Siblings top leaderboard after Volvo Gill Optimist British National & Open Championships day 3
by IOCA UK 9 Aug 2018 12:28 BST
4-10 August 2018
Volvo Gill Optimist British Nationals day 2 © Andy Green /
www.greenseaphotography.co.uk
Brother and sister Ben and Emily Mueller are leading the Volvo Gill Optimist British National and Open Championships for GBR at the mid-way point after two days of qualifying races.
The Royal Lymington YC pair move into the final gold fleet series in third and fifth place overall respectively, leading the charge at Plas Heli, Pwllheli, for the British national title!
In the open championship standings for the 154-strong senior main fleet, topping the leaderboard is Bermuda's Christian Ebbin with Ireland's James Dwyer Matthews currently in second overall following the five-race qualifying series, and Sebastian Kempe, also from Bermuda, in fourth.
Leading the 120-boat junior main fleet heading into the final series is USA's Aston Smith ahead of Irish sailors Rocco Wright and Ben O'Shaughnessy, with GBR's Charlie Gatehouse (BBSC) leading the British contingent in fourth overall with Josh Lyttle (Datchet), George Creasy (West Kirby SC) and Rory Gifford (Royal Tay) also in the top 10 for GBR.
More than 370 young sailors representing over a dozen countries are competing at the championships, which has so far had two days of light winds and long days on the water.
Nevertheless, yesterday's lay day (Wednesday) saw sailors still keeping busy, with a team racing championship and try-a-boat day for those looking to transition into 29ers and 420s.
Claire Mueller, marketing officer for IOCA (International Optimist Class Association) UK, said: "We're at the half way stage at this year's Volvo Gill Optimist British National and Open Championships and having a great time welcoming the 370 sailors who have joined us from across the UK and rest of the world.
"Day 1 started in beautiful sunshine but light and tricky winds so unfortunately we couldn't get any races completed. Days 2 and 3 have gone much better with five races completed overall in main fleet and eight races in regatta fleet.
VRSport.tv videos:
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
"Everyone has been able to enjoy a lay day before the championship racing in gold and silver fleets begins again today (Thursday). We've been lucky to have Volvo here with their grinder which all the sailors have loved, along with Marlow who have run splicing workshops for over 70 adults and sailors. Added to this are the daily sail raffles and goodie bags, and the chance to win a fully rigged Optimist dinghy on Friday thanks to sponsor IBI Racing Dinghies."
The event is pleased to welcome back its 2017 national championship sponsors xtremity.net, J Sail, Funky Starfish, Jelly Belly UK and One Sails, who have joined for this event IOCA's regular class sponsors Volvo, Gill, IBI Racing Dinghies and Noble Marine, while new sponsors for the 2018 nationals include Marlow, P&B, HD Sails and Firmhelm.
Top Brits in the Senior Silver standings are Huw Farmer (Llangorse), Freddie Fitzsimmons (RLymYC) and Maya Brown (Burghfield), and in Junior Silver are Oscar Burgess (Chipstead), Sebastian Shilling (Derwent Reservoir) and Harry Courts (Corinthian Otters).
The 57-boat Regatta Racing fleet is led after eight races by Angus McEwen (Papercourt) with Sebastian Lyttle (Datchet) second and Joseph Jones (Burghfield) third. Top three in the Regatta Coaching fleet for rookies after four races, with 40 young sailors competing, are Nicola Richards (Castle Cove), Laragh Epstein (Llangorse) and Theo Smith (Barnt Green).
Andy Green of Green Sea Photography is also capturing all the action, with photographs available to view at greensea.zenfolio.com
Racing continues today and tomorrow, with sailors hoping for more breeze. Follow all the latest news from the UK International Optimist Class Association on Facebook and Twitter @iocauk
All the results can be found here.