Americans take charge

Steve Sleight reports on the second day of the Sonar Worlds

The Sonar World Championship got back on schedule on Tuesday as the race committee ran three races in perfect conditions. The Solent smiled on the fleet with sunshine and a south-westerly between 15 and 20 knots. 

American sailor, Dave Franzel from Boston, chalked up his another fine win in the first race of the day after winning race one on Monday. He followed that with a fourth in the second race then wobbled slightly in the third race as he posted a seventh. Nevertheless, Franzel ended the day leading overall ahead of another American, Peter Galloway with the top British boat, Billy, in third.

The six visiting American teams are showing their skills, occupying four of the top six places but there are still five more races left for the British and European boats to get on terms.

Although Franzel is looking strong, so too is current World Champion Steve Shepstone whose record of a first, second, and third is spoilt only by the OCS he picked up in the first race on Monday. Once the discard comes into play in race six, he could become a major contender for the lead.

After Billy, the next British boat is We're Here, currently in fifth place overall. We're Here is the only boat sailing with five crew, with Anna Bailey joining her uncle and aunt, Graham and Julia, as part of the crew, and enjoying time off school to compete in this World Championship.

Another local boat, Jenny, sailed by 1996 Paralympic Gold Medallist and current National Champion, Andy Cassell had a poor day today with an eighth and two twelfth places, which dropped them down the ranking to seventh overall.

In one race Andy Cassell was thrown violently into the middle of the cockpit when the spinnaker sheet jammed as the sail was hoisted, causing the boat to broach. Cassell looked stunned as he lay on his back while the crew attempted to steer and sort out the spinnaker, but he managed to finish the race.

Racing continues on Wednesday with two more races scheduled.

The sponsors of the 2005 Sonar World Championship are: Isle of Wight Council, Sonar Manufacturing, Andrew Cassell Foundation, Azure Dragon Marine Sculptures, and Cowes Online.

			Total	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Spring USA 369	David Franzel	13	1	1	4	7
		Todd Cooper, Wade Edwards, Gene Hinkel
2	Fast Forward USA 701	Peter Galloway	14	4	7	1	2
		Jim Linville, Paul Steinborn, Ched Proetor
3	Billy GBR 719	Paul Bowen	17	6	5	3	3
		Duncan Bates, Shaun Kellett, Dave Thompson
4	Troll USA 544	Greg Anthony	20	5	4	7	4
		Rick Myers, Tony Allott, Brian Hayes
5	We're Here GBR 720	Graham Bailey	22	2	2	9	9
		Julia Bailey, Dave Ross, Duncan Grindley, Anna Bailey
6	Nefarious USA 384	Steve Shepstone	32	26	3	2	1
		Tom kinney, Peter Wilson, Michael Loeb
7	Jenny GBR 737	Andy Cassell	35	3	8	12	12
		Rudy Jurg, Henry Bagnell, Simon Clarke
8	El Toro GBR 602	Paul Hayden	38	19	6	8	5
		Ian Hayden, Mark Watson, Jane Bonser
9	Bertie GBR 724	Simon Barter	43	13	13	6	11
		Donald Wilks, James Barter, Alistair Barter
10	Your Mother USA 1	Eric Snavely	44	9	15	10	10
		Rick Sullivan, Donna Faust, Jeff Sullivan
11	For Sale USA 100	Skip Shumway	47	26	10	5	6
		Doug Faust, Tom Rufkin, Shane Omley
12	Echo GBR 698	John McIntosh	48	18	11	11	8
		Roger Boxall, Mark Dyer, Barry Byham
13	Scintillate GBR 700	Laurie Gustar	50	7	9	18	16
		Steve Cole, Paul Airey, Ian Moore
14	Hibiscus AUS 611	Jervis Tilly	53	8	14	13	18
		Pete Tindale, Kate Tindale, Andrew Dallas
15	Chimera GBR 702	John Robertson	57	10	18	16	13
		Hannah Stodel, Stephen Thomas, John Waite
16	Tamar ISR 1000	Avi Tzur	58	12	16	15	15
		Baruch Persman, Shany Bachar, Alon Dagan, Sami Dahan
17	Shellie ISR 1	Droh Cohen	66	26	12	14	14
		Arnon Efrati, Beni Yexler, Yoram Gafni
18	Wombat 2 GBR 608	Ewan Mackay	70	14	20	17	19
		Dave Jones, Emma Jones, Jean Mackay
19	Halfing A Laugh GBR 696	Arthur Wylie	72	15	21	19	17
		John Beaty, Jamie Dobson, Angus Smart
20	Eiribh IRL 717	Sean Cullinan	73	16	17	20	20
		Nick Gibbon, Gary Fryer, Will Beckingham
21	Wisconsin ISR 13	Shimon Ben Yakov	79	17	19	22	21
		Yusef Barda, Alon Solomon, Sabi Almuzlino
22	Sighaoith IRL 697	Paul McCarthy	80	11	22	21	26
		Paul Ryan, Patrick Keily, Trevor Draper
23	Sinful GBR 699	Kenny Laird	91	20	26	23	22
		Chris Girling, Kevin Berry, Andy Parr
24	Josh GBR 535	Tony Flinn	92	22	23	24	23
		Lucy Hodges, Ian Shirra, Johnny Cormack
25	Fiscal GBR 735	Emma Atkinson-Willes	94	21	24	25	24
		Bridget Forster, Vic Gregory, Jenny Deacon