We announced that it would be a Class A World Championship with big names this year. And indeed it was Australia’s Glenn Ashby, who won his ninth rainbow title (ninth, you read that right, he won the first one in 1996!). in Punta Ala after a head-to-head match with Dutchman Mischa Heemskerk. The two charmed all week on the waves of the stretch of water thanks in part to nearly ideal marine weather conditions on all days of the international competition.
HOW MANY PARTICIPANTS!
The 2015 A-Class Worlds sees Glenn Ashby (silver medalist at the 2008 Olympics in Qingdao paired with Darren Bundock, then America’s Cup with Oracle and now leading Team New Zealand) capture the most important title after taking on the largest number of helmsmen ever to take part in such an event: as many as 173, of which some have decided to participate just the last few days. On the podium after Ashby and Heemskerk in third place was Spaniard Manuel Calavia. The event, sponsored by Centro Velico Punta Ala and the Class A Italia Association, saw boats and teams competing from all over the world, with over sixty Italians participating (the best Eugenio Calabria, in 23rd place).
CATAMARANS “ATTRACT”
For the A-Class Catamaran World Championships also a great success with the public. So many sailing enthusiasts and sea lovers closely followed the most important international sporting event of the Maremma summer. Some had the opportunity to get close to the competing boats and admire their stunts directly at sea, thanks to Sail-up (www.sail-up.com) , the first community of friends of the sea, which connected the supply of boats and the demand of passengers to go out to sea and join the athletes in the most exciting moments of the competition. The World Championship was also widely followed on the dedicated website and on social media, where the seven-day event was full of updates, galleries, videos of the races and interviews the protagonists.
