Big seas force postponement

News from the Dragon 75th Anniversary Regatta in St Tropez and photos from KOS

Big seas in the Gulf of St Tropez forced the postponement of racing in the Dragon 75th Anniversary Regatta, while the international jury are trying to sort out a series of protests regarding boats disqualified for premature starts in Tuesday's second race.

Tony O'Gorman, the principal race officer for the regatta explained the decision not to sail today: "we felt with the wind speed at the time of 27 knots gusting 30, and because we have 267 competitors, we felt that was too windy, and there was a big sea also, so we felt it was too dangerous to race.

"It was more the sea state, because Dragons can race in 27 knots without any difficulty, but because of the special form of this regatta, with so many boats on the starting line, and mark roundings, we felt it would be unfair and probably dangerous. We are going to re-schedule today's race for Friday, after the special races."

On Thursday the whole fleet are due to start together in one huge anniversary race, while on Friday there are a series of special race, including races for past champions, for crews, over 65 year old skippers, lady helms and juniors.

On Saturday the fleet will be divided into gold, silver and bronze fleets, depending on results from the heats earlier in the week, for one race to decide the overall results.

While most of the sailors were able to enjoy a relaxed day enjoying the delights of St Tropez, the international jury were working hard to unravel a series of protests, counter-protests and requests for redress resulting from confusion over recall signals in Tuesday's second race.

Initially 22 boats were disqualified, then re-instated, then the nature of their re-instatement was changed to grant redress points in line with their finishing position, while the original results for the race still stand.

This still leaves Ward Wood from Ireland with his crew of Brian Matthews and Mark Pettit in Jessica still leading the regatta.

Results:

Overall: Moderns

1. IRL 181 Ward Woods - Jessica 3.0 pts
2. SWE 326 Gutta Johannson - Lea 6.0 pts
3. GBR 700 David Palmer - Princess Jalina 9.0 pts
4. BEL 61 Robert Drontmann - Tenace 9.0 pts
5. SWE 321 Tom Lofstedt - Maria 10.0 pts
6. GER 996 Thomas Muller - Sinewave 13.0 pts

Overall: Classics

1. GBR 402 Laurence Jacobsen - Meteor 4.0 pts
2. GER 257 Dr Herbert Reich - Chaton 6.0 pts
3. BEL 48 Michel Lefebvre - Runaway 11.0 pts
4. GBR 390 Brian Smith - Gem 12.0 pts
5. DEN 335 Borge Borresen - Ondine 15.0 pts
6. IRL 40 Dan O'Connor - Leprechaun 18.0 pts

More photos on the following pages...