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Wednesday, 12 February 2003 Day 3 If you believe everything you read in the newspapers, then Steve Fields is an "under-17 champion", the Hobie Tiger is a "twin-hulled catamaran", it's "the Olympic sprinter" , can do "40 knots" and Enrique Figuero should easily win the championship because he "hit a maximum of 30 knots during the storm"! Unfortunately what the national newspaper failed to mention was that the storm that Enrique peaked out in was in Puerto Rico and not in Singapore! But any publicity is good. There were sailors who visited Raffles Marina over the public holiday on Wednesday just to try and catch a glimpse of this incredible "sprinter" that can "double the speed of the Batam Ferry" while "crews are harnessed down from the mast in a balancing act called the trapeze" sounds quite nice actually! Meanwhile back on earth... Weather conditions were as good as they have been so far. There are lots of sunburnt legs apparently the sun here at 2 degrees north of the equator is even more severe than it is in Australia. The wind had shifted more north and allowed the top marks to be laid just off the Marina, fairly close to the Second Link Bridge that links Singapore to Malaysia. By now the top competitors have figured out the intricacies of the tide and shifting wind. Mitch Booth seems to have made sense of it earlier than most and scored two first places, a fourth and an eight for the day. This reverses Greg Thomas/Jacques Bernier's 2 point advantage and puts Enrique Figueroa/Jorge Hernandez into third. On the course The favoured side for the first beat still fluctuated a fair bit. With the wind shifting about 15 degrees, the top marks were either put closer to the Marina or closer to the Malaysian coastline. Itıs something like a tourist trophy - competitors decide which country has the favourable shoreline, shoot for it and hope it pays off. Those who play the middle, play with the tide and lose out big time. In race 8, Mitch and Taylor Booth made some 8 tacks to reach the weather mark, tucking up on the Singapore side and seeking some respite from the outgoing tide in the shallows. That paid off as Team Booth pulled out a nice lead over the fleet. Gavin Colby/Cori Camenish have started to filter to the top, scoring 2 10 2 1 and have crept into sixth place behind Aaron Worrall/Andrew Keag. The South African team of Allan Lawrance/Gordon McGillivray who have never ever seen wind this light rounded the top mark in third, but had their best snatched away by an OCS decision. However, when the German pair of Andreas Bredendiek and Nils Froehmer rolled their boat in the marina, who should be the only ones to run down and help but this South African pair! Go, South Africa! Mind you, the marina capsizes goes to prove there is a god and that no one should throw bananas at Pedro! But hey, bananas are bad luck on a boat anyway. Bad luck also for the Malaysian entry of Nigel Harris/Glen Ormerod who had 2 swims in their own waters yesterday. But as we understand, thatıs cleaner water anyway as Singapore imports fresh water from Malaysia. Back on shore Lunch had been a sumptuous affair so burnt, thirsty, starving sailors were all ashore by 5pm except for the Catawest team that had decided to try and park the Tiger on its side in the marina! Apparently, the 'Nutritionist' in charge knows that all a person needs to survive a day is 70 grams of grapes. Thatıs right, folks, each packet of grapes (washed, untouched by human hands) was exactly 70 grams! Why? Well, the sky is blue! So as we enter day 4, the weather looks to have settled in. Clear blue skies, puffy clouds but weıll see. The 'Famous five 1. Mitch/Taylor Booth NED 31 points ". Greg Thomas/Jacques Bernier USA 33 ". Enrique Figueroa/Jorge Hernandez PUR 51 4. Andreas Bredendiek/Nils Froehmer GER 58 5. Aaron Worrall/Andrew Keag AUS 60
Scott McCook
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