Ireland: On Day 2 of the 505 Pre-Worlds at Crosshaven in Cork, the final three races of the six-race series and there was a mighty battle for the title, but in the end, it went to Nathan Batchelor and Sam Pascoe from Great Britain.
Conditions were the same as yesterday. The PRO held the fleet ashore as the prevailing nor-wester was expected to die and spin to the south or south-west. Expectations were met and the fleet headed out into a light sea breeze.
Racing was two windward leeward courses of two laps and the third added a triangle. The first race was set at 190 degrees with the breeze around 6-8kts. Conditions weren’t stable, with the breeze phasing up to 20-30 degrees early on.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a great race for the gate boat. Local, Alex Barry, who is head of the organising committee for this event and sailing with Richie Leonard, had the duties and suffered. The boats that worked the middle seemed to benefit most. The star of the show was Stuart McNay and Caleb Paine. They won just in front of yesterday’s stars, Nathan Batchelor and Sam Paine.
Race two produced a big swing to the right just as the race started. A gate start resulted in the pathfinder being knocked into the fleet, causing a very rare abandonment of a race. The course was reset to 220 and we were underway again.
Ian Pinnell and Carl Smit were the gate. They too, received no love. Again, the stars of the show were McNay and Paine, winning in the light phasing conditions. Right behind them were Morgan Pinckney and Garrett Brown.
Pinckney is an 18-year-old and the second youngest in the fleet and has been sailing in Long Beach with Howie Hamlin and friends learning the ropes quickly. He and Garrett look to have the goods, matching at the front of a quality fleet.
The third boat was Batchelor and Pascoe (7 points after five races with a drop), setting up a great battle for the series with McNay and Paine (9 points), as we go into the last race.
Finally in Race 3, the gate boat was given some love. Andy Beeckman and Reeve Dunne had the duties and they continued hard to the right to create a sizeable lead at the top mark. The two continued to work the right on the next beat, extending with good pace.
Meanwhile, McNay and Paine were one place in front of Batchelor and Pascoe in third and fourth respectively. At the end, the two teams swapped positions, meaning Batchelor and Pascoe were the winners of the Pre-Worlds.
Tomorrow is a lay day, giving sailors time to complete their final preparations. Racing for the World Championships starts Monday, with conditions looking to be extremely light until Thursday. If so, maybe it will be one of the two boats who stood out at the Pre-Worlds to take the prize.
Full results and all information: http://www.int505.org/2022-world-championship-cork/
