65 teams will be on the 2019 Star World Championship start line in just a couple of days, on Monday, June the 17th. Six races will determine who will lift the almost 100 years old trophy next Saturday. Everything is ready in Porto Cervo at Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, one of the most renowned club in the World, home of Azzurra, the first ever Italian America’s Cup syndicate back in 1983.
The beautiful rocky coast will offer a spectacular background to the fleet and the wind will provide challenging conditions for the 130 sailors coming from 20 countries. A rich social schedule will begin with a cocktail after the Opening Ceremony, a BBQ dinner by the club’s swimming pool on Thursday, a closing party on Saturday and after sail refreshments everyday.
The high level of the class doesn’t allow any reliable forecast, among the skippers you can count eight golden stars on the mainsail, for eight past World Champions, the skipper title holder, Jorge Zarif won’t be here as he is busy with his Finn Olympic campaign, but the crew is here, Guilherme de Almeida (BRA) will defend the trophy with Marcelo Bellotti (BRA).
Same fate for the newly crowned European champions: five times Olympic medalist Robert Scheidt (BRA) will favor his Laser Olympic training while Henry ‘Maguila’ Boening (BRA) will crew for American 2016 Star World Champion – and 2018 European Champion among so many more accomplishments – Augie Diaz. The sailing transfer market, will have Diaz’s usual crew, Bruno Prada (BRA) sailing with Olympic, and Star World, champion Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL) both ready to add another World title to their already long list – Prada is the most successful Star crew of all time with four titles; Paul Cayard, familiar to these waters and ambassador of the Club’s no plastic foundation, One Ocean, will race with Arthur ‘Tutu’ Lopes, with whom they’ve just won bronze medal at the Europeans in Riva and were considered the fastest boat of the fleet. Enrico Chieffi and Manlio Corsi (ITA) showed they’re ready for this by winning the Italian Championship in Viareggio a couple of weeks ago, after not being able to participate to the event on Garda, with Roberto Benamati they’re the two local World Champions.
Among the World Champions also American skipper Eric Doyle, Bacardi Cup title holder with crew Payson Infelise, their year has been quite successful and this might represent the cherry on the cake. Italian duo Diego Negri and Sergio Lambertenghi are back together for yet another attempt at the Star World Championship after nearly missing it for a couple of times in the past five years.
The list of potential winners is much longer but we’ll only need to wait, and enjoy, six days of challenges on the water to see who will step on the podium in Porto Cervo, Italy, and hold the Star World Championship trophy.
SSL Press Officer since 2015
Focus on / Sailors / Regattas
