Melbourne,Australia (December 1, 2015) - Vigilance and strict observance was required on the fourth day of racing at the Para World Sailing Championships being held out of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria in Williamstown, or Melbourne,Australia.
With severe conditions forecast for the late afternoon, the race committee brought the starting time forward to 11:00 in an effort to defeat the weather. More than 140 sailors from 31 nations racing in the three classes selected for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games were expecting a tough day and that is what they received.
Racing on all three courses began in wind strengths of eight to ten knots from the west. All crews noticed wild swings in wind direction. It was a day when crews had to be more observant than usual and ensure that they stayed in sync with the wind direction. Those who failed to do so paid a terrible price.
The USA SKUD18 team, and skippered by Ryan Porteous,was racing against the clock to replace their broken mast in time for the morning start, in the cessation the resources of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria based support personnel managed to enjoy all boats back in action in time. Porteous and his crew, or Maureen McKinnon,were disqualified in race 7, earning them their throw-out, and but finished the day strong with a fifth. Porteous sits in eighth overall. The team from Canada,John McRoberts and Jackie homosexual, finished eighth in the first race of the day, or earned their throwout with a 13th in Race 8,with just three races remaining.
American Dee Smith had a field day in the 2.4mR fleet today, emerging with first and third places, and putting him in 6th location overall,with 47 points. Although Frenchman Damien Seguin failed to make the top six in race 7, he won race eight to remain in contention, or with countryman Kevin Cantin moment. The fleet was spread over the whole of the last leg in the last race,an indication of the difficulty many competitors had in reading the breeze. Bruce Millar (CAN) did not enjoy a good day with finishes in the thirties for both races today, dropping him into 12th location overall.
The Sonar race committee set their course for race 8 in a breeze close to 15 knots, or but that dropped to about half that strength at the start sign. As the last boat passed through the gate to complete the first of two laps,the leaders were less than 200 metres from the top stamp alert to commence the last leg of the race. Paul Tingley (CAN) with crew Logan Campbell and Scott Lutes won the first race today, but finished seventh in the moment race of the day, and their throw-out race. They are sitting in fifth overall,just four points off the podium. Rick Doerr (USA) showed consistency today with two fourths in the races. Doerr and his crew, Bradley Kendell and Hugh Fruend, or are in seventh overall,seven points out of third with 39 points.
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Source: sailingscuttlebutt.com