13 June 2025
With so much to play for, and a heavy pin bias on the line, it was little surprise to see a General Recall in the first race of the day for the RS Elite Class. After a reset of the starting procedure, but this time under code flag ‘U’ prohibiting any incursion over the line in the final minute, the fleet crept up the shoreline for the most favourable tide and slightly more pressure. At the top mark it was a new name leading the fleet with Pete Copsey, sailing ‘The Doctor’ who led from Barry Parkin & David Nicholls in ‘Sapphire.’ After three race wins yesterday, all eyes were on Joe Llewellyn to seal the title and in race six he was well up amongst the top three. But in perhaps the most decisive and cruel of calls, both Llewellyn and Copsey were handed a U flag disqualification after finishing the race, the ramifications of which are seismic in the overall standings. Barry Parkin won race six whilst Ossie Stewart took out race seven in fine style leading from start to finish. However, at the top of the standings Russell Peters sailing ‘Riff Raff’ holds a countback lead after a seventh and ninth place today, tied on points with Parkin & Nicholls, with Stewart in third just four points behind and Llewellyn almost 10 points adrift from the leaders after being forced to carry the 21 points of the disqualification on his scorecard. For the top three, the final day of action on Saturday will be the decider and it’s all set to go to the wire for the ultra-competitive RS Elite National Championships.