Star Worlds 2009 - Sweden - report from The Sailing Dog

9:57 PM Mon 10 Aug 2009 GMT

'Hamish Pepper and Craig Monk in the middle of a big comeback in Race 5 - 2009 Star Worlds'

Australian Andrew 'Dog' Palfrey blogs from Europe,

Just about to board the long flight back home to Sydney..

I have just attended my ninth Star Worlds. However this time it was in a coaching role. I was working with the Kiwi team of Hamish Pepper and Craig Monk.

It was a successful trip, with the boys finishing second, behind class stalwarts and deserving winners, George Szabo and Rick Peters of the USA.

The regatta was tight. Winds were generally light and unstable. The current on the race track and the wind trend made the course very much a one-way track. Szabo and Peters went hard right on 17 out of 17 beats.

The top five of Szabo, Pepper, Grael (Lars), Schlonski and Campbell would not have been on many people's lists before the regatta. The favourites (Loof, Schiedt, Mendelblatt etc) all had their moments, but also recorded big scores in some races.

Georgie and Rick were very popular winners. George works for Quantam sails, which dominate the Star market. He is forever helping the fleet out with tips. Rick has worked within the Star class for many years, either delivering boats or fixing keels. George narrowly missed selection for the US team for the China Olympics.

Craig Month, Andrew ’Dog’Palfrey and Hamish Pepper - 2009 Star Worlds -

For me, the chance to work with Hamish and Craig was a highlight. Hamish won the worlds in 2006 with Carl Williams and is a great natural talent.

Craig won Olympic Silver in the Finn in 1992 and since then has been at the top end of the America's Cup. This European season has been a great foundation for their London Olympic campaign.

A quirky thing also happened when I was away. I became the number one ranked Star crew in the world. Sounds impressive?? Well, it happens that I did one event (Holland) with my mate, Flavio Marazzi of Switzerland. Flavio has put a lot of time into the class and has recorded very impressive results over this period.

He was awarded with the worlds number one ranking. I happened to be in the right place at the right time for a change. Anyway, it's great to share something like this in any circumstances with a bloke like Flavio.

So, it's goodbye Europe for another year. I have spent nearly ten weeks here in two trips this northern summer. I spend a week back with the family, before heading off to Audi Hamilton Island for Race Week, where I am sailing aboard Stephen Ainsworth's Loki.

by Andrew Palfrey