Scorpion National Championships at Teign Corinthian Yacht Club - Day 4

Day 4 and the breeze had shifted round to come off the shore which meant you had to have your eyes glued to the compass. Martin Denchfield arrived at his boat to find it covered in balloons and streamers to celebrate his birthday.

Janet and Alan Richie hit the left hand side of the beat and lead the race for the first lap. Picking your way up the beat was crucial as there were huge differences in pressure and big shifts with it. Ryan and Hannah Buchanan also showed great speed until they had to drop the spinniker on the final reach as it was too tight. Tom Gillard made the most of this to pull through the fleet to take the victory from Andy McKee and Chris Massey in second and Pete Gray and Rich Pepperdine in third.

The second race of the day was race 1, which was re-scheduled from Sunday. Again looking for the pressure was key and Andy and Chris took full advantage of this to take the lead until a capsize on the run set them back. This handed the lead to Pete and Rich until Tom Gillard and Sam Breary again battled their way to the front to take their second victory of the day with Pete and Rich holding onto second and Andy and Chris recovering to take third.

Rich Jones and John Purdie posted their first top 10 nationals race result which leaves them in contention for the pro-am prize of most improved from the first day. Tom and Sam now have the overall lead with Pete and Rich Second and Andy and Chris third.

With a 2pm start scheduled for Thursday gives the fleet time to make their fancy dress!

Results after Day 4: (five races, 1 discard)