A view of the top 20 results can tell us a lot. First the data
Country Representatives in top 20
4 French 1, 2, 9, 20
3 Croatia 3,7,11
1 Spain 6
6 GBR 4, 5, 8, 14, 16,17
2 Australian 10, 15
2 USA 12, 13
1 Chile 18
! Sweden 19
Designs, total in top 20 and fleet and
Design Position
5 Venti 1, 6, 9, 18, 19
Total in fleet 12
4 V11 2, 13, 15, 20
Total in fleet 8
5 Kantun 3, 7, 10, 11, 12
Total in fleet 27
5 Britpop 4, 5, 8, 14, 17
Total in fleet 17
1 Akziom 16
Sails
I have not seen a kit list but I know at least 8 of the top 20 use BG, at least 6 use Sailsboat RC and 1 used sailsetc. I could not identify the others from the available photos.
Masts
I am guessing but nearly all used PG spars.
Conclusions and thoughts
The start is 80% of the race.
If you have any of the 5 designs in the top 20, a PG spar with BG or sailboat RC or Sailsetc sails, you will have a competitive package. Of course bear in mind the majority of this regatta other than the last day was sailed in lights winds (less than 8 knots) and flat waters that may have skewed the design results. With the right package, all you need to do is optimise the boat and sail like a god. Good luck.
Looking at the popularity of designs in the fleet, I wonder if the dominance of the Sailboat RC's Kantun is because that there is a relatively short waiting time compared to other designs manufacturers in the UK, Europe and Australia. E.g. they can deliver a full package in 5 months. Add to this the Alioth design being quickly 3d printed, there is potential for these two designs to dominate the class if the latter is proved competitive and supply new enthusiastic owners. The Alioth has already performed well in the Spanish championships. When I entered the class two years ago it was build your own or wait 18 months for a new boat unless you wanted to buy from Croatia or got lucky spotting a second hand boat of the right design.
The French seem to have upped their game. I would love to know how they prepared?
Well done to the Brits and a special shout out to Shaun Priestley in his first worlds for finishing a credible 14th and won race 8. On the penultimate day he was in the top 10 and sailed steadily through the regatta. Well done Shaun. Impressive.
There are plenty of videos from the 2022 worlds available here so you can judge for yourself what is good and not so good.
Finally from what I could see, the Croatian team put on an outstanding show from a media point of view and with the livestream of each days sailing allowing us armchair sailors around the world to watch every start, tack, gybe and collision in every race. Congratulations to the team. They should be very proud and set the bar high for the next worlds wherever that may be.
The top 20 results
