Nacra 17 Worlds 2021: Gimson & Burnet #1

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Not much participation at this 2021 Worlds, either way current Silver Medalist and defending World Champs, John Gimson & Anna Burnet grabbed another title. Photo Sailing Energy. Medal Race replay above at 1:21:00

Top 5 Results https://nacra17.org/events/2021-world-championships/#results

Pos	Saill	Team	Netto	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	R16	M	Total
1	GBR 21	John GIMSON Anna BURNET	61	3	5	1	4	5	8	4	2	5	3	7	6	5	1	2	2	3	69
2	ITA 98	Gianluigi UGOLINI Maria GIUBILEI	70	4	6	2	5	10	7	3	3	1	7	1	3	7	4	6	9	1	80
3	GER 3	Paul KOHLHOFF Alica STUHLEMMER	77	6	1	6	13	3	2	2	5	2	12	9	1	3	9	1	1	7	90
4	FRA 51	Tim MOURNIAC Lou BERTHOMIEU	89	1	2	5	12	8	4	9	7	4	8	2	4	2	5	5	5	9	101
5	FIN 27	Sinem KURTBAY Akseli KESKINEN	101	10	4	8	1	1	10	(UFD)	4	3	1	10	8	6	7	8	10	5	117

Official report sent by Nacra 17 Class Assoc:

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Anna Burnet with John Gimson (GBR) celebrate their World title defense.

John Gimson and Anna Burnet (GBR) have won the 2021 Nacra 17 World Championship, the British successfully defending the title they won in Australia back in early 2020. They started the day in the lead, with Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer (GER) sitting a few points behind and ended up confidently foiling down the last run of the medal race, finishing third, winning the event by nine points.

“I think that’s one of our big strengths is resetting in the race to stay focused,” said a visibly relieved Gimson as he hosed down his catamaran in the setting Omani sun. “Identifying what’s paid and getting back on to that. That’s what we spent our whole lives working on.”

When asked if they were nervous, Burnet was pragmatic, saying, “Of course. I think it’s healthy.”

Though the Brits lead was almost unassailable, there was drama unfolding behind them for silver and bronze.

The Germans had to come back often during the week as did Ugolini and Giubilei (ITA). The pair were on fire in the middle of beats, picking long, clear lanes and synchronous crew work to blaze through the fleet. They were pushed by the new French team of Tim Mourniac and Lou Berthomieu who came into the medal race in fourth.

With the breeze blowing about eight to 10 knots for the medal race, the top four were ready for a battle.

“We saw more breeze on the left before the start,” said Gimson, “so we wanted to win the pin end. Fortunately for us the Germans had to gybe around and this gave us the position we wanted.”

With the Germans starting slightly to windward but back from the British, Kohlhoff couldn’t hold his lane and was forced to tack away. The British tacked to cover their closest rivals all the way around the two-lap course.

Meanwhile Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei overtook the Argentineans for the race lead while Germany was struggling to make inroads into the fleet. The young Italians held on for the race win followed by Argentina. Great Britain crossed the line in third, easily good enough to secure the world title. Kohlhoff and Stuhlemmer finished in seventh place, meaning silver went to Ugolini and Giubilei and bronze to the 2020 Olympic bronze medallists from Germany.

It has been a stellar couple of years for Gimson and Burnet. After winning the world title in 2020 they took Olympic silver at Tokyo 2020 and then barely took a break before going to Greece where they won the European Championship in September.

Asked if they were going to take a holiday, Burnet replied, “We’re taking an extra two days in Oman, but we’re going to have December off back at home and get back into sailing in the new year.” Gimson, who has been Olympic campaigning for almost 20 years, added, “There isn’t that much time before Paris 2024, There’s been so little racing over the past 18 months, we’re taking every opportunity we’ve got. We love what we do.”

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