GJW Direct Lark National Championship at Brixham Yacht Club - Day 3

GJW Direct Lark Nationals at Brixham day 2 © Gareth Fudge

Hydons win with a day to spare

Following their 3 consecutive victories on Sunday, all eyes were on Stuart and Nick Hydon to see if they could repeat their dominance. The previous night's Gold themed fancy dress party ensured there were many talking points, not least the 24 carrots stuck at the top of one Lark's mast and some real life Oscars.

After a short postponement, James Goss and Ian Robertson were pathfinder for race 6. In the light conditions the question was whether to go right as the wind was shifting that way or find the part of the race track with the most pressure. Harry Pynn and Gemma Cook were early challengers on the first beat but ended up under the windward mark layline and had to gybe out allowing Stuart and Nick Hydon to take the lead which they extended on the triangle and were never seriously challenged. Chris White and Nic Booth were second with Alan Krailing and Stephen Videlo in third.

Race 7 was a line start. The Hydons had a relatively poor start but again demonstrated their liking for the conditions and rounded the windward mark in second place behind Pynn and Cook. Krailing and Videlo moved up to second on the run and took the lead on the beat, but were overtaken by the Hydons on the next reach. Both Krailing/Videlo and Pynn/Cook exchanged the lead with the Hydons but by the finish the Hydons claimed the 5th race win in a row and with it the championship.

Jon White and Rob Woodward lead the Silver fleet from James Goss and Ian Robertson. Alan Goule and Bob Heath had a good day in the bronze fleet and now lead Simon Reddecliffe and Mark Atherton by 4 points.

Following the championship races 11 teams stayed out for the hotly contested crew's race. Matt Wood crewed by Nigel Hufton lead round the first 2 marks but a navigational error allowed Tim Hartley crewed by James Stewart into the lead. Tim and James crossed the finish line first but found out they were OCS so Matt and Nigel were the winners.

For the third day running competitors were greeted with warm sausage rolls on coming ashore demonstrating the fantastic hospitality the class has had from Brixham Yacht Club all week.

Results after Day 3: