Gustavo Lima from Portugal held on to his overall lead alter scoring a third and second place in his fleet in the two races sailed yesterday in Cadiz. An offshore wind varying between 14-20 knots and shifting through 20 degrees provided ideal conditions for close racing. All the mark roundings were tight with the majority of each fleet passing within 30 seconds.

The four fleets raced a double windward leeward course and considering the high standard it was a credit to the sailors and the race committee that there was only one general recall in eight starts.

There were places won and lost all round the course even amongst the leaders. Lima was one of the few sailors to move upwards throughout each race. He said “I was fourth round the first mark in the first race and managed to pass Andrew Lewis from USA on the last downwind. In the second race I rounded the first mark fourth and once again passed one boat to get third.”

In the same fleet Luis Martinez from Spain equalled Lima’s score although he had to work harder. Rounding the first mark in first place he led the fleet to the right on the second upwind only to lose several places when the wind shifted to the left. He said: “I picked up some places on the next downwind and had a good last upwind to get back to first. In the second race I started near the back which I think was good for me as I picked up places all through the race to finish fourth.”

Defending champion, Robert Scheidt from Brazil, also had a good day with the same results as Martinez and coincidently the same as he scored yesterday. Scheidt said: “I’m satisfied. My races were almost the same as yesterday. In the first race race I missed some shifts especially on the second windward but I managed to get a fourth. In the second race I got to the first mark third and then lost a place downwind. On the second upwind I got back to first and then spent the rest of the race protecting my lead.

Best results of the day went to the European Champion, Vasilij Zbogar from Slovenia, who scored four points with a third and a first which moves him up from sixth to third overall. Although pleased with this he will have wished he had held the lead he had he had in the first race which could have put him in second overall.

Overall Results (after 4 races)

1.Gustavo Lima POR 7pts

2.Robert Scheidt BRA 10pts

3.Vasilij Zbogar SLO 10pts

4.Michael Blackburn AUS 12pts

5.Gustav Carlsson SWE 16pts

6.Andrew Murdock NZL 19pts

7. Mark Mendelblatt USA 20pts

8. Karl Suneson SWE 20pts

9. Ed Wright GBR 20pts

10. Andre Streppel BRA 21pts