[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Star Sailors League Finals returned to the Nassau Yacht Club Dec. 2 to Dec. 6 for the second consecutive year, this time with a fleet of 20 boats.
Three-days of regatta-style racing, which contained no more than four races per day and a maximum of nine races in all, established which four crews competed in the grand finale that took place on day four.
The US’s Mark Mendleblatt and his crew Brian Faith won the regatta after a nail-biting final in which Sweden’s Freddy Loof and Anders Ekstrom claimed second place and Poland’s Mateuz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki took the third step on the podium.
The international Bahamian outing delivered an event that will go down in sailing history due to the number of superstars on the entry list. Robert Scheidt (BRA), Torben Grael (BRA), Freddy Loof (SWE), Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL) and Xavier Rohart (FRA) are probably the most famous names because of their Olympic medals, but the fleet also included many other equally competitive entrants. In fact, statistics lovers would find it interesting to know that the fleet that competed in this even is probably the strongest ever seen in a single competition due to the number of medals held by the sailors who comprised the teams. The bag of medals clocked up by skippers and crew in the Olympic classes alone is impressive: 20 in Olympic Games (6 golds, 5 silvers and 9 bronzes) and a massive 73 in World Championships (33 golds, 24 silvers and 16 bronzes).
This year, $200,000 was awarded in prize money, which was divided between the entire fleet. Organizers explain this is an important step towards achieving one of the SSL’s primary objectives: to make it possible for sailors to make a decent living from the sport. Prizes also included the perpetual Sir Roland Symonette Trophy awarded to the winning team in the Star Sailors League Finals, the Best Skipper of the Year award (Dennis Conner Trophy), and the Best Crew of the Year award (Andrew Simpson Memorial Trophy, in memory of the late British Star sailor). The winning team was also awarded 4,000 SSL points, the highest allowed for under the Star Sailors League Ranking rules.
Complete event results, event photos and video may be viewed online at www.starsailors.com.
Star Sailors League Finals 2014 results:
- Mark Mendelblatt – Brian Fatih
- Freddy Loof – Anders Ekstrom
- Mateusz Kusznierewicz – Dominik Zycki
- Jorge Zarif – Henry Boening
- Robert Scheidt – Bruno Prada
- Xavier Rohart – Pierre-Alexis Ponsot
- Giles Scott – Stephen Milne
- Johannes Polgar – Markus Koy
- Diego Negri – Sergio Lambertenghi
- Robert Stanjek – Claus Olesen
- Ivan Kliakovic Gaspic – Ante Sitic
- Eivind Melleby – Mark Strube
- Torben Grael – Guillerme De Almeida
- Josh Junior – Myles Pritchard
- George Szabo – Edoardo Natucci
- Emilios Papathanasiou – Antonis Tsotras
- Luke Lawrence – Joshua Revkin
- Augie Diaz – Arnis Baltins
- Luke Patience – Jamie Buchan
- Marcelo Fuchs – Ronald Seifert
