505 CSC UK Nationals - Hamlin/Nelson lead day 2

by 505media on 26 Jul 2006 [Sorry, this content could not be displayed]Day two of the 505 pre-world/UK Nationals at Hayling Island SC and two more races completed. Howie Hamlin and Jeff Nelson (USA) won the first and followed that with a third place to take the overall lead after three races sailed.

The blue skies and strong sunshine more reminiscent of California than Hampshire proved inspirational for the strong American contingent that has arrived ahead of the World Championship starting next weekend.

However, their clean sweep of the podium places was assisted in no small part by an extraordinary lapse by the British pair of Mark Upton-Brown and Ian Mitchell, who squandered a lead of over a minute when they rounded the leeward mark incorrectly and were thus judged to have sailed the course incorrectly.

Upton-Brown and Mitchell had led the fleet round the first windward mark and steadily increased their lead throughout the race showing impressive pace in the steady 12 knot south easterly breeze.However, once their error became known, it became clear that the real race had been going on in their wake, with three American teams, Howard Hamlin and Jeff Nelson, Tyler Moore and Jesse Falsone, and Alexander Meller and Mike Coe breaking through to the front of the fleet by the end of the second lap.

Although there was considerable jousting between this group Hamlin and Nelson held on to take the gun ahead of Moore and Falsone.

The third race of the championship was started in a warm 10 knot breeze.The first race of the day had shown the fleet that the left side of the course paid and it was therefore no surprise when the German victors of Monday’s heat, Boris Herrmann and Julien Kleiner, emerged from the pack of boats exploring that side to lead at the first mark.

Alexander Meller and Mark Coe (USA) just sneaked inside Mark Upton-Brown and Ian Mitchell (GBR) to round second. The off wind leg opened up a number of tactical options which resulted in considerable place changes, although Herrmann and Kleiner remained serene at the front of the fleet.

The wind was slowly losing pressure, and in similar conditions to those in their emphatic opening day performance, the German pair showed excellent boat speed. However, this time they found Upton-Brown and Mitchell were in determined mood after their disappointment in the previous race.

By the top of the second beat these two boats had opened up a significant gap on the rest. The two boats raced down the two fast reaches and up the next beat with never more than a few boat lengths separating them, and rounded the windward mark for the third time overlapped. The decisive moment came on the next leeward leg.

With the falling breeze the choice had to be made whether to maintain speed by sailing higher or take a more direct but slower route. Although Upton-Brown seemed to taken the advantage by calling a gybe inside the German boat, he also opted to sail low to the mark. In contrast Herrmann and Kleiner chose speed over distance, and were rewarded with a clear lead of about ten boat lengths by the finish.

Although the focus had been on the dual for first spot, the ever consistent Americans, Howard Hamlin and Jeff Nelson, worked their way through to finish third and now head the championship overall.

Ian Pinnell and Steve Hunt (GBR) stay in the top group with a fourth and sixth today. Tied in fourth place are Dietrich Scheder and Rainer Goerge (GER) and Ian Barker and Mark Darling (GBR).

505 UK Nationals - Overall leading positions after 3 races, 55 entries:

1st USA 8266 Howie Hamlin Jeff Nelson 2.0 1.0 3.0 6.0pts
2nd GER 8903 Boris Herrmann Julien Kleiner 1.0 8.0 1.0 10.0
3rd GBR 8882 Ian Pinnell Steve Hunt 3.0 4.0 6.0 13.0
4th GER 8728 Dietrich Scheder Rainer Goerge 6.0 9.0 4.0 19.0
5th GBR 8743 Ian Barker Mark Darling 5.0 5.0 9.0 19.0
6th USA 8883 Tyler Moore Jesse Falsone 16.0 2.0 5.0 23.0
7th GER 8915 Hasso Plattner Peter Alarie 10.0 6.0 11.0 27.0
8th GER 8875 Jens Findel Johannes Tellen 13.0 7.0 8.0 28.0
9th FIN 8768 Penntti Matti Otto Toivanen 9.0 10.0 13.0 32.0
10th USA 7200 Ali Meller Mike Coe 20.0 3.0 10.0 33.0
11th AUS 8886 Michael Quirk Geoff Lange 15.0 13.0 7.0 35.0
12th USA 8660 Ben Moon Nick Nelson 12.0 17.0 16.0 45.0
13th GBR 8773 Andrew Smith Norman Byrd 7.0 22.0 22.0 51.0
14th GBR 8835 Charlie Walters Dougal Cram 17.0 20.0 14.0 51.0
15th GER 8686 Christian Niefert Thomas Weber 25.0 11.0 17.0 53.0
16th USA 8831 Pierre Jeangirard Paul Von Grey 22.0 12.0 21.0 55.0
17th GER 8671 Helen Fisher Angela Stenger 4.0 31.0 23.0 58.0
18th AUS 8921 Nigel Lott Bob Franks 21.0 24.0 15.0 60.0
19th USA 8722 Macy Nelson Dustin Romey 23.0 18.0 24.0 65.0
20th GER 8880 Meike Schomaeker Robert Rothe 19.0 29.0 19.0 67.0

Venue website: http://www.hisc.co.uk