Brewin Dolphin RS Elite National Championships and International Grand Prix at Cowes - Day 2

'More T Vicar' with Ossie and Tom Stewart and Geoff Carveth on day 2 of the Brewin Dolphin RS Elite National Championships © Paul Wyeth / www.pwpictures.com

Olympic medallist Ossie Stewart has grabbed the top spot on the leaderboard at the end of a dramatic second day of the Brewin Dolphin RS Elite International Grand Prix. Crewed by his son Tom and Geoff Carveth, it is consistent top four results that have given him a six point advantage over rival Tom Hewitson.

Commenting at the end of the day Stewart said, "it's obviously going to be a very close series, it could all come down to the last day. It's great sailing, but the wind is due to get light at the weekend, so it's good to have some conservative results on the board."

Newcomer to the class Martin Jones, representing the Royal Yacht Squadron who are hosting the regatta, holds third place.

The results on the second day of the event are littered with black flag disqualifications with all the top contenders amongst seven disqualified from the first race of the day, the fourth of the series.

Ossie Stewart, Tom Hewitson and Brewin Dolphin Chairman Toby Strauss all suffered this ignominy, though after five races were completed they were able to discard this result. Not so fortunate is Russell Peters, who has suffered two disqualifications in the regatta so far, so despite having won three races he is down in seventh place overall. He has to wait for nine races to be completed before he can discard his second disqualification.

The other race winner today was Simon Brien from the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club. A former Dragon class Edinburgh Cup winner, before becoming successful in the RS Elites, he is currently fourth on the leaderboard.

Conditions for the day were sparkling, with bright sunshine and a westerly breeze of 12 to 15 knots. The cause of the many starting infringements was a strong west going tide pushing the fleet towards the starting line for the first two races.

Event website: www.rys.org.uk/events/regattas/rs-elite-international-grand-prix/rs-elite-international-grand-prix-2020

Results after day 2: