Class Association
Day three of the Magic Marine RS500 World Championships started with rain, rain and more rain. But the foul weather conditions didn’t deter the competitors, even as the black clouds slowly turned in to thunder clouds and flashes of lightning appeared on the horizon. As competitors peered out from the warmth of the Weymouth Sailing Academy contemplating braving the wild conditions to get their boats rigged and on to the water, a stiff north-easterly breeze built up, turning in to a fierce force 5 gusting 6. Conditions were challenging, much like day one of the competition, but with smaller waves to navigate as racing was held inside the harbour alongside the RS100s.
Dutch team Barend Hiltermann and Max Blom were looking pleased before they hit the water, and even happier once the racing had finished, with two solid wins secured in conditions that suited their athletic sailing style. GBR team Alex Taylor and Bryan Mobbs gave them a good run for their money in the first race, but could only seal second. In the second race they dropped another position to third as Tim Wilkins and Heather Martin (GBR) pulled it out the bag to claim an important second place, which followed their earlier third position in the first race.
GBR Mike Saul and Meg Fletcher sailed hard in the second race and claimed a fourth, just missing out on third position to Taylor and Mobbs as they battled it out on the last downwind leg. Chasing down the leading pack were Swedish team Johan Rook and Malin Broberg who had good upwind speed and were loving the extreme conditions.
Once again, there was close racing all over the course with sailors finishing in various packs, giving all the competitors their own battles throughout the fleet. The leading all-female team is Dutch Olympic Laser Radial sailors Marit Bouwmeester and Claire Blom who sit in 11th overall. The next all-female crew are GBR sisters Jenny and Kate Todd sitting in 15th overall.
The overall leader board currently has Taylor / Mobbs in first, Hiltermann / Blom in second, and Wilkins / Martin in third – but judging by the mix of performances as the week develops podium positions are still all to play for. Moving rapidly up the leader board are Hong Kong team Cosmas Grelon and Will Stephens, who currently sit in sixth place after putting an impressive performance in today. The other top spots belong to Saul / Fletcher and Phil Highfield / Tamsin Butcher in fourth and fifth respectively.
Off the water now and there’s more fun to be had at the RS Games with a fish and chips van bringing much needed sustenance right to the sailors’ doorstep, followed by human table football (as if sailing on the high seas wasn’t enough for one day!) and indoor crazy golf. For the even crazier among us there’s RS100 sprint racing in the marina to raise money for charity – Michiel and Meno from the Dutch team are representing the RS500s…they must be mad!
