The second day of the Gul RS K6 national championship yesterday (23 September, 2001) began calm but sunny and a thermal breeze kicked in after a 30 minute postponement. This wind, however, never climbed above 8 knots and there were many lighter patches waiting to trap the K6 sailors. Four races were scheduled and sailed, although the wind all but evaporated during the final heat.

In the end, the scoreline for the day belied the true closeness of the racing and the many changes in fortune that occurred during each race.

Race one got away at the second attempt after a general recall. Hunt/OBrien will have been relieved after being squeezed out at the committee boat end. Wadhams/Davies/Chapman led at the top mark, but Phil McDonald crewed by Malcolm and Poppy Morley put themselves the right side of a big shift on the run and led round the rest of the race. Myles Mence and Simon Morgan fought a duel with Wadhams. A super-tight final beat saw McDonald suffer the bitter disappointment of crossing the line to silence, having been OCS at the start. Wadhams was the winner and Hunt/O’Brien stole second from Mence right on the line.

Mence was the early leader of the second race from Scottich team Jock Blair and Andy Gray, but Hunt pulled through to win, with Wadhams climbing to claim second in the dying moments of the race. At this point Hunt held a two-point advantage over Wadhams.

The day belonged to Hunt, however. Two more wins make him very comfortable overnight, with three races left to sail today (Sunday). Wadhams scored another second, but after an absolute battle between four boats in the final race, this team came off worst after all of the contenders came into the last mark together. Richard Sullivan and Colin Grover did the business with a second in the last race and Mence earned yet another third. McDonald stole fourth by half a spinnaker chute length on the line.

Results (after two days)

1st 109 Jim Hunt and Greg O’Brien 5pts

2nd 102 Martin Wadhams, Amanda Davies and Philippa Chapman 9pts

3rd 104 Myles Mence and Simon Morgan 15pts

4th 116 Richard Sullivan and Colin Grover 24pts

5th 111 Phil McDonald, Malcolm and Poppy Morley 25pts

6th 115 Simon Finch and Ian Glyn 25pts

7th 107 Jock Blair and Andrew Gray 26pts

8th 119 Terry Wilkinson and Owain Franks 35pts

9th 106 Patrick Seeley and Adam Preece 40pts

10th 117 Mike Fawcett and Richard Limposs 46pts