It’s been great, working together with Sailing Aarhus, trying to give you the best possible coverage of the 2011 Ronstan A-Cat World Championships.

A special thank-you to Jack Punch, our volunteer live commentator, and Finn Beton Jensen, our driver, you’re the best!

You can review all the coverage and see everything (except for the Tweets).

Here are links to the archives:

• Results.
• Live tracking.
• Live streaming (search for #acat2011).
• Images.
• All posts on the website.
• All press releases.
• Memolane.

Enjoy – and have a safe trip home.

The live streaming crew – from left: Stian and Thomas (Streamfactory), John Punch and Finn Beton Jensen.

After eight successful races in weather conditions ranging from clear blue skies, with 4–6 knot breezes, to harsh, rainy days with up to 22 knot gusts, the 2011 Ronstan A-Class Catamaran World Championship was finally settled today.

The excitement of this last day’s racing was further underlined by the fact that PRO Andreas Kuchler, following today’s first race (the eighth overall), put the AP over H (postponement on shore), sending the sailors back to shore due to the rough conditions. The sailors had to endure nearly one hour of tension, not knowing whether to ready themselves for a ninth race or to get changed and pack their gear.

At 14.00, after having been in dialogue with the meteorological Royal Danish Airforce Base in Karup, PRO Andreas Kuchler decided to fire one shot and pull down the postponement pennant, calling the sailors onto the water for a ninth race.

By 14.45 the wind had dropped to a steady 17 knots and there was some sunshine, so PRO Andreas Kuchler set the starting time to 15.05. As the sailors were still facing relatively rough conditions, though, many stayed on shore, either for fear of damaging their gear or due to their poor overall rankings.

The ninth race was started at 15.10 and was an action-packed drama, with live video streaming commentated on by an energetic Jack Punch (father of Jack Benson), who provided enthusiastic coverage of the hectic battle between the all-Australian leaders, Steve Brewin, Scott Andersson, Jack Benson and Andrew Landsberg. Steve Brewin had to make at least third place to win, but ended the race with a spectacular first place and, hence, the title of 2011 World Champion.

“This has been my best win ever! I stood up and delivered,” said Steve Brewin.

The last day of the 2011 Ronstan A-Catamaran World Championship thus ended with the mixture of both drama and action that characterizes the sport. All that remains is the prize-giving ceremony and barbecue, where many sailors will doubtless linger in the bar, despite their tiredness, consuming plenty of beer and recalling the events of recent days.

A detailed report of the races will follow later.

Kaløvig Sailing Center, Aarhus, Denmark – there is a hectic and tense mood right now at the Kaløvig Sailing Center. After a dramatic and action-packed eighth race, with lots of accidents and capsizing, which only the best of the best managed to complete (the mean wind speed was 20 knots, with gusts of up to 28 knots), PRO Andreas Kuchler wisely chose to put AP over H (postponement ashore) and wait to start the ninth race.

See the results after eight races.

The competitors are currently waiting to see whether the weather conditions improve sufficiently for a ninth race to be started. The uncertainty and tension is further exacerbated by the fact that, if there were to be a ninth race, there would be a further discharge, so the battle for the world title at the 2011 Ronstan A-Class Catamaran World Championship is far from settled.

Enjoy!

Enjoy!

Images by Kristoffer West.

It was a tactical race in which German Bob Baier had a great start, but Australian Steve Brewin managed to overtake him in the finish. Scott Anderson, who leads the overall standings, came in third place, but is now under pressure from Steve Brewin.

The rankings from 3 to 6 are within four points of each other, so there is still much at stake in the two races scheduled for tomorrow. If the race management succeeds in holding two races, there will also be a second withdrawal, which in turn could shuffle the scoreboard completely.

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Enjoy!

Enjoy!

Enjoy!

Now the ‘LIVE’ button in the upper-left corner is red and no longer says ‘LIVE – mashup’ (What’s a mashup? You might know if you’re a nerd, but not necessarily if you’re a sailor). Now it reads ‘LIVE – video & tracking’.

The button is red and therefore more visible. Right beside the LIVE button we’ve placed the FAQ button. This is where you can get troubleshooting help if things aren’t working the way they’re supposed to.

On the LIVE page, we’ve a) moved the EXPAND button, the MAXIMIZE button and the REPLAY button up, so they’re more visible when you enter the site, and b) given them colors – again, to make them more visible. So, guys, hit those buttons and get the effect!