20th John Merricks Tiger Trophy at Rutland Sailing Club - Day 1
by Andy Rice, SailJuice 3 Feb 2013 06:03 GMT
2-3 February 2013
Strong winds on day one of the Tiger Trophy at Rutland Water © Paul Williamson
In a fleet of more than 200 boats, the young sailors of the 420 fleet are dominating the leaderboard after three tough races in cold, strong winds gusting up to 30 knots on Saturday at the Tiger Trophy at Rutland Water.
Just as John Merricks 20 years ago in his 420, the underpowered trapeze boat comes into its own in a strong breeze, and Plymouth University's Craig Dibb and Matt Wallis won two of the three races, followed by Callum Airlie and Joe Butterworth and James Taylor and Tom Lovesey also in 420s.
Sunday is the final race, a non-discardable pursuit race, and it's Ian Dobson and Sam Brearey lying in 4th place in their Fireball who look best place to steal the 20th Tiger Trophy from the rampant 420s. With another windy day in store, the 420s and Fireballs will be hard to stop.
Provisional Standings after 3 Races can be found here.
Loads more photos from the racing can be found on www.SailjuiceSeries.com