GBR lead Mirror Pre-Worlds, South Africa

by Event Media on 9 Jan 2007 After two races, Anna Mackenzie and Holly Scott (GBR) leads from Ricky Robinson and Robinson (RSA) with Nick Davis and John Collova(AUS) in third place.

Two races were sailed today at the start of the 2007 Mirror Pre-Worlds. The fleet started launching at 09:15 a.m. and were soon on their way out of the harbour and sailing south towards the MacArthur Baths side of Port Elizabeth's Kings Beach.

The first race started under the I Flag at 10:18 a.m. and was subject to a general recall as most of the fleet was over at the start. The restart at 10:26 a.m., with a slight pin end bias, was trouble free and the fleet were off on the first circuit of the triangle. A steady westerly wind with light chop and averaging at 16 knots made for fast sailing and brilliant downwind runs on the square course.

The prize for the first breakage in the regatta went to GBR 70362 helmed by Christopher Rust (GBR), which had the mast step broken and deck holed.

The first boat over the finish line was AUS 70459 helmed by Nick Davis and crewed by John Collova in just on 58 minutes and the last boat finished 26 minutes later.

Race number two necessitated moving the windward mark to compensate for the 10 degree wind shift to 260 degrees. The sea and wind conditions were unchanged and the start was a little more square with the committe boat end being the favoured end to start from. A number of boats decided to not sail the second race. Three boats were On Course Side at the start and failed to return after the Individual Recall.

A brilliant sail by South Africans Ricky Robinson and crew, his 10 year old brother Ricky Robinson, led to a first place. The second race was sailed in a quick 53 minutes with the final boat across the line in one hour and 10 minutes.

Race Officer, Viv James called it a day and the fleet made their way home. The general consensus from the sailors was that the sailing was hard but rewarding.

The evening's festivities included a happy hour, African Drumming and Dancers.

Leading positions after two races:

1st GBR Anna Mackenzie Holly Scott Royal Windemere Yacht Club 2 2 4 pts
2nd RSA Ricky Robinson Ryan Robinson Boskop Yacht Club 7 1 8 pts
3rd AUS Nick Davis John Collova RFBYC 1 7 8 pts
4th GBR Edward Fitzgerald Chantal Crane Itchenor 6 4 10 pts
5th IRL Paul Amerlynck Melissa Daly Skellies Sailing Club 4 6 10 pts
6th GBR Lilly Carlisle Becky Wallbank Ripon Sailing Club 3 9 12 pts
7th IRL Ross Kearney Adam McCullough RNIYC 18 3 21 pts
8th GBR Rebecca Kalderon Hannah Mitchell Itchenor Sailing Club 16 8 24 pts
9th GBR Emma Houlihan Emily Mackenzie Royal Windemere 11 13 24 pts
10th IRL Doire Shiels Graham Daly Skerries Sailing Club 8 17 25 pts
11th GBR Helena Newell Charlotte Fitzgerald Itchenor Sailing Club 10 19 29 pts
12th AUS David Pitt James Pitt Hillarys 21 12 33 pts
13th RSA Brennan Robinson Julian Wertheim Aymes Boskop Yacht Club 5 29 34 pts
14th GBR Liam Arrowsmith Isabelle Fitzgerald Irchenory Yacht Club 20 14 34 pts
15th AUS Stephen Locke Lois Pickering Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club 19 16 35 pts
16th RSA Kenwyn Daniels Jowea Klaase Isivungu 17 21 38 pts
17th GBR Martin Egan Tim Wilkinson Restronguet Sailing Club 31 10 41 pts
18th AUS Kirsty Packer Alexandra Maskell Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club 35 11 46 pts
19th GBR Simon Lovesy Charlotte Griffin Warsash 24 22 46 pts
20th GBR Robert Searle William Searle Mounts Bay 12 36 48 pts

Results: http://www.abyc.org.za/results.html
Web Site: http://abyc.org.za/mirrors/