Day 3 of the Noble Marine UK MUSTO Skiff Nationals 2020 saw 53 boats tackle another shifty day with the wind, once again, picking up in the final race, making for some interesting results across the day.
Race 7
Stealing an amusing quote from last nights’ Finn report – once again it was ‘as shifty as a group of politicians’.
Race 7 got away in a shifty 8-12 knots with northerners, Danny Boatman and Bill Maughan meeting in first and second. Rob Richardson found the pressure down wind and led round the leeward mark with Boatman in 2nd.
After another shifty beat, Peter Greenhalgh went left and had a good lead at the top mark with Bruce Keen climbing to 2nd on the next run. The 3rd lap saw Greenhalgh’s trapeze wire snap at the top mark with a considerable lead and he managed to limp around the windward mark with Maughan, Keen and Boatman closely behind. Maughan gybed early and left the other three to fight it out, and at the finish Keen came through to claim the win with Greenhalgh in 2nd and Boatman in 3rd.
Race 8
The Committee boat was favoured at the start and Billy Maughan frankly ‘nailed it’ and by half way up the first beat it appeared the writing was on the wall. Maughan led around the windward mark with a comfortable lead from a chasing pack including Brian Greensmith, Jono Shelley, Ian Trotter, Mike Matthews and several others.
The first run was mostly sensible and Maughan extended his lead with Shelley rounding second from Mike Matthews. Things then got a little fickle, but Maughan charged on. Mike Matthews sailed an excellent beat to round second, together with Greensmith and Trotter. Shelley and Tarboton were next round and gybe set into pressure and overhauled the pack in front, who sailed a much longer leg.
Onto the 3rd beat and Billy ‘parked up’ in little wind whilst Tarboton and Shelley managed to pick up pressure. Billy could do nothing but wait whilst they caught and passed him and rounded ahead. Down the last run Tarboton split from Shelley and it was Shelley who crossed ahead when they came back together, but on the final gybe into the line, Tarboton had a slick gybe into pressure to take a well-earned win from Shelley and (the robbed) Maughan.
Race 9
With a port biased line, Andy Rice made one of his signature pin end port tack starts to cross the entire fleet for the start of race 9. With the breeze dropping up the beat, Peter Greenhalgh made the best of the puffs to round first followed by Ben Clegg and Jono Shelley, both coming from the right. The gusts and shifts continued to make the race challenging to navigate, but Greenhalgh managed to find his way through it to extend his lead and win the race. Shelley snuck past Clegg, to grab 2nd place. With the wind suddenly increasing and shifting on the last run, it made for some wild rides into the finish with a few swimming within sight of the finish line.
Going into the final day, Greenhalgh now has a slender lead over Bruce Keen. With a lighter forecast for tomorrow, it’s all to play for in the remaining few races.
Results after day 3: https://www.brixhamyachtclub.com/new-yacht-racing-results/noble-marine-musto-skiff-nationals-2020-1
