Ashby, Brewin and Landenberger A-Cat World's top three

3:07 AM Fri 9 Jan 2009 GMT

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Six time A-Cat World Champion Glenn Ashby was a relaxed spectator for the final race, race nine, in the 2009 A-Cat World Championship today.

The conditions were challenging today as they had been all week.

On the left hand side of course, a small rain cell was bending the wind left and up the first beat and Germany's Bob Baier had stepped out on the fleet.

Australian 1996 Olympic Tornado bronze medalist Andrew Landenberger was second, just ahead of Thomas Paasch (Den), followed by dual Laser World Champion Tom Slingsby, then four more Australian's Wayne Mercer, Brad Collett, Dave Brewer, Dave McKenzie and Mike Drummond (NZL).

Down the first run Landenberger sailed through Baier. At the top mark the second time he was still leading Baier, with Queenslander Brad Collett in third place ahead of Tom Slingsby, New Zealander Mike Drummond and Dave Brewer.

But the lead changes continued as the eventual winner Brad Collett explained ashore.

'Downwind my medium wind battens paid off. I climbed to third then downwind I was doing very well. I got to the lead on the second downwind; fell back to fourth again on the upwind then flew home for a win. Overall it was a very good regatta. I had a bit of bad luck in a few races which put me back in the points, but nice to win the last race.'

Second across the line was Baier, then Australian Tom Slingsby with Andrew Landenberger.

Ashore Slingsby had a big grin. 'I can do the upwind thing; it's just like Lasers, big fleet start. Still a lot of work to do on downwind technique, but it's a lot of fun.'

Landenberger finished third overall in the regatta. He led twice but fell back to fourth but was still pleased with the results.

'Today there were big oscillations in the course. Two boats would go one way and one would go the other. At the end I was set up for heavy wind and the breeze softened so I lost my lead. Then Port starboard on the finish line, so Slingsby just got me,' Landenberger said.

Wandering through the boat park, shaking hands with sailors, Glenn Ashby commented: 'It's been a busy week. It's been a fantastic event; we've had some excellent conditions. We've had a lot of great sailing and we've got in every race of the series on schedule.

'To get through the races in the National's bar one and a whole series of the World's I think they've certainly got the bang for their buck. They should be happy,' Slingsby said.

The World's will be held in Italy in 2010 and possibly Germany in 2011.

'There's a couple of good venues to look forward to and with the European Championships in the middle. The A-Class is going very strong,' Slingsby said.

Swiss sailor Luc Du Bois summed up: 'It's a great venue with good organisation, so I'm very happy that I came here. The next two World's are in Europe, so I don't know if that will put the balance back on our side; it's always the same guy who wins anyway.

'It's a difficult time to be racing with Glenn Ashby out there. He's a tough guy and tough competition, and he's proving year after year that sailing well is the most important thing.'

The provisional leaderboard:

1. Glenn Ashby 8
2. Steve Brewin 26
3. Andrew Landenberger 35
4. Manuel Calavia 35
5. Bob Baier 37
6. James Spithill 42
7. Luc Du Bois 42
8. Scott Anderson

Full results at www.a-catworlds2009.org.au

by Rob Kothe & Gemma Noon

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Ashby, Brewin and Landenberger A-Cat World's top three

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