Day one of the Musto Skiff Gold Cup

Stenhouse takes a comanding lead

Following two days training with coach Mark Rushall, in varying conditions between 4-30 knots, the class racing got underway yesterday.

With continued brilliant blue skies and 30 degree temperatures, race one started in a light sea breeze. Rick Perkins and Richard Smith rounded the first mark in the lead, closely followed by a group including local sailor Pablo Arandia, Ian Trotter, Ian Renilson and Richard Stenhouse. There were places to be won and lost as boats searched out the most pressure. However, Rick Perkins kept a cool head to pull out a good lead at the finish.

Race two saw the sea breeze swing right towards to cliffs close to Denia, and increase to a stable 15 knots. Richard Stenhouse showed good upwind speed to pull into the lead, and although a group including Ian Trotter and Ian Renilson were close behind, they could not close on Richard Stenhouse to make an impact on his lead. The sailors enjoyed the near perfect conditions as they pushed the boats hard to gain any advantage.

By race three the breeze had stabilised from a southerly direction, and the majority of the fleet chose the right hand side of the course, which is closer to the land, for the first beat. Again, it was Richard Stenhouse who managed to gain a small but significant lead at the windward mark, and consolidated on the exhilerating downwind leg, to take his second win.

Results after 3 races:

1-Richard Stenhouse GBR 209
2-Rick Perkins GBR 162
3-Graeme Oliver GBR 161
4-Pablo Arandia ESP 150
5-Tony Phillips GBR 207