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Carlsberg 3rd Hobie Tiger World Championship Raffles Marina, Singapore Thursday, 13 February 2003 Day 4 The day Shrek smiled. Thursday on the water was a bit like the stock market with lots of fluctuations, some gainers and some losers. A day of changes, but the best day's sailing we've seen so far. The tropical cyclone further south must have moved far enough away so that the monsoon could become the predominant wind and allowed those teams used to breeze to show their speed. There were some nice wipeouts just to add some spice. Darren Stower/Lloyd Bradshaw, on one of the downhills, stuck the bow so far in the water that the wind indicator on the end of the pole was bent into a horizontal position, but hey, any bow dip you sail away from is a good one! The New England pair of David Heroux/John Swiniarski got blown over during a spinnaker take-down at the gate and then got run over by Aussies Thompson Dale and David Tite. However, wipeout of the day has to go to Mark Haswell/Kath Fong who, for some interesting moments, looked like they were trying to take out the race committee boat! Meanwhile back in control... With the wind being so consistent, the well-practiced teams that had been buried by the light airs suddenly found their stride. Shrek and Donkey (Brad Sumner/Kevin Winchester AUS) showed some real speed as the breeze peaked in race 12, carrying off a win and two 4th place finishes in the other races. The biggest gainer was Gavin Colby/Cori Camenish SUI who have been steadily moving up all week, jumping from 6th to 3rd overall in just four races. The South African team of Allan Lawrance/Gordon McGillivray showed their wind skills, scoring a 5th and a 7th to move up into 12th overall. More wind will undoubtedly increase their chances of a better finish. Aaron Worrall/Andrew Keag AUS have chipped away at the block, sailing good consistent races all week. They made a slight gain by moving up to 4th spot on the leader table. Meanwhile back at loss control: The hard luck story of the day goes to Enrique Figueroa/Jorge Hernandez PUR for having the spinnaker halyard jump the sheave on the halyard block, making it virtually impossible to get the kite up. The Puerto Rican's scores in the last two races of the day reflect the technical hitch and have unfortunately pushed them from 3rd to 6th overall. Hopefully they have rectified the problem so that they'll be running in the top 3 again. As expected, Mitch/Taylor Booth NED have shown their mettle and now stand 27 points clear of the next boat. Greg Thomas/Jacques Bernier USA, who have had a stranglehold on 2nd position all week, had some spinnaker problems as well but have managed to hold onto their position. Although first and second places look fairly confirmed, from third down to seventh is a tight group with only seven points separating five talented boats. There are going to be some major wins and losses in this area in the final day. It was a good day as well for the Polish team Tadeusz Winkowski/Pawel Jedrzejewski as the skipper has had enough wind for the first time to hop on the trapeze. He is after all a big lad... Some of the competitors have been burnt in more ways than just on the water! There is some very nice sunburn being paraded around as 30 degree (Celsius) heat, 24 degree water temperatures and seven hours on the water means there is a lot of heat and sun to soak up. Those coming from colder climes must really be enjoying it. But the "famous five" now are: 1. Mitch/Taylor Booth NED 42 points 2. Greg Thomas/Jacques Bernier USA 69 3. Gaviv Colby/Cori Camenish SUI 83 4. Aaron Worrall/Andrew Keag AUS 84 5. Andreas Bredendiek/Nils Froehmer GER 87
Scott McCook
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