Rob Greenhalgh got his title defence off to a solid start during yesterday’s opening two races of the MS Amlin International Moth Regatta in the Great Sound.
The British sailor posted a third and first to trail early leader Rory Fitzpatrick, of Ireland, by a solitary point at the top of the standings.
A further five-points adrift in third is Italy’s Stefano Rizzi.
Yesterday’s racing was held in light 4-8 knot breezes, a far cry from the strong and gusty winds that forced postponement of the opening races of the regatta the previous day.
“The conditions were really patchy,” Greenhalgh said. “I could have won the first race, was leading in it, but then fell off the foils.”
Fitzpatrick, who had a first and second, said: “It was marginal conditions today for foiling, but it went well.
“The wind was so patchy that it really paid to stay in the puffs because you could stay on your foils.”
James Doughty led the local leaderboard after day one and is 20th overall.
“I’ve only been sailing the boat for a year now but was mostly pleased with today,” Doughty, who posted a nineteenth and 28th, said.
“I got off the start line well but had trouble staying on the foils in the patchy winds.”
Doughty is competing this week with a view to the 2018 Moth World Championship, which Bermuda will host.
“The worlds is the candy at the end of the stick for sailors like me and Christian Luthi and Ben Paton,” he said. “We’re all looking forward to it.
“We don’t have a big fleet here so a regatta like this is good for us to improve our skill. If I can improve my boat handling in windy conditions, then this will be a good regatta for me.”
Also among this year’s fleet of 52 are women’s sailors Josie Gliddon, of England, and Ireland’s Annalise Murphy.
Gliddon, who has only sailed the Moth for a year, sits in 22nd while Murphy, who won an Olympic silver medal in the single-handed Laser Radial, is a further eight spots adrift in 30th.
“I don’t like it when I have to work hard to get on the foils,” Murphy said. “I sail the Laser to stay on the hull.”
The regatta, hosted by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Clubs, runs until Friday.
