Miracle Nationals at Mayflower Sailing Club - Day 4

Tactical sailing in light, tricky Easterlies

Day 4 brought a light Easterly wind to Plymouth Sound allowing for some tactical sailing, making the most of the boat’s ability to spin on a sixpence. Race 6 got away with Sam Mettam, & Geoff Phillips leading to the windward mark followed by Martyn and Daniel Lewis, Ian and Julia Bradley and Neal Gibson and Keith Macey. On the second beat, the Bradleys got the better of the shifts on the right hand side of the course and sailed through Team Lewis, only to be overtaken again on the run. Team Lewis were on a roll, catching up with Mettam/Phillips on the beat and passing them on the final reach, unfortunately only to find out later that they had scored their second OCS of the week. Phil and Helen Bailey sailed a solid race to post a second with Gibson/Macey boosing their score with a 3rd.

In Race 7, Richard and Harrison Pye sailed a high-class first beat to lead at the windward mark, followed by Team Lewis and Mettam/Phillips. Poor gybes by the Pyes and Mettam/Phillips allowed Team Lewis to overtaken the Pyes and pull away to take their 4th bullet of the week. Behind them Mettam/Phillips got through the Pyes on the 3rd beat whilst Ally and Harry Jones continued their consistent week with their second 5th of the day to keep them in 4th overall.

In the Silver fleet Hannah and Nick Smith lead in 13th overall but are likely to drop tomorrow when they have to use both discards for Hannah to pick up her A-Level results – good luck Hannah! In the Bronze fleet Matthew & Thomas Donaldson lead in 19th overall after a consistent performance in today’s tricky conditions with a 17th and a 15th.

The first discard has now kicked in, but the second doesn’t take effect until 9 races have been sailed. Team Lewis must be praying to the wind gods tonight to enable enough races to be sailed to lose their second OCS. With 3 races to go, all is still to play for in all 3 fleets.

Tonight social is Measurement Secretary Brian Jones’ legendary quiz (thankfully not on the rules of construction!) followed by the second night of the National Fireworks Championships.

Results after Day 4: (top ten, 7 races)