Finn Class at the Rolex Miami OCR - Day 3
by Robert Deaves, IFA 28 Jan 2010 11:44 GMT
24-30 January 2010
Ed Wright leads Finns in Miami after double win
After another tough sailing day on Biscayne Bay, at the Rolex Miami OCR, and three more challenging races, Ed Wright (GBR) is back on top with two more race wins, while overnight leader Giles Scott (GBR) drops to second after three third places. Zach Railey (USA) also drop one to third.
The morning dawned with light winds with a forecast of light and variable winds from the north-east. The lights winds caused a 20 minute delay in the start, with three races sailed to catch up from Monday's lost day. Lots of place changes during the races emphasised the tricky conditions, though the results were generally more consistent than Tuesday's racing.
Only Railey has so far broken the British dominance in taking a winning gun. His win in race 5, added to a 4th and 5th leaves in in a comfortable third place, 8 points ahead of team mate Bryan Boyd (USA).
Boyd, who placed 2-2-6 in Tuesday's races said, “Today was a classic Miami day with light to medium breeze and a good share of shifts. The key was holding a clear lane off the start and waiting for enough pressure on your side to take it back across the fleet.
“I've been working through the winter on improving my downwind speed, and so far I've been pretty happy against the likes of Ed, Giles and Zach on the runs. Two more days before the medal race now, so I think keeping a consistent score line from here on out will be key.”
Rafa Trujillo climbed to 5th overall after a consistent 6-7-7 in the testing conditions. He said, “Today I went out with two clear ideas, to make good starts and to be consistent. I achieved both but perhaps with little reward for so much effort on the water. Several times I took wrong decisions and fell out of the top 5. I think I stayed too much on the centre ground and that made me lose positions.”
Wright placed 4th in the second race of the day to drop his annoying 19th from day one and move into a 3 point advantage over Scott. Third placed Railey has only once made the top three and is a further six points adrift. However at the half way stage, consistency may prove to be the key rather than winning races.
Fleet racing continues Thursday and Friday at an earlier start time of 11.15 for the Finns, with the medal race for the top 10 on Saturday 30th January.
Results after Day 3: (top ten, 6 races)
1 GBR 11, Edward Wright (GBR) 9pts
2 GBR 41, Giles Scott (GBR) 12pts
3 USA 4, Zach Railey (USA) 18pts
4 USA 14, Bryan Boyd (USA) 26pts
5 ESP 100, Rafael Trujillo (ESP) 29pts
6 SLO 5, Gasper Vincec (SLO) 32pts
7 FRA 115, Thomas Le Breton (FRA) 32pts
8 NOR 1, Peer Moberg (NOR) 35pts
9 RUS 9, Skornyakov Eduard (RUS) 38pts
10 GBR 88, Mark Andrews (GBR) 41pts
More information on the Finn class website and the event website.