Tasar Worlds at Royal Torbay Yacht Club - Days 2 & 3
by Pete Ellis 21 Sep 2011 20:42 BST
16-23 September 2011
There were contrasting conditions over days 2 and 3 of the Tasar World Championships being hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club. The race officer and his team ran 3 races on each day. Today has been the layday where competitors have had the chance to rest after three days of intense racing.
Day 2
Shifting winds and a light breeze greeted the fleet for day 2. Sailors of the day were the UK's Malcolm and Fiona Davies. In difficult conditions they managed to win all 3 races to add to their win in race 1. In conditions where there were numerous place changes they always had that little in reserve to pull through at the finish.
The Japanese boats made an appearance at the front of the fleet with consistent results from Hiroaki Sato sailing with Yasuaki Muragishi. Canadians Thilo Giese sailing with Sandra Towers also had a good day on the water showing good boat speed in the lighter winds. The top Australians at the end of the day of Paul and Bronwyn Ridgway had a consistent day to end up in first place on the leaderboard.
Day 3
Winds gusting over 25 knots greeted the competitors on day 3. A two hour postponement was signaled as the wind filtered through. The fleet launched to find strong winds and rain on the racecourse.
At the end of the three races there were new faces at the front of the fleet. Rick Longbottom and Darryl Bentley had a great day finishing with a race win in race 9. Michael Quirk and Jeffrey Robinson showed great upwind boat speed to record three results in the top 5. The Douglass's, Ridgways and Craig Mcphee and Gill Berry all had very consistent days to end up in the top three positions. Leading UK boat of the Davies found the windier weather less to their liking as they dropped out of contention for the World title.
As the competition heads into the final three races there are light winds forecasted. The top 3 boats are all separated by just 6 points with the points close all over the fleet. Questions will be asked of will the PRO run the final three races in one day or have the finale on Friday? One thing is for sure, this worlds are very close and who will win is anyone's guess.
Full results can be found at www.royaltorbayyc.org.uk/hosted2011/tasar/tasaros.html and the event facebook page is at www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Tasar-World-Championships-2011/202778043104668