2018 Etchells World Championship - Day 3: Thornburrow takes top spot
by Nic Douglass 25 Oct 2018 13:44 AEDT
18-27 October 2018
Another day and another delay waiting for breeze at the Etchells World Championship, but it wasn't long until we saw a light nor'easter fill, and racing got underway on a course set at 20 degrees.
Around the top mark it was Thornburrow 1406 in the box seat with Gen XY 864 in second, Merrington 1332 and Peter McNeill 853 in fourth.
Around the gate it was Gen XY 864 with gains on the port side of the race track, Merrington 1332 followed, and big gains from John Bertrand 1440 to round in third.
Gen XY 864, Merrington 1332 and Bertrand 1440 maintained their positions into the final top mark, followed by Thornburrow, the best placed from the top of the leader board going into day three.
At the finish, Merrington and his team on Top 40 snuck in to take the gun from Gen XY, and Bertrand held onto third. Thornburrow, being the best placed boat on the top of the leaderboard moved into first overall.
In race two the awesome Wilson brothers had to fly one general recall flag and on the second attempt went for a black flag. There were six called over on the eventual start, including Tom King 1442, one of the hot contenders at the event. With the left looking favoured, most of the teams, over seventy per cent, opted to start on the port side of the signal boat.
Around the top mark JC Strong 1435 led the fleet with her crew of Jeni Danks, Marcus Burke and Seve Jarvin with John Warlow 1422, Martin Hill 1449 and John Bertrand 1440 close behind.
At the gates JC continued to lead on 1435 over Land Rat 1422, Doug Flynn 1436 in third, and Merrington 1332, the winner of race three in fourth. Most opted to round the starboard gate (which was very favoured) and head back out to the favoured left hand side.
For the final top mark of the day, JC Strong, Marcus Burke, Jeni Danks and Seve Jarvin extended their lead, followed by Merrington 1332, and Warlow 1422 in third. The left paid big time with a persistent shift, and Clarky on 1374 out of the left put him in fourth. Thornburrow moved into the top ten to secure his top spot on the overall leaderboard.
The results didn't change in the top of the fleet for the final run, giving Jeanne-Claude, Jeni Danks, Marcus Burke and Seve Jarvin their first Etchells Worlds heat win, Merrington 1332 had a one and two for the day a very tidy and enviable scorecard, and Warlow 1422 had his first podium of the regatta.
Thornburrow and his team of Huang, Conway and Ryan on 1406 Race C now lead the regatta from Martin Hill, Mat Belcher, Julian Plante and Sean O'Rourke on 1449 Lisa Rose.
Interestingly this means that Will Ryan, and Mat Belcher, who won a silver medal together in the 470 class are in first and second overall respectively as crews.
Be sure to join the live drone action for day three today with Adventures of a Sailor Girl, or head to the event website or social channels for more coverage and live social updates.
Full results available here.