18ft Skiff Euro Grand Prix at Sandbanks, Poole - Day 2
by Tristan Hutt 3 Sep 2016 08:15 BST
1-4 September 2016
Day 2 dawned on Sandbanks beach, the complete antithesis of day one with grey clouds dominating the skyline and rain on and off throughout the three races.
With two rig options, the 18 footers have a great advantage over many high performance dinghies with the ability to tailor the sail plan for the prevailing conditions. While this provides another tactical element to racing it also gives the skiffs enormous range in both light and windy conditions. Today the fleet split with half racing on the small (No2) rig and the rest using the larger (No1), ultimately it was the big rigs that saw the best results.
The fleet was treated to a 13-17 knot south westerly wind that provided great racing. Team Pica didn't have it all there own way today with the Hungarian team Be Light showing brilliant pace in the testing conditions securing three bullets. With that, team Be Light and Pica are tied on points going into the third day with strong 2 rig conditions forecast.
The fight for the final podium spot is tight with Original Chia and Chameleon I both scoring strongly today. Chameleon currently holds third with the Danes just behind. The Danes suffered a kite tear at the end of race one but recovered quickly between races taking what seemed like seconds to sail in and rig a new kite. Chameleon runs one of the biggest No1 rigs in the fleet and so showed exceptional boat handling today to muscle their skiff round the track in gusty conditions.
Results after Day 2:
| Pos | Boat Name | Sail No | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Belight | HUN 18 | ‑3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 2nd | PICA | 92 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑5 | 2 | 7 |
| 3rd | Chameleon i | | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | (RET) | 14 |
| 4th | CHIA | | 4 | 4 | ‑5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 18 |
| 5th | Rutland | 118 | 5 | 5 | 4 | ‑6 | 3 | 5 | 22 |
| 6th | AOL / LED | 43 | 8 | (RET) | DNC | 5 | 6 | 4 | 34 |
| 7th | Team O marine | 122 | 6 | 6 | 6 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 40 |
| 8th | Union Rose | 115 | 7 | (RET) | DNC | 7 | RET | DNC | 47 |
| 9th | Talullah | 55 | (RET) | 7 | RET | RET | DNC | DNC | 51 |
| 10th | Young & reckless | BERG 29 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 55 |