SB20 World Championship at the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes - Day 2

Skipper Elliott Noye has his head down checking to leeward on Porco Rosso on day 2 of the SB20 Worlds at Cowes © Jennifer Burgis

As the sun set on the opening day of the SB20 World Championships yesterday there were great hopes of a building breeze for Tuesday. By morning it was clear the great British weather had other ideas, with a NW breeze of 4-5 knots the postponement flag was raised and the waiting game began for the start of Grapefruit Graphics race day here in Cowes.

As a result Alan Hillman was busy at Sportsboat World's tent helping sailors make the most of the delay with boat repairs, spares and supplies.

By 4pm the wind was building and the fleet dispatched. Race two saw both fleets general recalled and then successfully restarted under a black flag. Only one race was completed with competitors set against the stunning sunset backdrop of the Solent and Cowes.

Overall standings so far are as follows - Michael Cooper in Export Roo leads on John Pollard in Xellent followed by former world champion Robin Follin in Give Me Five! But after only two full races of qualifying it's all to play for.

The weather is looking more promising for the rest of the week with the forecasted British rain at least bringing some rain with it. Today we caught up with Russian Kirill Frolov from Melston Team as well as Australian SB20 dealer, Nick Rogers from team Black. Find out what they had to say below.

We would like to say a special thank you to our day sponsor Grapefruit Graphics for their support with the event!

sb20worlds.co.uk

Tasmanian yachtsman Michael Cooper and his crew of David Chapman and Gerry Mitchell have sailed Export Roo to an overall lead after two days of frustrating competition at the SB20 World Championship in England. (from Peter Campbell)

So far racing has been limited to just one race each day because of light winds on The Solent, the famous stretch of water between the English south coast and the Isle of Wight.

Export Roo won its first race on Tuesday and placed third yesterday in the Yellow qualifying division.

This has lifted the Tasmanians from equal first to a clear margin of three points from Xcellent. The champion British yacht won the Blue division on day one but finished sixth on day two.

Fellow Tasmanian Nick Rogers and his crew of Robert Jeffreys and Andrew Roberts, sailing Black, are seventh overall with a second on day one but 10th overnight in the Blue division.

Downwind on day 2 of the SB20 Worlds at Cowes - photo © Jennifer Burgis

An Australian boat won the Blue division race two, victory going to Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron entrant Brazen, skippered by Jervis Tilly. Brazen finished 16th in race one and is now 12th overall.

Difficult Woman (Rob Gough) slipped down the standings today, finishing 13th after an opening race fourth and is now 14th overall.

Tasmania's Difficult Women (Rob Gough) on day 2 of the SB20 Worlds at Cowes - photo © Jennifer Burgis

In other race two results Porco Rosso (Elliott Noye) finished 11th in the Yellow fleet to be 16th overall. Smigger (Andew Smith) is 52nd overall, Hypertronics (Stephen Catchpool) 57th in the 71 boat fleet.

Because of the size of the fleet (71 boats from ten nations) the host club at Cowes, the famous Royal Yacht Squadron, has split the fleet into two qualifying groups.

Results after Day 2: