Miracle National Championship 2023 at Brixham Yacht Club - Day 4

Day 4 of the Miracle Nationals (sponsored by SailingChandlery.com) got off to another fine start with beautiful sunshine and blue skies.

Jon and Jess Willars led the fourth Points Race throughout, with the positions changing behind them. Simon and Vivienne Turnball were second around the windward mark, with Marcel and Giulia Neuteboom in third, followed by Ian and Ella Fryett. The excitement continued throughout the race and with the Class Chairman, Paul Robinson getting stuck on the windward mark. The positions by the end of the race had changed around with Ian and Ella Fryett in second, Simon and Vivienne Turnball in third, with Marcel and Guilia in fourth.

Points Race 5 was the second race of the day started in less wind than the first. As the wind died away to virtually nothing on the third windward leg, the race officer laid the finish at the top of the course and it was a case of who could make the best of the available wind. Jon and Jess took the gun with their second win of the day, whilst Ian and Ella Fryett had to settle for second. Wayne Atherton and Angela Sweeney had their best result of the week so far and came in third.

The keen sailors among the fleet stayed out on the water for some more racing and were greeted by a pod of dolphins swimming through the bay. There were two races in one, with the single-handed race and the double-handed non-spinnaker race run together.

The single-handed race saw five entrants taking part. Simon Turnbull made it to the windward mark first, closely followed by Hannah Metcalfe-Smith. Nick Smith managed to overtake on the spinnaker leg to get into 2nd. The second windward leg saw Hannah Metcalfe-Smith close right back up to the leaders. Down the run, the eagle-eyed Nick Smith saw that the finish flags were up and kept his kite up around the bottom mark to take it to the finish to get the gun, whilst Simon had taken his down, ready for an another lap. He held onto second, with Hannah coming in third. Paul Robinson took fourth place and Jon Willars came in fifth.

The double handed non-spinnaker saw three entrants, with father-son duo Richard and Teddy Smith taking 1st place, Lilly and Ian Brown taking second and Andrew and Stephanie Clark coming in third.

The Youth Championships continued after the single-handed and double-handed non-spinnaker with two boats taking part. Lilly cemented her position at the top of the leaderboard with another win, with Stephanie Clark coming in second.

Results after Day 4:

Other category results at www.brixhamyachtclub.com/page/race-results