The 135 sailors including Bermuda pair Benn Smith and Campbell Patton waited patiently on Sunday for consistent breeze by making the most of their time to work on their craft and connect with fellow athletes during a lengthy postponement. As conditions improved in the afternoon, all three Laser fleets completed one race each on Day 3 at the 2021 West Marine US Open Sailing Series – Fort Lauderdale.
Shifty winds made racing a challenge in the late morning and early afternoon hours. Later in the afternoon winds picked up reaching 8 to 12 knots with puffy and shifty gusts and relatively flat seas. Smith started the day in 23rd place with 65 points, he would have a strong finish of 6th in the days only race to move up to 19th place with 71 points.
Patton fell from 17th place to 23rd after finishing the day’s race in 28th place he now has 84 points.
Both sailors are trying to qualify for the Men’s Laser World’s Championship, with the top sailor advancing to represent the flag.
