Another bullet for Partington as Massey slips

Andy Rice reports on day three of the International 14 World Championship

After dominating yesterday’s high wind race off Warnemunde, Andy and Tom Partington took the winner’s gun again in moderate breezes for race three of the International 14 World Championships.

Starting in 14 knots of breeze with the customary Baltic Sea chop and swell combination, the Partingtons rounded the windward mark just ahead of fellow Brits Mike Lennon and Andy Rice, with Chris Turner and Adam Ovington not far behind. Lennon and Rice gybed earlier on the run and sailed past the Partingtons, who were caught by 2005 World Champions Lindsay Irwin and Andrew Perry, only for the Australian team to take a swim and let Partington clear.

Lennon and Rice led for a lap, but were caught up by the Partingtons at the end of the first set of reaches. These two battled it out with Aussies David Hayter and Matt Johnstan not far behind in third. It was nip and tuck for a while between the two frontrunners until the Partingtons broke clear to leeward on one of the upwind legs, and found a bit more pace as the larger gusts came through. Once in front they eased away to a win by a minute and half from Lennon, with Hayter not far back in third.

Former European Champion James Fawcett with George Nurton was fourth across the line, while Jarrod Simpson and Grant Rollerson matched their fifth place from the previous day.

It was not a good day for early series leaders Archie Massey and Matt Noble, with ongoing rudder trouble stopping them from sailing at full pace. A 21st place sees them drop to fifth in the overall standings. Another British team who suffered were father/son combination Martin and Neale Jones. Neale injured his back just before the start, requiring his father to work the mainsheet for much of the time, and hoist and lower the gennaker at every mark rounding. Despite their problems they still finished 16th, which keeps them in tenth place overall.

New leaders of the Worlds are Australians Roger Blasse and Andrew Gilligan, whose sixth place today is enough to see them at the top, one point ahead of Lennon and Rice. A point further back in third is another Aussie team Dave Alexander and Cameron McDonald. The Partingtons lie in seventh overall, despite their two heat victories, the reason being a 30th place from race one when the tip of their centreboard snapped off. Now using their four-year-old kit, they seem to be going faster than ever and they will be looking forward to completing a fifth race when they can discard their worst score.

While the top ten is dominated by British and Aussie teams, Germans Olly Voss and Jens Holscher are making steady progress up the rankings, and currently lie in 12th overall.

Results:

Pos	Helm/Crew	Nationality	R1	R2	R3	Tot
1	Roger Blasse	AUS	2	6	6	14,0
	Andrew Gilligan
2	Mike Lennon	GBR	4	9	2	15,0
	Andy Rice
3	Alexander Dave	AUS	5	4	7	16,0
	Cameron McDonald
4	Jarrod Simpson	GBR	12	5	5	22,0
	Grant Rollerson
5	Archie Massey	GBR	1	7	21	29,0
	matt Noble
6	Douglas Pattison	GBR	14	3	14	31,0
	Damian Ash
7	Andy Partington	GBR	30	1	1	32,0
	Tom Partington
8	Mark Krstic	AUS	3	11	18	32,0
	Matt Lowe
9	Tom Heywood	GBR	11	12	9	32,0
	Edward Clay
10	Martin Jones	GBR	13	8	16	37,0
	Neale Jones
11	David Evans	GBR	8	13	20	41,0
	Simon Hiscocks
12	Oliver Voss	GER	16	14	12	42,0
	Jens Holscher
13	Paul Galvez	USA	10	18	17	45,0
	Guillermo Leon De La Barra
14	Julian Pearson	GBR	17	16	19	52,0
	Nick Martin
15	Chris Turner	GBR	36	10	13	59,5
	Adam Ovington
16	Axel Reinsch	GER	21	24	15	60,0
	Felix Weidling
17	Matt Balmer	AUS	19	20	23	62,0
	Derek Layfieled
18	Stephan Heim	GER	24	17	25	66,0
	Benjamin Blanasch
19	Georg Borkenstein	GER	22	22	26	70,0
	Eike Dietrich
20	Stewart Vickery	AUS	27	15	33	75,0
	Tim Withall
21	Ron Boehm	USA	25	32	24	81,0
	Pete Mohler
22	Damon Roberts	GBR	20	27	36	83,0
	Alan Roberts
23	Bettina Möller	GER	23	31	35	89,0
	Jens Kulenkampf
24	Peter Roocks	GER	35	19	37	91,0
	Ole Klingner
25	Charles Duchesne	GBR	34	28	29	91,0
	Henry Maxfield
26	Mark Schuerch	GER	36	26	32	94,5
	Edda Thiessen
27	Carmen Bernitt	GER	28	23	44	95,0
	Olli Holste
28	Lindsay Irwin	AUS	RAF	2	8	97,0
	Andrew Perry
29	James Fawcett	GBR	7	DNF	4	98,0
	George Nurton
30	Katie Nurton	GBR	6	DNF	10	103,0
	Nigel Ash
31	David Hayter	AUS	15	DNF	3	105,0
	Matt Johnstan
32	Alister Richardson	GBR	9	DNF	11	107,0
	Simon Wheeler
33	Kimball Morrison	GBR	55	21	40	116,0
	Sam Spencer
34	Daniel Theeß	GER	44	30	58	132,0
	Hannes Voigt
35	Dicken Maclean	GBR	33	DNF	22	142,0
	Sam Littlejohn
36	Stefan Ritsche	GER	32	DNF	27	146,0
	Dominik Entzminger
37	Andrew Penmann	GBR	31	DNF	34	152,0
	Tim Bastow
38	Markus Ostermair	GER	26	DNF	43	156,0
	Moritz Klein
39	Matt Larkin	GBR	41	DNF	28	156,0
	Michael Barnes
40	Sven Gräpel	GER	DNF	29	41	157,0
	Jan Reifferscheidt
41	Martin Pascal	GBR	40	DNF	30	157,0
	Robin Pascal
42	Stefan Lahmer	GER	47	25	DNF	159,0
	Götz Große
43	David Edge	GBR	38	DNF	38	163,0
	Lee Arnison
44	Björn Frasch	GER	39	DNF	42	168,0
	Oliver Peter
45	Tom Smedley	GBR	45	DNF	39	171,0
	Charles Tavner
46	Philip Strong	AUS	43	DNF	45	175,0
	Jeffre Klemm
47	Marten Lau	GER	48	DNF	48	183,0
	Michael Voß
48	Lutz Scheulen	GER	46	DNF	51	184,0
	Stephan Koch
49	Hannes Weininger	GER	51	DNF	47	185,0
	Felix Sitton
50	Kai Kahm	GER	42	DNF	57	186,0
	Gerrit Schmitt