Former World Champ Megan Pascoe finished second overall in both the 2.4mR World Championship and Para Sailing International Championship held at Davis Island YC in Tampa, USA.
The 40-boat fleet, which included both able-bodied and para sailors from 10 countries, was dominated by Dee Smith of the United States who finished with five race wins from six races, to claim both the Open and Para 2.4mR titles.
Pascoe finished second in both title events, with Marko Dahlberg of Finland third in the Open, and Antonio Squizzato taking third in the Para event (fourth in the Open).
Megan Pascoe commented, “It’s nice to have the band back together after all this time! After Covid and everything, it’s just wonderful to see old friends and make new ones in this class.”
Conditions for the event were disrupted by an increasing breeze from Hurricane Nicole in the Caribbean.
After the first four races on the Tuesday (9 November) the boats were pulled boats out of the water early on Wednesday morning, as it became clear that conditions were worsening.
Many sailors took down rigs and tied the boats down in their cradles in anticipation of the blustery weather aand no races were held on Wednesday and Thursday.
Hurricane Nicole brought sustained winds well into the 30-knot ranges, along with higher gusts and an agitated sea-state.
The 40-boat fleet took to the water early Friday morning for the final races but light air caused the first start of Race 5 to be abandoned.
A small storm brought breeze up the bay from the south and Race 5 was restarted but then shortened due to lightning and the fleet sent back to the harbour.
After a brief on-shore hold, the race committee sent the fleet back out onto Tampa Bay for Race 6, which – after two general recalls under penalty – got away before the 2 pm deadline.
At the finish of Race 6, the race discard was triggered.
The USA’s Dee Smith dropped a third place from the opening race, and was able to finish with a cleansweep, counting five race wins.
While Britain’s Pascoe discarded a third place to finish wth a 11 points, Finland’s Dahlberg discarded a 17 to finish with 20 points and Squizzato of Italy discarded a sixth for a total of 23 points.
Sailors with Disabilities – top 3:
1. Dee Smith, USA
2. Megan Pascoe, UK
3. Antonio Squizzato
One Design – top 3:
1. Marko Dahlberg, Finland
2. Antonio Squizzato, Italy
3. Bruce Millar, Canada
2022 2.4mR World Championship – Final overall leaders (39 entries)
1st USA 7 Dee Smith – – 3 1 1 1 1 1 – – 5 pts
2nd GBR 163 Megan Pascoe – – 1 3 3 2 3 2 – – 11 pts
3rd FIN 196 Marko Dahlberg – – 3/SCP 5 2 3 17 7 – – 20 pts
4th ITA 112 Antonio Squizzato – – 5 6 4 4 5 5 – – 23 pts
5th USA 160 Jeff Linton – – 7 4 5 6 40/OCS 3 – – 25 pts
6th CAN 75 Bruce Millar – – 6 8 7 11 2 6 – – 29 pts
7th FIN 201 Rikard Bjurström – – 12 7 8 10 4 4 – – 33 pts
8th CAN 8 Allan Leibel – – 9 12 10 8 19 10 – – 49 pts
9th USA 3 Tony Pocklington – – 13 9 6 14 12 17 – – 54 pts
10th FIN 173 Niko Salomaa – – 10 2 20 5 23 18 – – 55 pts
11th PUR 14 Julio Reguero – – 8 13 13 13 16 8 – – 55 pts
12th CAN 2 Louise Anstey – – 11 10 11 12 13 36/SCP – – 57 pts
13th CAN 23 Jackie Gay – – 22 16 17 17 7 13 – – 70 pts
14th USA 142 Charles Rosenfield – – 18 18 9 20 8 40/UFD – – 73 pts
15th CAN 22 Peter Eagar – – 20 24 14 15 6 20 – – 75 pts
16th CAN 14 Peter Wood – – 19 15 18 16 27 9 – – 77 pts
17th USA 23 Jeffery Reinhold – – 15 14 16 18 14 22 – – 77 pts
18th CAN 95 Delani Hulme-Lawrence – – 14 20 21 9 15 26 – – 79 pts
19th USA 11 Tim Ripley – – 24 23 15 23 9 14 – – 84 pts
20th USA 60 David Clement – – 4 11 40/DNF 40/DNF 10 21 – – 86 pts