Miracle National Championship at Rutland Sailing Club - Day 3
by Hannah Metcalfe-Smith 10 Aug 2021 20:56 BST
8-13 August 2021
Conditions: Moderate breeze with brilliant sunshine
Points Race 4
Jeremy & Kitty Davy (4023) and Hannah & Tom Metcalfe-Smith (3805) continued their ongoing battle, with the Metcalfe-Smith's reaching the windward mark first, but swiftly overtaken on the spinnaker leg.
Up the next beat, Jon Willars (3834) and his daughter daughter Jessica (aged 7), snuck past the Metcalfe-Smith's, but had to complete two penalty turns due to a port/starboard infringement with the Davy's. This allowed the Metcalfe-Smith's back into second place, which they didn't give up.
The ever consistent Jon Tippett and Kathy Boulton came in fourth place, with Wayne and Angela coming fifth. Further down the fleet the racing was hotly contested, with father and daughter duos Ian and Lilly Brown (4098) and Gerald and Tanya Copsey (4120) pipping Graham Watts and Helen Jack's (4114) on the short leg from the leeward mark to the finish line.
Points Race 5
Another congested start line lead to the windward leg being a mixed bag with Jeremy & Kitty Davy and Jon & Jessica Willars moving away from the fleet, with the remainder jostling for position at the windward mark. The spinnaker legs and mark roundings were incredibly busy with lots of calls for water fighting for every inch. Rounding the bottom mark and into the next beat, with no clear route, lots of different tactics were in play.
On the second and third beat, the Metcalfe-Smith's moved through the fleet, making it into fourth position going into the last beat, where they took third place from Wayne and Angela (4121).
In a turn of events from the previous race, Graham and Helen pipped Ian & Lilly and Gerald & Tanya to come 9th, with Gerald & Tanya in 10th and
Ian & Lilly in 11th.
Overall, the National Championship is halfway through, with the race for 3rd place looking tight with Paul & Nathan Robinson and Jon Tippett & Kathy Boulton both on 26 points. Between 8th and 12th place, there are only 9 point separating the teams, with all to play for.
Results after Day 3: