Gul RS Nationals - Day 3

Title sponsor - Gul International Associate sponsor - Jeep The forecast increase in the breeze on Wednesday was short lived, but welcome while it lasted! The 200 fleet had one race, while the 300's and 600's sailed two each. There were still some big shifts across the tracks, but most of the front runners stayed in touch. RS200 The race started in the most breeze we have seen so far and Mark and Sam Littlejohn finally found their form and led for most of the race. Tom and Jo Hewitson, who have been grinding their way up the fleet after a 20th in the opening race, stole the race on the last downwind leg significantly also putting two boats between themselves and overall leaders Geoff Carveth and Lesley Bennett. Steve Dunn and Lucy Davey earned another 3rd. They are another team who prefer more breeze. The Derbys slipped from second to third overall, with a ninth place today. So, going into the penultimate day Carveth / Bennett's lead has been cut down to 5 points over the Hewitsons, which is far from comfortable in the general conditions of the regatta so far. RS300 The big story of the 300's day was an upset in the opening race when the first twelve boats missed the shortened course signal. This allowed Steve MacDonald from Scotland to steal the race and gave all the front runners a race they will hope to keep as a discard. Will Guliver hangs on to his overall lead with a second in the second race, but Matt Sargent won it and is still only two points adrift. Terry Brooks scored a pleasing third, by far his best result of the series so far. Early leader Phil Davies had a relatively bad day with an 8th and 7th, meaning he is now 6 points off the pace. Matt Critchley and Steve Cook also made it on to the podium for second and third aggregate scores for the day's racing. RS600 The podium for the day's racing looked different after races 6 and 7. Ian Jubb made the podium, so it is only fair (and very popular) that he got to stand on the top. His 3rd and 2nd places improved on his already good series for a sailor who normally prefers bigger breeze. He has climbed to 5th overall at this stage. Second on the podium was Tony Phillips, who now lies just behing Jubby in 6th overall. Alex Southon had an awful start to the regatta, but 5th and 4th places put him 3rd on the podium, considerable consolation for the early disappointment. Jason Belben increased his overall points lead, courtesy of the fact that second placed Christain Reynolds was severall places adrift in both races. Overall results after Day 3 RS200 1st 500 Geoff Carveth & Lesley Bennett 7pts 2nd 655 Tom & Jo Hewitson 12pts 3rd 700 Dave & Nicky Derby 16pts 4th 557 Craig Burlton & Emma Carveth 26pts 5th 374 John Gimson & Alex Hopson 33pts 6th 579 Steve & Katie Restall 34pts 7th 491 Harvey Hilary & Pippa Williams 34pts 8th 710 Mike Saul & Sophie Hartley 36pts 9th 520 Mark & Sam Littlejohn 37pts 10th 626 Paul & Caroline Fisk 40pts RS300 1st 475 Will Gulliver 12pts 2nd 443 Matt Sargent 14pts 3rd 329 Phil Davies 18pts 4th 380 Nick Bolland 35pts 5th 455 Richard Cumming 36pts 6th 332 Matt Critchley 39pts 7th 436 Andrew Beynon 39pts 8th 374 Steve Cook 40pts 9th 400 Ben Ward 47pts 10th 457 Terry Brooks 55pts RS600 1st 842 Jason Belben 23pts 2nd 953 Christain Reynolds 34pts 3rd 887 Ian Trotter 39pts 4th 938 Tony Freer 53pts 5th 890 Ian Jubb 53pts 6th 835 Tony Phillips 61pts 7th 654 Ian Marshall 62pts 8th 876 Anthony York 63pts 9th 911 Ian Montague 70pts 10th 935 Nick Lowe 73pts