For the second year, The 2009 Liberty Cup was held during the long national holiday week end in Vietnam, 14 relaxed races were held at Jibe’s Beach Club on stunning Mui Ne Bay. Rain and light wind discouraged some to enter the event, but the 6 international teams competing in this Fun event were very competitive and eager to win the trophy. The all- girl team finished 3rd overall but won for their enthusiams and smiles, ( Julia UK, Satoko Japan, Lucy Australia).
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During day 1 and 2 fourteen races were held, leaving Mark’s Team and Olivier and his crew with 3 wins each. The pressure was on for those 2 friends on the ground. On Sunday morning, having recovered from the party at Jibe’s Beach Club the night before, both teams put extra care in getting their boats ready for the final race. Mark Walton and his crew won the race and the Liberty Cup over Olivier Laforest; after a bad start Mark had a good speed upwind that enabled him to over take Olivier and win the last leg with 2 minutes lead. Generally, the level of the teams has risen compared to the 1st edition, resulting in more entertaining starts and races to the spectators that were not bothered by the sunless weather. Genekers were successfully used in most of the legs.
Once again, the organization was perfect with Race officer Janot Prat who had set up a short but challenging course well in view of the weekenders on the beach The racing rules were simple and efficient, perfect for fun racing . Thanks to Jibe’s Beach Club’s team for getting the 2 boats ready and organizing the BBQ beach party on the Saturday,
The 3rd edition of the Liberty Cup will be on the 30th April and 1st May 2010 at the same location, hopefully with a better weather and a larger field. Jibe’s Beach Club is working on a new event, the concept will be teams of two on the golf course and the same teams on the sailing boats, then scores will be combined, it promise to be a very fun event, date will be finalized at a later stage
Over the last 12 months there has been more sailing event organized in Vietnam it finally shows the interest in sailing on the South China Sea and confirm the raise of interest in water sport in the country.
Final results:
1st: Marc Walton (Fr) & Jerome Besnard (Fr)
2nd: Olivier Laforest (Ca) &
3rd: Julia Shaw(HK), Satoko Nakamura(Ja) and Lucy Odillo Maher(Aust)
2009-05-05
