Magic Marine Scorpion Nationals day 3.

Report by Sandra Smith

Photos already sent by Lee Whitehead (Photolounge)

Perspectives from the Pathfinders at the Magic Marine Scorpion Nationals day 3.

Tuesday dawned with clear blue skies and a good breeze which was a welcome sight for the scorpion sailors after a day ashore yesterday.  An additional race was planned after losing two yesterday, so there was definitely a buzz on the dinghy park with the thought of three races in a good breeze today. The race team confirmed that we had an average of 16 knots today but there were definitely higher and lower spots across the race course today! 

In chatting to the three different pathfinders they gave me the following view of their days on the water. From our own (mid fleet) perspective, it was a hard work, somewhat challenging and at times  an exhilarating day! 

Race 3 was lead off by Fiona & Gordon Taylor in 1951, and as first time pathfinder Fiona said she remained focused with her eyes on the telltales and keeping the boat fast, so didn’t see where any of the other boats started on the line. They decided to remain on once released by the gate boat, and were pleased to round the windward mark in 4th but were disappointed to be passed by the “usual suspects” downwind and finished the race in 18th. 

Tom and Rachael (2057) came out of the gate early and capitalised on some good shifts to have an unassailable lead within the first hundred metres of the start.  Their winning margin by the finish was an over the horizon job, but were followed by Joe & Andy in 2057 and Ollie & Rob in 2053.

Race 5’s pathfinders were AJ & Chris Eaton in 2014. They were somewhat reluctant having seen how Tom & Rachael had done coming out early in Race 3, but only have themselves to blame as they had been in 6th place in the previous race and only dropped to pathfinder 10th after a dip at the final gybe mark. Their concerns weren’t alleviated by all of the top boats coming out early on their start but again decided to hold on after being released and rounded the top mark in 5th and kept this to the finish. Tom & Rachael (2057) again won this race but more closely followed by Ollie & Rob (2053) in 2nd, Chris & Alex (2021) in 3rd and Pete & Matt (2058) 4th.

So, on to Race 5 - and writing this report has begun to feel like sailing today (my energy is waning) but to finish the day Bazza Wolfenden & Adam Aziz in 2043 were our pathfinder. Consistent with the other two pathfinders of the day they selected to remain on once released but Baz tells me this was also based on the better pressure and numbers they were seeing going inland. They rounded in 2nd after some serious hiking (and keeping his crew calm) and remained in that position for the first lap, but kept their kite up too long at the end of the 2nd triangle leg, and lost out to Chris & Alex (2021) and Ollie & Rob (2053). Finishing positions were Tom & Rachael (2057) again in 1st, followed by Chris & Alex, Ollie & Rob with Baz and Adam holding on to 4th despite some pressure from Tim & Millie in 1903.

Looking forward to tomorrow it looks like it will be a lighter breeze, so definitely some new challenges ahead. 

Tonight the fleet are enjoying some well deserved beers and fish & chips, followed by America’s Cup and Sail GP Q & A with Chris Draper and Alex Hayman.  There will also undoubtedly be some good nominations for the Pecker after the great racing today!

Results after Day 3:

 

Pos Sail No Boat Name Helm Crew R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Pts
1st 2057 Essence of Wetness Thomas Gillard Rach Gray ‑1 1 1 1 1 4
2nd 2053   Ollie Meadowcroft Rob Gardner 2 ‑6 3 2 3 10
3rd 2021 Halcyon Days Chris Draper Alex Hayman 3 3 ‑8 3 2 11
4th 2040 Ambush Joe Warricker Andy Service 9 2 2 ‑12 7 20
5th 2058 Just The Tip Peter Gray Matthew Rayner 4 5 9 4 ‑21 22
6th 2030 Saline Drip Alice Davis Oliver Rayner 7 4 7 ‑9 6 24
7th 2061 Silver Mullet Dave Wade Ben Rayner 6 8 4 8 ‑10 26
8th 2051 Mrs Bears Boat Imogen Wade Simon Forbes 5 ‑14 6 7 11 29
9th 2014 Intoxicated AJ Eaton Chris Eaton 8 ‑20 10 5 8 31
10th 2042   Angus Hemmings Fraser Hemmings 10 7 5 ‑14 12 34
11th 2043 Rockin Roller Barry Wolfenden Adam Aziz 13 ‑15 11 10 4 38
12th 1921 Necromancer Chris Bateman Lucy Loughton 12 ‑16 14 6 9 41
13th 2060 A Date with Destiny Russell Wheeler Kev Hope 14 13 13 ‑18 15 55
14th 1903 Syruptitious Tim Evans Millie Irish 23 ‑27 19 11 5 58
15th 2005 Drama Queen Janet Ritchie Alan Ritchie 16 11 16 16 ‑17 59
16th 2026 Sneaky Ninja Chris Martin Josh Oates 15 ‑38 15 19 14 63
17th 2018   Nigel Potter Jerry Hannabuss 11 21 12 21 ‑23 65
18th 1937 The Bee's Knees Myles Jackson Bill Jackson ‑21 12 21 13 19 65
19th 1995 Silverlode Peter Rose John Rose 17 ‑25 20 15 13 65
20th 1951 Sidewinder Fiona Taylor Gordon Taylor 18 10 18 20 ‑27 66
21st 2044 Tallulah Georgina Povall Ellie Cumpsty ‑19 17 17 17 18 69
22nd 1923 Orinoco Alistair Clarke Chloe Clarke 22 9 24 ‑25 16 71
23rd 1880 Shockwave Steven Walker Lucy Street 25 23 22 ‑27 20 90
24th 1929 L'Espirit de Turnip Arwen Fflur Hatty Connolly 28 18 23 23 ‑36 92
25th 2001 Zephyr Malcolm James Francesca Neale ‑29 19 28 28 26 101
26th 2024 Big Bad Wolf Sandra Smith Jeni Richards 24 29 ‑31 26 22 101
27th 1935 Bet Noir Chris Clapp Mark Collett ‑32 30 26 24 25 105
28th 1850   Sarah Jarman Rosie Povall ‑31 31 25 22 28 106
29th 2048 Liquid Spirit Chris Yates Dave Barker 20 (DNF) 27 31 33 111
30th 1949 Extravagance Martin Worth Cheryl Jessop 27 ‑32 29 32 24 112
31st 1912 Pigs on the wing William Winter LJ Winter ‑37 24 34 30 30 118
32nd 2045 Fifty shades of Gray Steve Hanby Stuart Burnett 33 28 ‑35 29 29 119
33rd 1972 Red Rooster Christopher John Hampshire James Alexander 34 37 30 34 (DNS) 135
34th 1985 Another Wombat Rob Morsley Mandy Morsley 35 ‑40 32 33 35 135
35th 1932   Phil White Isabella Barnes 36 33 ‑46 39 31 139
36th 1959 Princess Tiger Lily and the Lardy Buoys Stephen Jordan Zach Aziz 26 39 41 ‑42 37 143
37th 2055 There's no F in bags Neil Spacagna Paul McHenry 42 34 33 (RET) 38 147
38th 1919 Polycrooz Richard Gatehouse Lauren Wills 41 36 ‑49 41 32 150
39th 1943 Blue Moon Nicola Richards Isabelle Bramah 38 35 39 38 ‑40 150
40th 1991 It's me or the boat David Bennett Martyn Tuohy‑Smith ‑44 43 38 36 34 151
41st 2027 A La Carte Richard Haines Zoe Grant 40 42 40 35 ‑48 157
42nd 1925 Predator Martyn Denchfield Claire Geoghegan 43 41 36 37 ‑44 157
43rd 1891 Fire in the Sky Jeremy Lovell Robert York 39 ‑48 44 40 41 164
44th 205 Red Herring Maria Jose Poncell José Antonio Alvarez Calderón 45 44 37 ‑48 39 165
45th 2009 Perdita Sam Mettam Evelyn Tinker 30 26 (RET) DNS DNC 166
46th 1990 Blue Breeze Jonny Rudd Monty Lovell ‑48 47 45 44 42 178
47th 1868 Lady in Red Ben Walker Matthew Walker 46 ‑49 42 45 46 179
48th 1980   James Beckram Keiran Clarke ‑52 46 43 47 43 179
49th 1931 The Business John Mursell Kevin Gosling (DNS) 22 DNC DNC DNC 187
50th 2034 Tough Screw John Cooper Anesta Cooper 51 (DNS) 48 43 45 187
51st 2065 Bluebird Mark Whiteman Sophie Lona Oneill 50 45 (RET) 46 47 188
52nd 1936 Bottyburp The Barbarian Simon Holden Wilson To 47 (DNS) 47 RET DNS 204
53rd 1916   Caitlin Bramah Madeline Bramah 49 (DNF) 50 RET DNS 209
54th 2050   James Gardner Anne gardner (DNC) DNC DNC DNC DNC 220