ACO Musto Skiff Worlds at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy Day 4
by Rick Perkins 30 Jun 2012 12:52 BST
23-30 June 2012
ACO Musto Skiff worlds at Weymouth day 4 © Tania Samus /
www.photoskiff.com
Well worth the wait... EPIC!
The fourth day of the ACO Musto Skiff World Championship was pretty much as forecast blowing dogs off chains... so it was postponement time.
Race officer David Campbell-James held his nerve and rolled through a few postponements. The fleet were eventually released about 4ish for two races in conditions every skiff sailor dreams of... sun and wind.
The first race of the day got off first time in 20 knot breezes gusting 25 and the fleet roared off upwind; at the first mark it was Keen (GBR) followed by Schwerdt (GER) and Newman (AUS). As the race progressed there were many place changes and a few capsizes with all the sailors having a great thrash around Weymouth harbour in the tough conditions. At the second upwind it was Keen (GBR), Newman (AUS) and Stenhouse (GBR) with the pack chasing hard. At the finish Keen held on for the win followed by Newman and Wright (GBR) these 3 separated by just 10 seconds.
The next race also got away first time; first to show again was Keen chased by Stenhouse & Poston (GBR)... with again an incredibly tight fleet on their tail... a great sight for the spectators and a real thrill for the competitors. At the finish it was Keen (GBR) followed by Wright (GBR) and Newman (AUS).
We now have six races on the board and the discard will come into play.
Standing with one day to go are Stenhouse (GBR) followed by Keen (GBR) and Newman (AUS). Fourth is Oswald (SUI), fifth Wright (GBR) and sixth Vincent (GBR).
The plan for Saturday is to start at 10am and do 4 races.
Friday night saw the Gala dinner for the club where we will also host some guests from title event sponsor ACO.
Live on the water updates will flow through the class Twitter feed (follow us @mustoskiff) and updates will be made on the class website and on the class Facebook page.
The class would like to take this opportunity to thank the class sponsor Musto, event title sponsor ACO and event marine sponsor Harken.