55th European Sharpie Championship at Itchenor Sailing Club - Day 2

NED8 Bries, NED14 Jan van Galen and NED119 Doordrijver during the Sharpie Europeans © David Priscott

After Monday's blustery conditions that proved too much for some of the crews, today's conditions could not have been more perfect. So good were they that race officer Peter Taylor decided to take the fleet of some 40 Sharpies into Hayling Bay. With the sun out and a steady Westerly at 10 to 15 knots, the international fleet could not have asked for better.

The British team of Chris and Tim Gibbs in Windspiel scored two firsts on Monday and were the overnight leaders and took second place in Tuesday's first race behind the Dutch pair, Jan Pieter Braam and Patrick Neal in Bries. Ominously, another Dutch crew - Daan Versteeg and Arnold Mulderij took third place to go with their two podium places from Monday.

Whilst the tactic to go hard right into the Hayling shore to find the weaker East going tide was the correct call in the first race, the better track for the second was a more conservative middle course as the tide eased. This proved decisive for three visitors from The Netherlands. Braam and Neal were again first with Versteeg and Mulderij second. Tom Weller and Jeroen van Veen sailing Doordrijver scored their best result to date to complete the top three.

The Gibbs pair will be looking to discard their 13th place and bounce back to keep up the pressure on the Dutch crews tomorrow. But look out for the consistent German boat Bunyip with Klaus Eisbenblatter and Sven Ove Baumgartner on board.

Results after Day 2: (top three, 4 races)

1 Jan van Galen, NED 14, Daan Versteeg and Arnold Mulderij, 10pts
2 Bunyip, GER377, Klaus Eisenblatter and Sven Ove Baumgartner, 14pts
3 Windspiel, GBR125, Chris and Tim Gibbs, 17pts

Full results on www.itchenorsc.co.uk