29er National Championships – Spectacular day for Gurr and Thomas

by Clare Murray on 19 Jan 2012 Australian 29er National Championships penultimate day of racing at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron and the leader board has been shaken up. Jacqui Gurr and Steven Thomas have moved into first place after a spectacular day with a third and three firsts.

'It was nice having a rest yesterday,' Jacqui said of the postponement of racing on day four of the regatta. 'I definitely needed that race day off. I was thankful racing was cancelled yesterday although I would have liked to have sailed.'

Thomas, who has moved from the 49ers as a skipper to the 29er as a crew, was happy with how he and Jacqui have been working together as a new team. 'Our teamwork gets better every hour we spend on the water. It just becomes easier and easier to get around the race track and focus more on the racing and less on boat handling and speed,' Thomas said.

Victorians James Sly and crew Alison Dale have moved from sixth to second overall after consistently high placing. 'The left was pretty favoured throughout the day but it was oscillating a bit. We had to be switched on to know when to hang left or take a dig back,' Sly said.

Having lead for the majority of the series, Felix Grech and Jack Hubbard have moved back to third overall after a less consistent day. 'We started off a bit slow in the morning with two not so good results which we are looking to drop. Then in the afternoon we got a third and a fourth. We’re pretty happy with that,' skipper Grech said.

Racing will be competitive on the last day of racing with several boats still in contention for first place. 'It’s all about minimizing our losses,' said Grech of their tactics. 'It’s not the boat that makes the biggest gain but the boats that don’t lose anything. We’re reasonable confident but we have to start thinking about points.'

To view race results click Event website