It was a frustrating first day for Sophie Platts.
GUERNSEY sailing star Sophie Platts was undone by light winds as the Laser Radial World Championships got under way in Takapuna Bay, New Zealand.
The constant 8-10 knots of breeze from a north-easterly direction meant that the race committee had no difficulty in providing the two planned races, but these lighter than expected winds left Platts unhappy in 19th position and hoping for stronger breezes on day two.
Spring tides challenged many of the sailors, particularly at the starts, where many competitors picked up starting penalties for being over the line. The youth men’s fleet were the worst hit with 17 black flag penalties in the second race of the day. New Zealand top the leaderboard in both the youth men’s and youth women’s fleets.
In the former, Great Britain’s Jack Spencer managed two fifth places and is now laying ninth overall. Martin Evans is in 17th place and Jack Cornthwaite, one of the many sailors who were black flagged in the second race, is now in 73rd.
But their female GB counterparts made a strong start with Chloe Martin finishing the opening day fourth overall, Melissa Addy sixth, Hannah Diamond seventh and Platts in 19th.
Of those, Martin put in a remarkable performance in the second race where she rounded the windward mark in about 25th place and two legs later she had worked her way into third.
Platts was frustrated with her day.
Although she had two excellent starts, she lost out in the downwind sections of both races through choosing the wrong leeward gate in one race and the side with less wind pressure in the other.
Day two’s forecast is unlikely to provide more wind but there is a chance that the expected clearer skies could produce a sea breeze by the time racing starts at 11am.
Article posted on 26th March, 2008 - 2.29pm
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