Wight Vodka RS Elite Nationals at the Royal Yacht Squadron - Day 2

Helm of Kin, Tiffany Brien, Miss North of Ireland, just back from six weeks in China at the Miss World Competition during the RS Elite nationals © Steve Powell

If day 1 was tough due to strong winds, day 2 was nerve wracking due to the patchy breeze and significant shifts. Most crews looked far more tired when they got back to the Royal Yacht Squadron harbour than they did on day 1.

Many of the leading pack suffered badly in at least one of the three races, but discards kick in so, while it puts the pressure on, they are all hanging in there.

Tiff Brien, sailing with her Dragon Edinburgh Cup winning Dad and local hotshot Graham Bailey started with a second and first from the first two races, only narrowly losing the first race at the finish to Crauford McKeon's seriously quick Kandoo team.

Kandoo had a disaster in the second race when they hooked a pot and literally finished with only one boat behind them - a request for redress is pending. In race three they pulled up solidly to achieve third after being the wrong side of the first beat, along with many of the top contenders, when a big shift came through.

Andy Jameson, sailing with ex Olympic squad sailor Lizzie Vickers and seasoned campaigner James Grant in Eloise were one of the most consistent with another solid day, but they have now lost the overall lead to Kandoo and lie in second.

One of the most consistent performers of the day was Peter Lister sailing with Gold medallist Pippa Wilson and long standing mate David Hales from Lymington. Their 2, 5, 8 has pulled them up the scoreboard to fifth, two points behind Martin Wadhams Kiss team in fourth and just ahead of the defending champion Jono Brown in sixth.

So, this is proving more of a nail biting championship than ever before for the RS Elite class. Recalls and black flags piled on even more pressure and with light winds forecast for day 3 it is still wide open.

Results after day two can be found here