Tornado Worlds At Takapuna Beach
The Tornado World Championships are being held this week at Takapuna Beach in New Zealand and Cornish interest is centred on Andy Walsh and Tom Phipps and their crews in the 51-boat fleet.
Walsh and his crew Ed Barney after 4 races have had their usual maddeningly inconsistent regatta. On the opening day they posted a 5th and a 4th to lie in 3rd place overall and look well placed for a cracking event.
The pair were well up with overnight leaders the Germans Gaebler and Struckman and Dutch crew of Booth and Nieuwenhuis but the following day Walsh and Barney posted a 21st and 28th to add some 49 points to their overnight total.
In contrast whilst not winning either of the two races both the Germans and Dutch crews posted top 10 finishes to open up a 35 point plus differential lead over Andy and Ed.
Consistency and consolidation the key to winning an international regatta and something Andy and Ed maddeningly seem to lack just when they seem in a strong position to win a major event.
I accept there has been no discard yet in the 10 race series but the UK pair have dropped from 3rd to 14th overall and although it is barely halfway through the event the chances of a podium finish are remote.
The only consolation is that despite languishing in 14th the pair are leading the UK challenge as none of the other leading UK crews have fared any better.
Tom Phipps and his crew Marcus Lynch as one of the junior UK crews in New Zealand are having a roller coaster of an event and started with some gear failure in Race 1 to finish 43rd and have to retire from Race 2 to fix the problem.
On the following day whilst leading Race 3 the pair capsized to finish 22nd and then followed up with a 19th in Race 4 to lie 35th overall.
Full results next week.
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