NAVMAN MAUI SPEED CHALLENGE

Maui, Hawaii (USA) — After the fierce wind and wave conditions of last
week’s round, it was a much calmer scene at the penultimate round of the
Navman Maui Speed Challenge Series, September 11. Not that it stopped Open
leader Anders Bringdal getting ever closer to the 40kts mark, posting
another series record of 39.3kts. He now has to share the honor, though –
with former world record holder Erik Beale, who hit 39.3kts in the very same
heat.
  
Anders’ average of 38.5kts made him the clear winner on the day – and most
likely the series – despite the best efforts of closest rival Ben Van Der
Steen. The Dutch champion took the lead in heat 1, beating Anders by 1kt,
but admitted defeat by the end of the day with an average of 37.47kts. In
third place was Alex Aguera, with a top speed of 37.5kts. That still leaves
him joint second overall with Jacques Pauvert, who was absent this week.
It’s down to the final, on September 25, to see where these two men stand on
the winners’ podium with Anders. Watch this space – and the water!
  
Another battle for supremacy is taking place at the other end of the
spectrum – the Menehune Division. Since arriving on the scene in round 2,
Baker Grant has been giving series leader Jake Golm a run for his money.
This week’s race was the closest, with Baker’s max of 27.3kts just beating
Jake’s 27.2kts.
  
Also pulling off an impressive 27.2kts was Women’s latecomer Ashley Baxter,
on her prototype Starboard. Hot on her tail was Paulina Pease (25kts) and
Kristen Orth (22.2kts), who are currently first and second respectively in
the overall rankings.

In the Kite Division, series leader Dave Dorn won the round once again,
recording a top speed of 32.1kts. Coming in second was Skai Dalciel, who
notched up 29.6kts in his one and only heat.
 
Meanwhile, the Masters Division notched up some awesome speeds, with winner
Jeff Fagerholm hitting 33.5kts and runner-up Michael Warmuth 32.5kts. Not
too far behind them was Greg Thomas, with 31.3kts.
  
Hitting the 30kt mark, too, was Men’s Division leader Marc Lefebvre. And
having Fun as always was Carl Grundy, who also reached a maximum speed of
30kts, enough to win his division and give him the overall title. Second
place went to event newcomer Francis Nogue, who managed a respectable
27.4kts – twice.

Place Sailor Division Heat 1 Heat 2 Heat 3 Heat
4 Top Avg Points
1 Anders Bringdal Open 34.5 37.8 39.3 38.4 39.3
38.50 36
2 Ben V. D. Steen Open 35.3 37.0 38.1 37.3 38.1
37.47 35
3 Alex Aguera Open 34.3 36.2 35.5 37.5 37.5
36.40 34
4 Erik Beale Open 33.1 34.2 39.3 34.9 39.3
36.13 33
5 Matt Daniels Open 31.9 34.3 33.9 35.2 35.2
34.47 32
6 Steve Murphy Open 32.0 34.1 33.9 34.7 34.7
34.23 31
7 Victor Janssen Open 31.8 34.3 32.8 35.1 35.1
34.07 30
8 Dave Weeks Open 32.2 33.4 33.1 33.6 33.6
33.37 29
9 Tom HammertonOpen 30.8 29.3 32.8 32.2 32.8
31.93 26
10 Geof Pease Open 29.2 31.3 31.6 32.0 32.0
31.63 25
1 Dave Dorn Kite 28.3 32.1 32.0 0.0 32.1
30.80 24
2 Skai Dalciel Kite 29.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 29.6
9.87 11
1 Marc Lefebvre Men 29.6 30.0 29.4 0.0 30.0
29.67 21
1 Ashley Baxter Women 25.3 25.6 27.2 26.4 27.2
26.40 16
2 Paulina Pease Women 24.2 25.0 24.6 24.2 25.0
24.60 15
3 Kristen Orth Women 21.7 21.2 22.2 22.0 22.2
21.97 12
1 Jeff Fagerholm Masters 30.9 32.2 33.5 32.1 33.5
32.60 28
2 Michael WarmuthMasters 31.4 32.5 32.0 31.3 32.5
31.97 27
3 Greg Thomas Masters 29.9 31.3 30.9 0.0 31.3
30.70 23
4 Robin Williams Masters 28.0 30.8 29.3 0.0 30.8
29.37 20
1 Baker Grant Menehune 26.7 27.2 27.3 0.0 27.3
27.07 18
2 Jake Golm Menehune 26.5 27.2 26.0 0.0 27.2
26.57 17
3 Connor Baxter Menehune 23.5 25.3 24.6 0.0 25.3
24.47 14
4 Zane Schweitzer Menehune 21.5 23.6 23.4 23.1 23.6
23.37 13
1 Carl Grundy Fun 27.6 30.0 30.0 29.4 30.0
29.80 22
2 Francis Nogue Fun 23.4 26.5 27.4 27.4 27.4
27.10 19

OFFICIAL EVENT WEBSITE: www.mauispeed.com

ORIGINAL RELEASE: http://www.mauispeed.com/releases/PressRelease20050911.pdf

PHOTOS:  Photos available on the website.

EVENT INFORMATION:
Dates for the Navman Maui Speed Challenge Series are July 17 and 24, August
7 and 21, and September 11 and 25, to be held from Maui’s Kite Beach, near
Kanaha Beach Park. Each competitor will be provided with a Sport.Tool M300
GPS unit, provided by main sponsor Navman. The competition is open to the
following categories: Open Class (in which those with specialized speed
sailing equipment will compete), Men, Women, Masters, Juniors, Menehune, Fun
and Kite.

For more information on the Navman Sport.Tool M300, visit www.navmanusa.com
and www.sport-tool.com.

EVENT SPONSORS: Navman, Hot Sails Maui, Fred Haywood Realty,
WindsurfingClassifieds.Com, Kanaha Kai, Freestyle, Ray Masters, Waki Jaki
and THE POINT, WestGroup Marketing Communications, Maui Custom Kats, Ocean
7, Maui Sports Net, Sign Solutions, and David and Debbie Blyth.