Plenty of Breeze on Day Four at Access Worlds
10th June 2010
Plenty of Breeze on Day Four at Access Worlds news article
Plenty of Breeze on Day Four at Access Worlds
After three days of generally light conditions on Rutland Water, today brought moderate to fresh winds that tested some sailors. Rutland Sailing Club is hosting the Bruce Wake 2010 Access Class Worlds and SKUD18 International Championships which conclude tomorrow
The SKUD 18s had some interesting moments in the fresher conditions on day four (Photo: IACA)
The morning session for the two-person divisions brought them back to one race behind schedule after racing was abandoned yesterday. Wind was a north-easterly mainly 16-18 knots with the occasional gust over 20. Course Race Officer David Wilkins (GBR) set the start close to the clubhouse, giving spectators a good view of racing.
In the SKUD 18s, Alexandra Rickham / Niki Birrell (GBR) have shown their commitment to training and Paralympic competition experience has paid dividends and are a grade above the competition in Rutland. They have a clean scorecard of 7 straight wins. The pair travel to Medemblik in the Netherlands next month for the IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championships, the first Nations Qualifier for the 2012 Paralympic Sailing Competition.
Michael Cogswell / Liz Foreman (GBR) finished 2-2-2 today to secure their position but sustained a damaged mast that they will try to repair before tomorrow’s final races. Jean-Claude Mirc / Gerard Eychenne (FRA) posted two 3rd places before having a problem with their spinnaker that caused them to DNF in the morning’s final heat and they now hold on to third position by the slimmest margin – a tie-break from Simon Harle/Brian McCandless (GBR).
Garcia / McNair (GBR) chase down Castaldi / Germain (FRA) in the two-person Access 303 division (Photo: IACA)
Zoltan Pegan/Eva Mircsev (HUN) have today moved from 3rd overall to take a stranglehold on the 303 two-person championship, placing 1-1-2 to build a 12 point gap. Previous leaders Christopher Molesworth / Mark Alton (GBR) struggled in the stronger conditions today and their 5-DNC-DNC drops them to 4th overall. Kenji Sasahara / Yumiko Suzuki (JPN) have maintained their 2nd position, 2 points clear of Andy Garcia/Ian McNair (GBR) who have moved up into a podium position.
The breeze held steady in the north-east around 18 knots for the afternoon enabling two races were completed for the single-person Access 2.3, 303 & Liberty fleets. With one day to go, both fleets are now a single race behind the schedule.
There have been questions about whether the lightweight 14 year old from tropical Queensland, Angus MacGregor (AUS), could handle the fresh and cold conditions that Rutland dished out today. While not building the race leads we have seen in previous days, MacGregor posted another two wins and has dropped his 12th placing in race 2 to sit on 6 points. He is 13 points clear and seems assured of winning the World Championship that his brother Duncan claimed in Canada in 2007.
Monique Foster (GBR) moved up from 4th to 2nd overall today with 2nd places in both races. Bruno Pereira (POR) is a point behind. Cedric Castaldi (FRA) was unable to complete either of the afternoon’s races and has slipped off the podium to 5th overall.
Barry Coates (AUS) has moved into third overall in the Liberty class (Photo: IACA)
The big mover in the Access 303s today was Chris Ruston (AUS) who took both race wins. He is now on 14 points, just one point behind Zoltan Pegan (HUN) who has led since day one. Gerard Eychenne (FRA) finished 5-5 today to hold 3rd overall on 18 points, 7 clear on High Landsdowne (GBR).
Chris Cook (AUS) lost his hold on top spot in the Liberty competition today. He scored 3-3 and drops one of these but trails Magali Moraines (FRA) by 2 points. Moraines won both heats this afternoon. Barry Coates (AUS) went 2-2 to move into 3rd overall, two points ahead of Clare Andrew (GBR). David Durston (GBR), who was in the hunt for a podium place yesterday, could only manage an 8-6 score and has dropped to 11 points behind Andrew.
In the Servo divisions, Melvin Kinnear (GBR) has dropped back to third in the Liberty one point adrift of the top two sailors. Wilma van den Broek (NED) is on the wrong side of a tie-break with Vera Voorbach (NED), so the trophy will be decided on the final day tomorrow. Martin Waller (AUS) maintains a two point lead in the Access 2.3 servo.
Racing concludes tomorrow and it is anticipated that each fleet will have a single race. Lighter breezes are once again forecast.
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