Cathedral Eye Clinic RS Elite Nationals at Strangford Lough Yacht Club - Day 3

Cathedral Eye Clinic RS Elite Nationals at Strangford Lough Day 1 © Kerry, Strangford Lough Yacht Club

The leader board at the end of the third day of the Cathedral Eye Clinic RS Elite National Championship, held at Strangford Lough Yacht Club, looks very similar to yesterday's. Russell Peters' Riff Raff, RS Elite 20, remains in first place and leads second placed Tom Hewitson's Soak Therapy, RS Elite 100 by three points (13 points to 16).

With nine races sailed. Stephen Polly's Storm, RS Elite 37, on 23 points remains in third place overall and is first Irish boat. Michael Browne's The Love Bug, RS Elite 53, on 28 points is fourth overall and second Irish boat. James Yearsley's Urafiki, RS Elite 92, and Elliot Caldwell's Eclipse, RS Elite 44 are fifth and sixth respectively. These boats are now separated by four points, having been tied on day two.

Individual race winners were Warren Polly's Toucan, RS Elite 64, which won the first race of the day, having a particularly good day and moving from eleventh overall on day two to seventh on day three, despite being black flagged on the third race of the day. The second race was won by Soak Therapy and the third by Riff Raff. The fourth was won by The Love Bug which moved into the lead from a mid-fleet position by passing a pladdy (a local name for an islet or bank in Strangford Lough) on the opposite side from the rest of the fleet and catching a lucky windshift which allowed them to lay the windward mark in first position.

Winds were mainly from a south-westerly direction and tended to strengthen throughout the day. There were some major shifts which caused the race team some difficulty in getting the last two races away. There were several postponements and two boats were black flagged in the third race.

A novel feature of the day was an eye health testing session provided by the sponsor, Cathedral Eye Clinic a Belfast based eye health company, which tested several of the competitors before they went afloat.

Strangford Lough Yacht Club is hosting the class dinner on the third evening. A single race is scheduled for the final day and as usual in the RS Elite fleet the result is going to the wire with the tenth and final race deciding the championship.

Results after Day 3: