SB3 UK Nationals Update

'Team Maclaren - Christina Summer, Catherine Williamson, Barbara Watson, Lizzie Vickers' Around The Cans Click Here to view large photo The second day of the Volkswagen Touareg Laser SB3 National Championships was another windy affair. Waking to a northerly breeze gusting over 30 knots, the PRO called a 1-hour postponement allowing competitors to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and the wonderful view at Hayling Island Sailing Club, before tackling the Bay.Images from the days racing - http://www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=37808 Russell Peters, James Grant and Greg Wells on 'TackTick' were on top form today winning 3 of the 4 races sailed. The all-woman crew on 'Team Maclaren' gained a considerable lead over the rest of the fleet in the third race but were hunted down by 'tacktick' who stole the win from them close to the finish.Glenn Bourke’s 'Musto' continued to do consistently well, with 4, 2, 4, 4. Paul Lovejoy, Rob and Peter Greenhalgh and Sally Wilson on 'Badger Racing' started the day brilliantly with a second place in the first race and a bullet in the second. Having gained a third in the final race they are currently sitting in third place overall.Lawrie Smith’s disasters of yesterday were a distant memory as he Ozzie Stewart and Rob Cruikshank hit the water this morning in 'Alfie'. They also proved that they have not lost their touch posting 6-3-7-10, to be sitting fourth overall going into the penultimate day.After gear failure and running aground after racing yesterday, the current European Champion, Geoff Carveth sailed well today to place fifth overall.With one discard coming into effect today and potentially another eight races to sail, the top ten positions are by no means secure. Peters and Bourke have pulled ahead of the pack with 21 points each, but we are still only at the mid-way stage, with two days to go.Sinking feeling for Lawrie Smith On the first day Lawrie Smith had a major port starboard collision in the third race (Lawrie was on port) and had a huge gaping hole. He managed to limp back to the entrance of Chichester Harbour before he had to abandon ship and his SB3 sank with just the tip of the mast being visible.His boat drifted three miles before it was recovered by Frank in Hayling Rescue. It finally arrived back at the sailing club at 8.30pm whisked into the Scruiteneers shed and worked on by some incredible boat builders overnight with the final polish going on just as the fleet were going out for their second days racing.The other boat that spent the night in the scruiteneers shed was Geoff Carveth's whose SB3, for the second time in three days, had found it's way onto the Winner Bank when returning from the race track and decided that his keel needed some TLC.Full results at: http://www.hisc.co.uk/openresults07/sb3_nats_2007.htmImages from the days racing - http://www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=37808