18ft skiffs - Kiwis take lead on Day 2 of Mark Foy Worlds in Fiji

by Kimberley Wilmot on 28 Jun 2016 The same three boats remain at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the second day in the Fiji Fizz regatta at Denarau, which is hosting the Mark Foy World Championship for the class. However the order has changed, with Yamaha NZ moving into the top spot after the second day of racing.

As well the Fiji Fizz is the third round of the Triple Crown for the class following the JJ Giltinan Trophy sailed in Sydney and the ANZAC Regatta sailed in Auckland.

An excellent fleet of 15 18ft skiffs is contesting the regatta with entries travelling from Australia, New Zealand and USA. The last time an 18fter event was sailed in Fiji was in 1952 - when the JJ Giltinan Trophy was won by 1956 Olympic Gold medallist, Peter Mander sailing Intrigue.

Day 2 of racing started in similar conditions to yesterday. But as the racing was underway the breeze built to a steady 12 knots and swung to the right. It appeared to be the perfect conditions for the New Zealanders with Yamaha ending the day with two bullets and C-Tech claiming the third race.

In Race 4 the Yamaha took the lead from the start and sailed away from the fleet. Smeg and C-Tech rounded out the podium.

There was more action in Race 5. Thurlow Fisher Lawyers lead at the top mark but we're soon overtaken by Yamaha on the run. Compass Markets had some spinnaker troubles and lost their halyard down the run and capsized. They soon pulled out of the race.

At the bottom mark, half the fleet went left and half went right. It paid for the boats on the right as the wind shifted and as the leaders were rounding the top mark it became a soldiers course.

Smeg had trouble at the bottom mark with Maersk Line and had to bail out. After getting the boat under control they rounded the mark in 14th.

Yamaha went on to win their second race of the day with Thurlow Fisher Lawyers in second and Harken third.

Race 6 was postponed as the race committee reset the course and made it a big longer. Peroni skipper Nick Daly had nothing but praise for the race committee for their actions throughout the day.

'I love the race committee,' he said. 'Easily one of the best regattas we have done.'

When the postponement flag went down it was all action. Triple M was lining up for a port hander start on the pin but ended up adding a second OCS to their scorecard after getting the timing a bit out.

Skipper Brett Van Munster explained, 'We went for the port hander and got completely chicken winged up. But you gotta give it a go.

'Good plan, bad execution.'

Yamaha was first to the top mark but got stuck letting C-Tech slip through. It was then a battle of the Kiwis. At the top mark for the final time C-Tech had held on to the lead and Thurlow Fisher Lawyers followed them around with Peroni then Yamaha.

At the finish line it was C-Tech then Thurlow Fisher Lawyers and Yamaha.

At the end of the day, Yamaha has the lead with eight points. Thurlow Fisher Lawyers is in second with 10 points and Smeg third with 21. Results are provisional as a protest is to be held.

There will be no racing tomorrow as the fleet enjoys the day off ahead of the long race on Thursday.