What a difference a day makes. The severe gales of the previous day, which had prevented any sailing at the 2009 Mirror World Championship, finally subsided in the early hours of this morning to be replaced by light and shifty breezes for day three. After a short delay to allow the breeze to settle in, the Race Committee were able to run two excellent races. The light and fickle breezes, which peaked at only eight knots, combined with a building southerly tide pushing the fleet up to the startline, made for a challenging day for all concerned. The race officer’s black flag was given a good airing but there were nonetheless several General Recalls on the starts of both races and around twenty competitors now have a BFD in their scores.
Overnight leader Chris Rust struggled a little in today’s lighter
conditions and could only record an eleventh and a seventh, which
dropped him down to second overall. Charlotte Fitzgerald and Annie
Sibthorp were the most consistent team of the day with two fourth
places to give them the overall lead tonight. Charlotte’s sister Izy
Fitzgerald sailing with Emily Peters won the second race after an
exciting race long three way battle with Will Parkinson & Emma
Brown and Emma & Martina Barry. The second race of the day was an
equally tight affair with Hugo Sloper and Emma Spruce eventually
winning out over Irish entry Michael and Sarah Hill. Fellow countryman
Cillian Dickson crewed by Peter Regan were also always in the mix and
came home in third place. This evening the International Jury were
pressed into action to deal with a stream of protests from the day's
racing, some of which may have bearing on the top three overall
results.
With so many recalled starts today the sailors did not get ashore until
after six o’clock. Despite their long day on the water, they were soon
revived by a fleet barbeque, which was quickly followed by a set of
raucous sketches at Nations’ Night. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for
sunshine and fourteen knot breezes so there is a good chance that the
race committee will be able to catch up with some of the races lost
yesterday. Racing tomorrow is scheduled to start at eleven o’clock and
the pressure will be on the leading pack to maintain their form as the
2009 Mirror World Championship begins to build to a climax.
