Oceanic & Australian Formula Windsurfing Championships – Day 3

Shifty and difficult to predict winds mark day three of the 2010 Oceanic & Australian Formula Windsurfing Championships bringing another four races.

 

Day 3 kicked off with plenty of sun and heat again, but no wind for the 12.30pm scheduled start. After an extended delay of an hour the sailors were finally sent to the water in shifty light 10-12 knot breezes, before the wind decided to crank to 25-30 knots for the afternoon with no warning leaving plenty of sailors struggling with their bigger rigs.
Event leader Wilhelm Schurmann (Starboard/Neilpryde) didn’t seem troubled today despite a number of Australians beating him to the top mark in the early stages of the races. Schurmann took another four bullets today to bring his score to 8 points overall; an almost unbeatable lead.
Defending champion and second place overall Sean O’Brien (Gaastra/Point 7) had a difficult day today failing to make the first start this morning after some gear failures however consolidated his tardiness with a solid 2nd behind Schurmann in Race 2. After the lunch break he fought off Brett Morris (Starboard/Neilpryde) and Sam Parker (Starboard/Neilpryde) in Race 3 to take another 2nd before three horrendous crashes in Race 4 in the strong winds put him back to 6th in the final race today.
Parker was on target today taking a 2nd and 3rd to close the gap on O’Brien to 5 points. Morris showed some late form taking it up to Schurmann in the final race to nail a solid 2nd bringing him in to the Top 5 in 4th overall.

 

The Windsurf’n’Snow Ladies SUP (stand-up paddle) Race kicked off today with a 400m time-trial along the edge of Jimmy’s Beach. Wifes and girlfriends of the sailors fought to record the fastest times using the Naish SUP boards supplied by Windsurf’n’Snow. The contest continues tomorrow with the fastest lady up for a Blackberry Smartphone as the prize.
A lighter forecast tomorrow should change the results up a little with the more dominant light-wind sailors given an opportunity for some last minute scores. We’ll see what tomorrow brings in the morning.

Here are the results after 3 days (click on to enlarge):

 

 

Text © Sean O’Brien, WINDSURFING NSW

Oceanic & Australian Formula Windsurfing Championships – Day 3, 9.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating