Miracle National Championship 2022 at Dabchicks Sailing Club - Day 3

Miracle Nationals at Dabchicks © Helen Jacks

Day 3 of the Miracle Nationals at Dabchicks Sailing Club got off to a slow start with an hour postponement, and then after launching, a bit more waiting whilst the wind settled into a strong breeze.

Race 5 turned out to be one full of surprises. Gerald and Tanya Copsey had a port end flyer and cleared the fleet with ease. The Neuteboom's (2007), our visitors from the Netherlands, however were first around the windward mark. The drama continued with a capsize for Abbey Mumford and Tom Hirst (4040) due to a communication error.

The bigger breeze meant that it was tough for the lighter crews to make headway upwind. On the second lap, Andrew Robinson and Hannah Mumford (4123) were making good headway and launched themselves into 3rd place after Brian and Yvonne Mumford (4099) who were leading the race, ahead of the Fryetts in 2nd.

After an excellent blast down the first side of the triangle for the third lap, the Metcalfe-Smith's (3805) were looking to catch Andrew and Hannah for a strong finish in 4th place.

The biggest surprise of the day arrived when the results were published with the Mumford's, the Fryett's and the Smith's (2551) were all On Course Side (OCS) at the start, had failed to return and were disqualified, leaving Andrew and Hannah with their first ever Nationals Race victory!

Special mention goes to Ian and Lilly Brown (4098) for their best result this Nationals, with a 13th place, after some boat tuning work with Ian Fryett this morning. With a recent change to their jib sheeting angle in line with the newest class rules, Andrew Clarke and Nik Antioniades (3461) secured a 14th place in the breezier weather.

Paul and Nathan Robinson secured another 7th place today and stayed out for some more racing in the Youth Championship.

Miracle Nationals at Dabchicks - photo © Helen Jacks

For Race 6 it was all change at the top again, with the Willars (3834) working fast to get to the windward mark.

On the sausage, the Metcalfe-Smith's made the decision to gybe and gybe again, which brought the Fryetts right back up to the Metcalfe-Smith's, making the final beat even closer. The Metcalfe-Smith's managed to sneak around the mark just in front and took off down the triangle, following the Willars and the Mumford's.

It was really tight at the top, the Mumford's and the Willars were closely matched. However, at the final gybe mark, the Mumford's capsized, causing the Willars to take avoiding action and going into first place. In addition to the Metcalfe-Smith's, the Fryett's snuck past whilst the Mumford's quickly got their boat back upright and on the move again, cementing the top four results.

Miracle Nationals at Dabchicks - photo © Helen Jacks

William Powell and William Marfleet (4009) from Dabchicks Sailing Club, took another good result with 9th place, looking to cement their place at the head of the Bronze Fleet.

All in all, an excellent day's racing! To be followed by the annual quiz, courtesy of legendary quizmaster Brian Jones!

Results after Day 3: