Tom King stamped his name on Sydney back in September 2000 and it seems like he intends doing it again in 2012 as he steered his Iron Lotus team to overall lead on day three of the 2012 Etchells World Championship going on in Australia.
Bermuda’s Tim Patton remained in 40th place, while Mark Watson fell ten places from 44th to 54th.
Australian skipper King and crew of Ivan Wheen, David Edwards and Owen McMahon have delivered consistent results in the first four races of the championship with a second, sixth, third and second. Many an expert sailor will argue that the pathway to success is just such a scorecard.
Into second place overall comes the Roulette team of USA, skipper Jud Smith and Australian crew of Mark Johnson and Nik Burfoot. After a rollercoaster first race day, then no racing yesterday, Smith grabbed a confident first in race one of today and then a third in the shifty second race. His scorecard reads 3rd, 19th, 1st and 3rd.
Into third overall is Australian Graeme Taylor with crew Steve Jarvin and Grant Simmer. Taylor seemed to have struggled with the heavier breeze today after finishing in 12th and then 10th place. This has given him total points of 27, just one behind Smith. With lighter breezes expected tomorrow, Taylor will be back on pace as long as he can handle the pressure on the start line.
The weather was far more kindly today for the 74-boat fleet contesting the Etchells World Championship 2012. The sea had calmed considerably and the wind was in the range that suited small boat, offshore racing.
Patton finished the first race of the day in 36th, then he and his crew finished 35th in the second race for a total of 156 points. Meanwhile Watson and his crew finished the first race in 41st and the second race finished 65th to end the day with 196 points.
