A commanding lead and a Cinderella story
A jubilant team onboard DEN423 Denmark’s Bo Johansen Déjà Vu Ver 2.0 crossed the line in first after leading the entire fleet from start to finish in race three.
It looked like Lawrie Smith GBR815 was going to take second place but after an excellent race up the final beat, Andy Beadsworth TUR12 gained the lead to take the points.
But the Cinderella story belongs to YRED, Peter Gilmour’s JPN56 who was called OCS at the start along with GER1151. After going back to cross the line the team of three took advantage of every shift and made impressive gains to claim a solid 13th place.
It was a close finish between AUT204, GER62 and GBR818 over the finish seeing Christoph Skolaut’s Diavell III claim the Corinthian win with David Tabb’s GBR818 in second.
David Tabb commented, “We’re really pleased, we went around mostly around seventh, thought we got up to sixth, dropped back to seventh and just a bit of backwards and forwards but very competitive. We’re good in the light stuff but struggling a bit because we’re underweight in the heavier stuff. It’s a lovely place to sail, it feels a bit like home when you’re from Salcombe!”
After racing the British Dragon Association hosted a delicious BBQ on the Royal Torbay’s scenic terrace and offered an open bar to thank all the international competitors for making the journey to England to compete. A gesture much appreciated by all, especially after another long and gruelling day’s racing.
Read the full day three article on the IDA website, click here.
An early start that ended in some disappointment
Race officer Stuart Childerley called for an early start to race four to make the most of the forecasted weather conditions.
What the forecast predicted and what was actually on display in the bay were very different. It was looking promising going into the first weather mark, but the testing conditions were really causing the fleet some issues.
Several British Dragons were in the top pack at the windward mark and going into the gate. GBR818 had a significant lead, followed by DEN423, GBR815, GBR192, POR90, GBR748 and GBR 682.
As the fleet slowly made their way up the second beat it was visible across the course that the wind was dying. Sadly it was not meant to be and race four was abandoned.
Amongst those sad to see the race abandoned was Britain’s Dave Ross who was having his best race of the regatta so far and looked good for a possible top ten finish. Back ashore Ross summed up his team’s feelings saying, “We’re loving Torquay, an interesting sailing venue and an interesting sailing area. Obviously, it was disappointing for us today, but we’re having a great time. I’ve got a great team around me, but it’s challenging to say the least.”
Read the full day four article on the IDA website, click here.
RESULTS
For individual and overall results please click here.
The combined effort by the British Dragons sees the UK currently leading the Nations Cup. See the results table here.
Keep watching the BDA Facebook Page and Instagram channel for live race positions and action from the water at the Yanmar Dragon Gold Cup 2023.
Image credit: Sportography