| MARBLEHEAD, MA-(26-9-2002) No rain, cloudy skies, wind out of the east northeast, velocity 13-18 knots, seas are still choppy. Today's racing was held in excellent sailing conditions, but light on the sunblock and wind chill became noticeable by the second race.
The fleet continued to be aggressive at the starting line, triggering two general recalls before getting a clean start for the first race of the day.
In Race 5, Mitch Booth/Herbert Dercksen played the upwind leg right and showed great speed, taking an early lead that they held throughout the race. Championship leaders Darren Bundock/John Forbes took second place and Olivier Backes/Laurent Voiron took third. These three teams are showing great consistency and are starting to separate from the rest of the fleet in the Championship scoring. Two team from Great Britain found their form in Race 5 as Leigh McMillan/Mark Bulkeley took fourth place and Hugh Styles/Adam May took fifth place.
Race 6 got underway in slightly freshened and cooler breeze. While the fleet had the breeze figured out, the afternoon incoming tide became a factor at the top of the right side of the course. Most boats coming in from the right on the first upwind leg found that the tide caused them to overstand the windward mark. The fleet adjusted quickly and stayed under the starboard tack layline on the second and third windward legs, approaching it late on port tack.
Roman Hagara/Hans-Peter Steinacher took the win in Race 6. Mitch Booth/Herbert Dercksen were right behind in second place, and the relentlessly consistent team of Olivier Backes/Laurent Voiron took third place. The Argentinean team of Santiago Lange/Carlos Espinola grabbed fourth place, while the Championship leaders Darren Bundock/John Forbes took fifth and held their overall lead.
Booth/Dercksen won the day with a first and a second, which put them into a tie with Backes/Voiron. Booth/Dercksen had the edge in breaking the tie, and stand in second place overall. Backes/Voiron stand third overall.
At the end of 6 Races (with 1 discard), the Top 10 are:
1. BUNDOCK / FORBES, 11 points
2. BOOTH / DERCKSEN, 14 points
3. BACKES / VOIRON, 14 points
4. HAGARA / STEINACHER, 25 points
5. STRANDBERG / MATTSON, 36 points
6. REVIL / GUILLEMETTE, 39 points
7. LANGE / ESPINOLA, 43 points
8. KARSENBARG / HEEMSKERK, 44 points
9. KIRILYUK / USHKOV, 51 points
10. McMILLAN / BULKELEY, 57 points
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