49er & 49erFX Asian Championship 2019 - Day 2
by Asian Sailing Federation 8 Nov 2019 23:50 AEDT
49er & 49erFX Asian Championship 2019 - Day 2 © Icarus Sports
The conditions 2019 Asian 49er and 49erFX Championship were fantastic all day, seven to 11 knots of north easterly breeze out at Abu Dhabi.
However, there were significant gusts and lulls across the course, with a few wind shifts thrown in for good measure. Akira Sakai and Russel Aylsworth managed to negotiate the course well and with a 2,5,6 and 1 retain their the lead, but just one point ahead of the Chinese, Ding Mingling and Liu Tan, who scored 3,4,1 and 3.
Musab Al Hadi and Waleed Al Kindi had consistent day, 4,3,4 and 2, but slipped to third place behind the Chinese but are well clear of the chasing pack and just 1 point behind the Chinese. In fourth is another Chinese team, Mingcheng Ding and Li Mokul who had finished much ahead of the fleet in the first two races of the day, but slipped finished 8 and 6 as the day progressed.
The experienced Indian team of Ganapathy and Varun, bounced up from seventh overnight to fifth position with 5,2,2 and 7, which moves the 2018 Asian Games bronze medallists to just two points behind the Chinese team and share a similar score with their training partners Sandip Jain and Munna Pandit.
The conditions are forecast to throw up lighter winds tomorrow and could suit those teams that are more used to the softer end of the wind spectrum.