2015 Kieler Woche - Beaumont blasts to top of 29er fleet
by Andy Rice on 28 Jun 2015
2015 Kieler Woche Andy Rice
Crispin Beaumont and Tom Darling are putting together an incredibly consistent set of scores in the 86-boat 29er fleet at Kieler Woche (Kiel Week), to lead into the final day of competition.
The British crew didn’t finish in the top three of any of today’s four races, but nor did they finish lower than seventh. Their consistency gives them an eight point lead over Slovenia’s Peter Lin Janezic and Anze Podlogar who came two, one in the first two races this morning, only to falter with 22,10 in the next two.
Lying in third overall is another British team, Dan Venables and Paddy Keech, five points behind the Slovenians. The Munte sisters, Carla and Marta, went into the day with the leader’s yellow jerseys having made the most of the lighter breezes of the first two days. The stronger breezes of Saturday did not play to their strengths, but the live TV images from onboard the Spanish boat revealed the high work rate these girls put into their skiff sailing. They only once made the top 10 today, yet still hold fourth overall.
The higher wind speeds brought out the best of the 29er fleet today, with some spectacular starts and some fast action around the race course. The port tack start often worked, with a number of crews going for the high-risk/high-reward option. Britain’s James Grummett and Dan Budden went for a port-tack start in the last race of the day and were rewarded with a second place across the finish. “We’re one of the heaviest crews,” said Budden, “so we need to try something different, and it worked a treat. We were fast in the stronger breeze and the port tack helps you get up to speed quickly.”
The final day’s live TV and commentary at Kiel Week goes back to the Musto Skiff fleet, with the show due to go live on YouTube at 1045am German time. The British hold the top two places, with Ben Schooling ahead of Alistair Conn, and Germany’s Iver Ahlmann lying in third. Tune in on Sunday to watch the final day’s action at Kiel Week.
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