With many provisional results now in, we take a look at who fared better or worse at the end of a good day’s ‘beating’…

Class 0 IRC saw Bear of Britain’s reign overturned by Spirit of Jethou, a Swan 60, who stole pole from their charismatic counterparts. Australia II took fourth for the second day in a row, Skandia Life Leopard dropping back to 18th. The two other ACC boats, Crusader and High Voltage, both retired due to the conditions.

Class 1 IRC was won today by McFly, a First 47.7, closely followed by Nokia, a Corby 41.5, and Team Tonic, also a First 47.7. Barking Mad, in the Farr 40 class was ousted from the podium in all but the last race today, after a series of firsts in the previous races. GBR 25 managing to steal a lead in front of Warlord VI, and securing a better grip on Barking Mad’s flyaway lead in the overall standings.

The results team, having received as many as 130 separate retirement notifications, are awaiting the outcome of a long line of protests before final results are issued. Tomorrow morning the organisers should be in a position to issue overall standings for each class.

The outlook for tomorrow is for more of the same; strong south-westerlies and moderate to rough sea conditions. By mid-afternoon the west-going tide will be at its strongest and running against a strong westerly breeze – a typical wind against tide situation that will create uncomfortable conditions to say the least.