19th September 2003 - Day Two

Gustavo Lima from Portugal held on to his overall lead after scoring a 3rd and 2nd place in his fleet in the two races sailed today. An offshore wind varying between 14 and 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 4 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 8 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 4th 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 4th”.

Defending champion, Robert Scheidt from Brasil, 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 4 points with a third and a first, which moves him up from 6th to 3rd overall. Although pleased with this, he will have wished he had held the lead he had had in the first race, which could have put him in second overall.

Jeff Martin

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

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