Jason as skipper and Lisa at crew.
“They are less than half our age and so talented they push us to a new level every time we race.”
Brouwer believes the Viper is the perfect class to take sailing into a new era with its performance unquestioned following a string of impressive results over the last year, the boat is attractive to all ages and both sexes and backed by an off-water team which includes multiple sailing world champions, world-class coaches and media and promotion experts.
“It’s exciting to race, a real high-performance boat, looks great for spectators and TV, is modern, dynamic and really fresh,” Brouwer said.
“It also has a string of fantastic results to its name proving just how good it is.”
“It’s a boat that can turn heads and attract new people and converts to the sport which is what we all want.”
Of the four Vipers competing in Thailand Brouwer, 38, and Goodall, 27, finished first,
Waterhouse, 20, and Lisa Darmanin, 20, finished third, Adrian Fawcett, 33, and Jess Dobie, 27, finished fourth and Chris Sproat, 46, and Georgina Burke, 39, placed ninth.
Final results can be located at www.thaicatregatta.org/results.html
The evaluation trials for the 2016 Olympics will be held in Santander, Spain, from March 17-25.
For further information about the Viper please go to our website www.viperclass.org
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Six F16s in the top ten! Nice.
It is a bit unfair to compare the results and say the viper is a better boat when only one boat had an Olympic sailor racing it. Some of the other classes had just local club sailors onboard.
Koen or Gunnar "just local club sailors" LOL !!!
What happened to the first comment!
great press release or propaganda as it is better described.
The first comment went something like "I'm about puke little in my mouth…"
And as I don´t want the blog to lose control I delete it, I thought it was some slang but couldn´t find the meaning beyond some movies quotes. Some will enlight me for sure now.
I also erased my own reply on some light unoffensive racial comments made by other anon.
As one thing is arguing and having some fun between brand fans, and other is going borderline.
We already have a Sailing Anarchy.
Lots of kids reading the blog.
Having bought a C2 from 2Bsailing I must say that it's a unbelievably good experience. All of it. The boat /sail package beeing fast out of the box. The service level from Carolijn and Darren and their willingness to get me, a new and totally unknown cat sailor, up to speed is great. Can honestly say that I have newer been treated better as a buyer regardless of product.
Whichever cat is chosen for olympics it will bias the crews towards some specific weight and it will exclude other combinations. So does it really matter if that ideal weight is 130 or 150 kg ?? I don't think so. Most people (even if not all) can control their weight enough for a campaign to put on or shed fat and muscles to be competetive anyway. And If you are, like me quite heavy, maybe Finn should be your olympic choice anyway. The Viper is a well tested platform. Super fast with a well defined trim guide. So a lot of teams, even new, would be competitive from "day one" at a very low cost. My 2cents.
I've had a few opportunities to sail a Viper being a teenage cat sailor from Bendigo (the origin of the Viper) as well as having a go on the C2 and my own 16ft cat (Mosquito). The Viper is just amazing how well it handles! I felt so in control when at the helm and it tacks so nicely. I think it would be the perfect boat for the Olympics, although I would love the chance to sail all of the other candidates just for a bit of fun and a chance to compare them!