ACO Musto Skiff World Championship at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron - Day 3
by Andy Rice 12 Jan 2018 02:55 AEDT
9-14 January 2018
It was a long wait for the thermal breezes to settle their differences, but three more races took place in the late afternoon of day three of the ACO Musto Skiff World Championship in Blairgowrie, Australia.
In the first race of the afternoon, Switzerland's Alexander Greil sailed out of his skin to win the race after a tense battle on the final downwind leg against a pack of fast-approaching Aussies. Paul Newman took second with Blairgowrie member Wayne Bates coming in third across the line.
Greil was ecstatic with his first win in a World Championship. "I managed to get a good start, sail the right way up the course, tacked on the layline in the right place, and it all worked for me. It feels easy, but of course it's not easy to do all the time! But yes, I'm really happy to have got my first win at a Worlds."
The current was starting to push the fleet over the start line, making for a few general recalls, which would have come as a relief to those who had started over the line under the U Flag, known to some as a soft Black Flag.
In race two, 49er sailor Will Phillips fired in a bullet ahead of fellow Aussie Thor Schoenhoff, a pattern that these two repeated in the third race of the day. This sees both of them close the gap on series leader Jon Newman, who still holds a two point lead over Phillips, with Schoenhoff 8 points further back. Jamie Hilton (GBR) is first of the international competitors in fourth overall, with Bates in fifth and George Hand (GBR) rising to sixth in the standings after two good races at the end of the day.
The sailors got ashore around 8.30pm, just before sundown, and then they pushed the boat out at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron with a club barbecue and plenty of long drinks and tall stories before the lay day. Now at the half way stage of the regatta, racing resumes on Saturday and concludes on Sunday.
Full results can be found here.