Audi Lasersailing International Grand Prix - Day 3
by David McNamara 1 Jul 1999 09:32 BST
ADOBE START A CHARGE
When the sun is out, the wind is up and the racing is in the bay, there are few venues in the world that can better Hayling, and today was one of those days. Just ask Pete & Lisa nicholas sailing Adobe, who won all three races
in their group to take a commanding lead of the Laser 4000 fleet..
It didn't look too promising early on - with light winds taking the boats out into the bay under sunny skies - however, as the day went on the breeze steadily increased, until finally boats were charging through a huge swell
that saw boats jumping off the crests upwind.
The other contenders in the Laser 4000s are now lining up. Gul's Dave Chisholm & Rob Larke have kept it consistent to lie second overall, whilst Ricky Tagg & Vanda Zadarozny won the first race of the day in their group and kept up their challenge for the championship. Front runners at La Baule,
and Euro Cup leaders are Monarch Team Unlimited's Alan Hillman & Rob Andrew who are tied on point with Ricky & Vanda, and will be looking to improve over the next few days.
In the Laser.eps fleet Andy White in Audi Foundation wasn't looking quite so invincible. Although he won the first race, Emma Paull won the second and Laser Scotland's Andrew Knowles the third to keep him on his toes - and Andrew Knowles is now only a point behind Andy White in second overall.
In the Laser 5000 fleet Aquatonic continue to dominate. Andy & Dave Richards are showing that they've got the skills to deal with last year's winners Proctor's Mark Rushall & Jonny Meers, who so far have failed to shine.
Aquatonic won three of today's four races, with there only slip falling to David McNamara & Adam Dearnley in Wildwind, who sneeked past them to take a bullet. Second overall are RWO's Barrie Edgington & Dan Johnson who have a string of top five places but don't seem to be able to break through the barrier to first place.
Tomorrow's forecast is talking about much more breeze,a nd could see the fleets back in the harbour, where it could all change again. Also look out for the scores from the Audi Laser Slalom event in the evening. This involves a short 150 m beat between two lines of buoy, hoist the kite and race back to the bottom marks - one on one, intense action.
More news and results at: www.lasersailing.com/audi-laser-racing