Six Metre World Cup - Day 3 report

by 6mR World Cup Media on 11 Sep 2009 Strong breeze and current met the 6mR World Cup fleet again today, which kept the racing inside Narragansett Bay just north of Gould Island. For the second and third races of the day the course was shortened to 1.2 nm leg. Three races were completed in the Modern Division while the Classics completed two.

In the third race of the series for the Modern Division, Scoundrel (GBR-96) won, followed by Patric Fredell’s Maybe XIV (SWE-115) with Lyonesse (GBR-90) helmed by Robert Leigh-Wood close behind in third place.

Scoundrel (GRR-96) skipper Rob Gray said: 'The wind was quite shifty, we saw approximately 30 degree shifts at speeds of 17-19 knots. We were able to take advantage by flying our heavy jib and following the shifts closely.'

In the fourth race of the series, Fredell’s Maybe XIV (SWE-115) took line honors ahead of Bob Cadranell’s Arunga (US-118) and Stephen Murray’s Conch Fritters (BAH-1).

'Sail selection was key today' said Maybe XIV’s skipper Patric Fredell, although the prediction was for stronger wind to come, we didn’t see it and were happy to have changed out to our medium jib which worked well when the wind abated to 11-13 knots.'

In the fifth race Sophie II (SWE-132) helmed by Hugo Stenbeck got the bullet followed by Lyonesse (GBR-90) and Mirko Capka’s Philippia (GER-60).

Sophie II’s crew Cam Lewis said,' We used our medium-heavy sails today and were neck and neck with Goose (US-81) for the first part of the race, but they had an equipment failure at the bottom mark which allowed us to pull ahead and stay ahead.'

After 5 races the standings for the Modern Division show: Sophie II (SWE-132) in first place with 14 points, Scoundrel (GBR-96) just one point behind with 15 and May Be XIV (SWE-115) in the third position with 19 points.

In the Classics Division a mixed bag of results indicate an extremely competitive fleet. Saskia II (KC-19) won the third race of the series in the Classic Division. Skipper, Don Martin said, 'We were rewarded today by playing the shifts and the ebbing side of the current.'

Erik Tingleff Larsen’s Great Dane (DEN-65) took second with Peter Hofmann’s Goose third to cross the finish line. In the fourth race of the Classics division series Great Dane (DEN-65) got the bullet; crew Mads Christensen of Copenhagen, Denmark said: 'We like sailing in shifty wind, we are used to it in Denmark. We started more aggressively today and sailed a bit lower than the fleet with great boat speed. Erik (Tingleff Larsen) designed the boat with a larger 'J' measurement so that we are able to carry larger headsails.' Postle and Pope’s Titia (GBR-22) placed second and the Peter Koljonen-Astrand’s Fridolin (FIN-12) finished third.

After three days of sailing with four races completed the overall standings in the Classic Division show Eric Jespersen’s Gallant (KC-10) in the lead with 13 points, Erik Tigleff Larsen’s Great Dane (DEN-65) has 16 points and Don Martin’s Saskia II rounds out the top three with 18 points.

Continued heavy NNE wind is predicted for Friday’s racing, which will likely keep the fleet racing inside Narragansett Bay again tomorrow.