Merlin Rocket River Championship at Bourne End Week 2015 - Day 3
by Alice Markham 25 May 2015 21:58 BST
23-27 May 2015
Day 3 at Upper Thames SC started out looking a lot windier than the other days have been – the flags were streaming on the mast and the sun was out!
The first race of the day was black and blue flights. The Race Officer decided to refrain from using the black flag for the first time this week, which ended in an inevitable general recall, showing that he made the right call using it from the off! Although the start was a bit exciting, the holes in the wind quickly started appearing and around the corner the wind was shifting around meaning there were lots of gains and losses to be made. Laurie and Vanessa made the best of this, winning again, with Tim Harridge and Lucy Burn coming in second and Pete and Debbie Walker in third. The second start – back under a black flag – was the yellow and green flights and Alex Jackson and Rachel Alder took the win here with Pat Blake and Chris Kilsby in second and Fran Gifford and Alex Warren in third.
After a fairly long lunch break, the wind had dropped off again and the wind shifts down the river appeared to be a lot greater making some very frustrating racing that took a lot of patience from all the teams! Black and green flights started first with the top three boats having a very consistent day: Laurie and Vanessa won, with Tim and Lucy in second and Fran and Alex in third. The second start of blue and yellow flights saw Alex and Rachel also having a consistent day with another win. Pete Walker swapped crews for the afternoon but him and Jack Tosh managed to finish second and it was Jemma Hughes and Philipa Daniel, in her new boat, that took third.
Tomorrow the flights system will be dropped so there will be a busy 20 boat start line: Laurie and Vanessa lead overnight and second and third are one point apart with Alex and Rachel and Pete and Debbie sitting very close! All to play for!
bew.utsc.org.uk