Photos by Andrea Francolini / Audi
Audi Etchells Worlds Day 2: The tough get tougher and a change up in the top 10
John Bertrand and his crew of Ben Ainslie and Andrew Palfrey (AUS) led the 85-strong 2009 Audi Etchells Worlds fleet from go to whoa in the three-lap windward/leeward Race 3 today, sailed off Royal Brighton Yacht Club, the host for the series.
Bertrand increased his lead marginally at each rounding to defeat Chris Busch/Chad Hough/Chuck Sinks/David Hughes (USA) by around one minute and Stuart Childerley/Robert Elliott/Sam Richmond (UK) and Jud Smith/Mark Johnson/Nik Burfoot (AUS) followed.
The three threw everything they could at crew Bertrand in breezes that averaged 8.2 knots and peaked at 11 knots on Port Phillip today, but to no avail.
“We had a nice start mid-line and decided to play the shifts up the middle,” said Ben Ainslie this afternoon.
“We stayed a little ahead of the fleet. We had good speed and from there we got the breaks. We didn’t do or try for anything clever, we just stuck with the other guys and covered,” he said.
Jud Smith/Mark Johnson/Nik Burfoot (AUS) had a better day, with a fourth placing. Smith was sixth around the top mark the first time and moved up two places by the end, much better than their Day 1, a fourth placing lifting one of the favourites up into third place overall.
“We had better strategy about what we wanted to do today,” Smith said this evening. “We didn’t get any breaks yesterday, so we got ourselves geared up and made changes today,” he said. - Read more
John Bertrand and his crew of Ben Ainslie and Andrew Palfrey (AUS) led the 85-strong 2009 Audi Etchells Worlds fleet from go to whoa in the three-lap windward/leeward Race 3 today, sailed off Royal Brighton Yacht Club, the host for the series.
Bertrand increased his lead marginally at each rounding to defeat Chris Busch/Chad Hough/Chuck Sinks/David Hughes (USA) by around one minute and Stuart Childerley/Robert Elliott/Sam Richmond (UK) and Jud Smith/Mark Johnson/Nik Burfoot (AUS) followed.
The three threw everything they could at crew Bertrand in breezes that averaged 8.2 knots and peaked at 11 knots on Port Phillip today, but to no avail.
“We had a nice start mid-line and decided to play the shifts up the middle,” said Ben Ainslie this afternoon.
“We stayed a little ahead of the fleet. We had good speed and from there we got the breaks. We didn’t do or try for anything clever, we just stuck with the other guys and covered,” he said.
Jud Smith/Mark Johnson/Nik Burfoot (AUS) had a better day, with a fourth placing. Smith was sixth around the top mark the first time and moved up two places by the end, much better than their Day 1, a fourth placing lifting one of the favourites up into third place overall.
“We had better strategy about what we wanted to do today,” Smith said this evening. “We didn’t get any breaks yesterday, so we got ourselves geared up and made changes today,” he said. - Read more
