Fitzgerald and Marks advance

Another race in the bag at the I14 Nationals

The easterly sea breeze arrived on cue to allow racing to commence at the scheduled time of 2pm, and, after one general recall, the fleet of 45 International 14s took off for Race 3 in an 11 knot breeze. Geoff Carveth and Adrian Murphy, who were the winners of Race 1 yesterday, were the only victims of the black flag that was employed by Principal Race Officer Jim Sinclair to control the fleet on the second start.

James Fawcett and Dave Dobrejivic were the early leaders, but lost ground when they were unfortunate enough to become entangled in some rope in the water. Mike Lennon and John McKenna had to take avoiding action, before they too became enmeshed.

Jarrod Simpson and Harvey Hillary then opened up a good lead, until Andy Fitzgerald and Simon Marks caught them, and these two teams fought out the race over the final two laps. The lead was exchanged a few times before Fitzgerald and Marks finally got away at the last leeward mark when Simpson and Hillary (below) had to take a penalty for an infringement.



Fawcett and Dobrejivic eventually came home in third place, with Tony Dencher and Andy Hetherington taking fourth position after sailing an excellent race in their self built boat.

Fitzgerald and Marks consolidated their points lead over Simpson and Hillary, and now hold an advantage of 5 points. Fawcett and Dobrejivic are a further 7 points behind, with Lennon and McKenna a further 2 points adrift. Consistency on the part of Ian Pinnell and Sam Gardiner has brought them up into fifth position.

Tomorrow, the Prince of Wales Cup race be sailed, and this longer race which constitutes the class championship is scheduled to start at the earlier time of 12 noon. Points racing in the seven race series will then be resumed on Wednesday.

Race 3 results:

1. Andy Fitzgerald and Simon Marks, Itchenor SC
2. Jarrod Simpson and Harvey Hillary, Itchenor SC
3. James Fawcett and Dave Dobrejivic, Hayling Island SC
4. Tony Dencher and Andy Hetherington, Netley SC
5. Mark Upton-Brown and Archie Massey, Hayling Island SC

Positions after 3 races, no discard:

1. Andy Fitzgerald and Simon Marks, Itechenor SC, 5 points
2. Jarrod Simpson and Harvey Hillary, Itchenor SC, 10 points
3. James Fawcett and Dave Dobrejivic, Hayling Island SC, 17 points
4. Michael Lennon and John McKenna, Hayling Island SC, 19 points
5. Ian Pinnell and Sam Gardiner, Hayling Island SC, 26 points
6. Andy Partington and Ben Verniere, Hayling Island SC, 31 points
7. Charles Duchesne and Mike Warren, Itchenor SC, 32 points
8. Richard Lovering and Richard Kent, Hayling Island SC, 36 points
9. Chris Turner and Peter Bagwell, Lyme Regis SC, 37 points
10. Julian Pearson and Louise Hickey, RYA, 38 points