White Mischief retains lead

At Alfa Romeo Sigma Europeans

More windy weather forced the postponement of the racing programme at the Alfa Romeo Sigma European Championships at Dun Laoghaire (Dublin Bay, Ireland) but not before race seven of the series was completed in gale force winds.

Local skipper Tim Goodbody on White Mischief retained his overall lead thanks to a second place and holds a nine point advantage over three runner-up boats in contention.

Alan Milton's Pepsi has been gaining ground all week and now lies second overall thanks to a win in this morning's race. Kevin Aitken's White Tub and Ben Richard' s Lucent are all separated by single digit points and could yet overcome Goodbody's lead in a showdown finale.

Other Irish boats set to feature in the top ten include Paddy Varian's Rupert and newcomer John O'Connor on Showtime though Neil Love's War Dance may miss the front pack carrying maximum points for a collision incident on Monday. The Silver fleet is led by Mark Byrne and Ted O'Sullivan's Powder Monkey.

Winds gusting to 47 knots and two man-overboard incidents confirmed Principal Race Officer Jack Roy's decision to abandon for the day and a second race will be included in tomorrow's schedule.

Overall results after seven races:

1 White Mischief (T Goodbody);
2 Pepsi (A Milton);
3 The White Tub (K Aitken);
4 Lucent (B Richards);
5 Rupert
(Lovegrove & Varian);
All results provisional ­ subject to protests