Glenn Ashby dominates at A-Class Worlds

Auckland, New Zealand (February 13, 2014) – The third day of the A-Class World Championship saw similar conditions as yesterday, with the offshore Westerly wind just a little stronger. The start was delayed to allow for a succession of wind squalls to abate. The racing was underway as soon as the winds had dropped below the upper class limit of 22knots.

The story of the racing for the fifth and sixth contest continued to highlight the lads from Team New Zealand as they dominated the races, although Andrew Landenberger once again Gate Crashed their party.

With the scores now including one discard, Glenn Ashby solidified his position as the regatta leader, finishing the day with a first and second, avoiding the gear breakages that impeded his sailing performance on day two.

Peter Burling led the fifth race virtually from beginning to end, with the conditions remaining very much the same for the second race. Glenn Ashby inherited the lead on the first downwind leg and went on to win, with Burling breaking a centreboard, struggling to eventually finish 15th.

With wind stay in just within the upper class limits, some rigging and appendage failure became apparent on a number of boats, forcing retirement. The most catastrophic failure was main beam breakage on one boat, which led to the boat breaking in half. Another sustained a broken mast.

Significant safety incidents included one sailor whom became separated from his boats, and another whom remained connected to his boat by a trailing trapeze wire, as his craft was blown downwind for some 30 minutes.

Tomorrow (Friday) will be a rest day, with a further two races to be sailed Saturday, with one final race on Sunday.

Report by Bob Griffits

Day Three Results (Top 10 of 81; 6 races, 1 discard)
1. Glenn Ashby (AUS), 1-2-1-(82/DNF)-2-1; 7 points
2. Blair Tuke (NZL), (15)-9-3-4-3-2; 21
3. Peter Burling (NZL), 11-3-2-5-1-(15); 22
4. Andrew Landenberger (AUS), 8-4-(9)-2-4-4; 22
5. Ray Davies (NZL), 7-6-4-(15)-10-3; 30
6. Scott Anderson (AUS), 2-5-7-14-(15)-8; 36
7. Brad Collett (AUS), 3-(19)-8-8-13-6; 38
8. Mischa Heemskerk (NED), 24-(32)-5-1-7-5; 42
9. Nathan Outteridge (AUS), 12-1-17-6-6-(48); 42
10. Adam Beattie (AUS), 6-8-(20)-3-8-18; 43
Click here for full results after day three.
Click here for day three photo gallery by Paula Kopylowycz/Exploder.