Volvo Gill Optimist British and Open National Championships - Day 5
by Amy Cada 6 Aug 2014 21:23 BST
2-8 August 2014
Solid sunshine with 8 to 14 knots of consistent breeze made for perfect Optimist sailing on day four of the Volvo Gill Optimist British National & Open Championships.
Sailors were challenged with shiftier conditions than earlier in the week. The Senior Fleet (Main) took to the outer harbour course where both the gold and silver fleets completed three races. Four general recalls indicated the fleet is stepping up the level of competition for the final few days of the Championships.
The final race today proved to be the most problematic for the Senior Fleet (Main). Sailing under the black flag saw two boats caught out at one mark followed by another six to eight.
The international sailors remained strong at top of the fleet, especially the Dutch, Spanish and Norwegian sailors.
The Junior Fleet (Main) raced in Weymouth Bay where the conditions were wavier with gentle surf. The gold and silver fleets also managed three races each and managed to push hard enough that the fleet had their first general recall of the week.
For the first time, the Regatta Fleet sailors experienced staying out on the water racing for the whole day; they completed five races without coming in for lunch. The fleet had five races with one general recall. When a gust of breeze kicked in at the downwind gate on race four, a bit of chaos ensued with a number of capsizes at the gybe mark.
It was a big learning day for the Regatta Coaching Fleet who had three races in the afternoon. Starting techniques improved dramatically, which was demonstrated with the first OTS of the week. The entire fleet has started to push much harder and a general recall in the first race caused some confusion before coaches went around explained what the signals meant.
Tomorrow Sir Ben Ainslie will be making a special appearance at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy to do a short talk for all sailors followed by starting the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation Fun Run.
For full results and more information, visit the official event website:
www.kbsuk.com/optimist/iocaevents/index.asp?EventID=55
(All results are provisional and subject to possible protest.)