DAVID PALMER CONTINUES TO LEAD
AT THE DRAGON EDINBURGH CUP
For Immediate Release - 5 July 2007
The second day of the International Dragon Edinburgh
Cup regatta at Weymouth was wet and windy, but despite
this the competitors were able to enjoy one closely
fought race before the Race Committee were forced to
send them home as the forecast gale began to make itself
felt. Sadly the planned Crews Race had to be postponed
until tomorrow.
The boats were over eager on their
first attempt at starting but the implementation of the
black flag for start two ensured a clean get away. With
the wind still from the south west quadrant and blowing
up towards 20 knots yet again the fleet set off for the
left hand corner. The only exception was Ivan Bradbury,
sailing GBR655 with Martin "Stavros" Payne and Will
Willetts, who struck a lone path out to the right. For a
while they looked very lonely but a big right hander
made up for the lack of friends and at the weather mark
they rounded with a handsome lead. Behind them Ian Gray,
sailing GBR586 with Keith Gray and Rene Nel, headed the
pack with Martin Makey, sailing GBR704 with Richard
Elphinstone and Jon Noonan, and Len Jones, sailing
GBR708 with Jamie Lea and Philip Catmur, rounding neck
and neck for third and Owen Pay, sailing GBR653 with
Nick Wood and Mike Gagg in fifth.
On the first run this group held
their positions but David Palmer, sailing GBR700 with
Mark Pettit and Kasper Harsber, was on a mission and by
the drop had moved up from seventh to sixth and had
closed into the back of the leading group. Although
Bradbury held his lead on the second beat behind him it
was all to play for and Palmer sailed a demon leg to
round in second place with Jones now third. Paul
Woodman, sailing GBR719 with Malcolm Ford and Barry
Dunning, also sailed a nifty beat to move up from ninth
to fourth.
The second run was all about playing
catch up and at the leeward mark the pack had closed on
Bradbury considerably opening the race up again for the
final long beat. Every time the boats came together on
the track Palmer and Jones seemed to close on Bradbury
who had his work cut out to defend his lead in the
rapidly strengthening breeze. Bradbury determinedly hung
on and at the line he finished just clear of Palmer with
Jones third. Neil Hegarty, sailing IRL176 with Peter
Bowring and David Williams, also sailed an impressive
race working his way slowly up the fleet from ninth at
the first mark to fourth at the finish.
In the overall standings with three
races in the six race series now completed David Palmer
leads on five points, eight points ahead of Len Jones in
second place. Neil Hegarty is just one point behind
Jones on 14 points while Ivan Bradbury and Andrew Craig,
sailing IRL192 with Don O'Dowd and Aidan O'Connell, are
tied for fifth on nineteen points.
Tonight the crews will all be
attending the championship dinner which takes place at
the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy, the
venue for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sailing
regattas. The evening includes a tour of the Academy's
facilities and a talk on the development of and future
plans for the Academy as they prepare for the Games.
Tomorrow two further championship
races are planned and with the forecast promising more
moderate conditions the Race Committee also hopes to run
the traditional Edinburgh Cup Crew's Race. The regatta
runs until Saturday 7 July with six championship races
scheduled.
Top Ten Provisional Results After Three Races
1. GBR700 David Palmer 1, 2, 2 - 5 points
2. GBR708 Len Jones 9, 1, 3 - 13 points
3. IRL176 Neil Hegarty 4, 6, 4 - 14 points
4. GBR656 Ivan Bradbury 14, 4, 1 - 19 points
5. IRL192 Andrew Craig 6, 7, 6 - 19 points
6. GBR719 Paul Woodman 13, 5, 5 - 23 points
7. GBR653 Owen Pay 12, 3, 9 - 24 points
8. GBR682 Eric Williams 2, 9, 14 - 25 points
9. GBR684 Michael Holmes 3, 11, 12 - 26 points
10. GBR729 Tim Tavinor 5, 8, 15 - 28 points
FULL RESULTS
The 2008 Edinburgh Cup will be hosted
by the Royal Western Yacht Club in Plymouth and will be
held from 9-12 July 2008. Further information about this
event is available at
www.britishdrago ns.org
The event is generously supported by
Aberdeen Asset Management, Pettircrow Boat Builders,
Palmers Brewery, Dean and Reddyhoff, ProRainer Clothing,
Bussells Chandlery, Weymouth & Portland Borough Council,
Western Marquees, Marlin RIBs, Dubarry and Bollé.
Daily race reports and results will be posted at
www.edinbur ghcup07.co.uk and for further
information about the regatta please contact David Dunn,
Chairman YCW Championships OA, Tel +44 (0)1305 771147 or
E-mail djdunn@aol.com.
Journalists and photographers wishing
to attend the event should contact Fiona Brown, Event
Press Officer on E-mail fiona.brown@fionabrown.com or
Tel +44 (0) 7711 718470.
Further information about the British Dragon Association
is available from www.britishdragons.org
Further information about the Yacht Clubs of Weymouth is
available from
www.ycw.org.uk.
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For Further Information Contact
David Dunn
Regatta Chairman
phone: +44 (0)1305 771147
Fiona Brown
Regatta Press Officer
phone: +44 (0)7711 718470
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