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Day three in the Lipton Cup, started with flat seas and a light southerly breeze. With the weather forecast predicting 15 knots out of the S, the crews sailed onto the race course knowing that the days course would most probably be the final compulsory course, a rectangle. True to form, the Committee and mark laying boats laid the rectangular course and it was time to prepare for battle.
With two wins from the last two days, the Knysna Yacht Club's, "Team Colorpress" was the boat to beat. Sailed by the formidable team of Davis and Blankenberg, they were in the sights of all the other top skippers, especially the teams from False Bay, Lake Deneys, Royal Natal, UCT and Defence (Boland) Yacht Clubs. With lots of jostling at the start, for the first time in the regatta, everyone was behind the line as the gun went off and Race 3 got underway. Beating upwind to the weather mark, saw the top boats trade tacks and try to take advantage of every wind shift.
First around the top mark was False Bay Yacht Club's "Team Intasure Marine Insurance", skippered by youngsters, Andrea Giovannini and Marcus Progli, followed by another young Team from UCT Yacht Club and then Knysna Yacht Club's "Team Colorpress", followed by the Diocesan College (Bishops) Yacht Club boys and Defence (Boland)Yacht Club's "Race Ahead Green Light" skippered by Kader Williams and Asenathi Jim. Now it was bear away to the next mark and try to stay out of trouble, with the leaders trying to defend their position and everyone else trying to overtake them.
With three laps of the course to sail, this was exciting sailing as the teams tried to take advantage of the numerous wind shifts and individual wind puffs that crossed the course. Chatting to the competitors and spectators after the race, they all commented how this race, was one of the most exciting races they had ever seen, with the lead constantly changing.
Rounding the bottom mark and starting on the second lap saw "Team Intasure Marine Insurance" holding onto their lead, but everything had changed behind them, "Team Colorpress" now lying second, followed by Lake Deneys and UCT. Having been pinned in the mid pack at the start, Point Yacht Club's "PYC Challenger", sailed by 22 year-old Luke Wagner was now in 7th place and pushing hard. Half way up the course, on the way to the weather mark, the halyard holding up "PYC Challenger's" mainsail broke and suddenly they were in trouble. With the mainsail starting to come down the mast, Luke's younger brother Stephen climbed the mast and tried to solve the problem. Due to the boat's movement in the swell, he was unable to get to the top to solve this problem and with precious positions slipping away, Luke make a quick decision and asked another crew member to climb up the mast, so that their combined weight would capsize the boat and put the mast in the water. This would allow them to work on tying the sail back up and then they would have to right the boat to continue sailing. With the extra weight on the mast, the boat went over and Luke ran down the now horizontal mast and jumped into the ocean to help Stephen make the needed repairs, while the rest of the crew climbed onto the yachts keel, to stop it from capsizing completely! Repairs made, the intrepid brothers worked their way down the forestay and up she came, which meant for a quick scramble over the side and into the boat for the whole crew. This whole maneuver had only taken two minutes, but 11 vital places were lost in this blink of an eye!
Out at the front of the pack, positions had changed once again and the boys from Lake Deneys were the first boat around the bottom mark, followed by "Team Intasure Marine Insurance" and "Team Colorpress". With racing this close and the lead constantly changing, it was no surprise that the lead would continue to change and as the boats closed the finish line, it had changed once again. 1st across the line was Knysna Yacht Club's "Team Colorpress", closely followed by False Bay Yacht Club's "Team Intasure Marine Insurance", Lake Deneys Yacht Club's LDYC Round the Island Challenger", Defence (Boland) Yacht Club's "Race Ahead Green Light" and Royal Natal Yacht Club's "Orion Challenger"
With three straight wins, Knysna Yacht Club's "Team Colorpress" is definitely the boat to beat. the question of everyone's mind now is "Can the Young Bucks on "Team Intasure Marine Insurance" beat the Old Masters on "Team Colorpress"? Only time will tell, but rest assured, this is going to be an epic battle till the end!
Click here to download the results of Day 3 Race - Rectangular Course
All Results |
