F18 Arg Nats 2021: Gonzalez Smith & Heuser Champs
The 2021 F18 Arg Nats was held this past weekend here in Buenos Aires, at the Yacht Club Argentino. An anticipated forecast of +25 knots put pressure on the rookies and when finally windguru prediction took place on Friday many decided to bypass the harsh conditions.
A ‘bumpy’ event in terms of winds conditions and participation (we also had former Arg champ Esteban Blando injured a week before the event) but still a nice regatta looking forward to 2022 calendar.
Friday & Saturday were not that hard in the end considering the +25knots expected but still tricky for those with less experience. Not an issue for the top guys either way.
#3 & #2 2021 Worlds crews split bullets on the first two windy days with Agustin Krevisky-Juan Martín Benitez scoring three on Friday and Cruz Gonzalez Smith-Mariano Heuser grabbing four on Saturday, both sailing Phantom F18 & 1D DS mainsails.
Krevisky had to flee on the last day to his St Barts route, thus didn’t raced last 3 of the regatta.
Cruz & Mariano ended winning the event.
Comeback x 2
Pablo Volker is currently training for the 2022 Moth Worlds to be held in this same venue. Few weeks ago I told him he needed to return to the F18.
I was going to participate (waiting for my Scorpion, God willing, finally to arrive in Jan 2022) but decide to cede him an oldie Hobie Wildcat that was lent to me for race by two good friends, (Pedro Anino & Ale Rosso).
To complete the package I gave Volker a Landenberger DS made by Felix Egner we are testing here for a while.
Pablo called his mate Tato Billoch to enter the event, and being a light crew who never sailed together (less ever an F18 for Billoch) they had a so so first two days, the Wildcat making 20lts of water on a previously broken dagger case didn’t help…!
Sunday offered perfect mild conditions with increasing 8-12knots to double trapeze and the 2016 F18 World Champ could finally show his teeth.
I knew given the conditions Volker was going to excel, as the Hobie Wildcat designed by Martin Fischer circa 2009, is still a great platform and the mother of current top designs.
In the performance oriented wind range, Volker & Billoch put on a show scoring 1, 1 & 2 in commanding form to climb to the third place of the podium.
Such a statement for the F18 Formula Class legacy and specially for the Hobie Wildcat. Felix’s DS performed in a flawless way and the equipment combo (plus Nacra Evo spi) matched the skills of the riders to outperform top notch proven platforms & crews.
A perfect 2x comeback on the rider and the legendary Hobie Wildcat.
In second place overall our mates from Rosario, Francisco Venetucci & Nico Quagliotti (Phantom F18 / 1D) confirmed their top 3 local status and are ready for more next season.
Next international regatta will be St Barts and hopefully 3 Arg teams will be there.
2022 Worlds to be held at Clearwater, FL.
Final Results:
