Britain and Australia tied after Day 4 of Flying Fifteen Worlds

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7:55 AM Tue 13 Jan 2009 GMT

'Alderson/Mcaullay(AUS) to leeward finish Race 6, with the Britiah pair of Hart/Rigg to windward in second place on Day 4, 2009 World Flying Fifteen Championships, Port Philip, Melbourne' Richard Gladwell Click Here to view large photo

A British and Australian crew are tied at the top of the points table after the penultimate day of racing in the Flying Fifteen World Championships.

Grant Alderson/Dean Mcaullay (AUS) and Barry Parkin/Tim Hall (GBR) are locked up on 18pts after a fickle day's racing.

For the first time in the regatta the wind came from an offshore direction around 335 degrees, which meant the competitors enjoyed hot temperatures and a breeze that varied considerably in strength and direction.

Towards the end of the last run the sea breeze which had been fighting to come in all day, eventually made its presence felt, blowing for around 15 minutes, and turning the race on its ear as the leaders beat for the final hundred metres of the run, and then reached for the first few hundred metres of the beat.

At one point there was the rare sight of competitors heading in one direction under spinnaker, another sailing the reciprocal course, also under spinnaker, while 50 metres to leeward another was headed in the same direction sailing hard on the wind.

Joint leaders, Parking and Hall (GBR) try and coax the maximum from the dying land breeze on Day 4, of the 2009 World Flying Fifteen Championships, Port Philip, Melbourne - Richard Gladwell Click Here to view large photo

Racing got underway after two attempts at starting with the Black Flag once again being imposed. Again it was the current Australian champion crew of Grant Alderson and Dean Mcaullay who made the initial running hotly pursued by the British, with some new crews making what proved to be a guest appearance at the top of the fleet.

As the race progressed the class of the top competitors again showed through with Barry Parkin and Tim Hall (GBR) closing into second place. However then the Port Philip breezes came into play as Parkin followed Alderson out to the eastern side of the course and another group played the west.

For the rest of the race it should have been a game of minimizing losses rather than making huge gains. But the reality was that there were some huge gains made and losses suffered, as the top placings were were turned inside out and then right side in, time and time again.

The rare sight of a Flying Fifteen apparently sailing with a spinnaker to windward on Day 4, 2009 World Flying Fifteen Championships, Port Philip, Melbourne - Richard Gladwell Click Here to view large photo

Alderson and Mcaullay played the nuances of the breeze magnificently, with some very good positioning on the race course, and eased away for their second consecutive win of the series.

Mike Hart and Richard Rigg (GBR) sailed well, as they generally have all series, to finish second. But for a disqualification in Race 3, costing them a race win they would have been sitting on just 9pts, now, a clear serioes leader and only having to finish in the top ten in the final race to take the world title.

Third overall is another British crew Steve Goacher and Phil Evans, who finished 16th today, their worst place and discard. They are eight points astern of the leading pair and will have to sail outstandingly to threaten for the world championship which will be decided on Wednesday or Thirsday, whenever the final race is sailed.

New Zealand crews hold fourth and fifth places overall.

2009 Flying Fifteen World Championships - Open Fleet

Sail	Yacht	Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total	Standing
3833	No Bull	Grant Alderson	2	2	12	[12]	1	1	18	1
3911	****	Barry Parkin	[6]	1	5	3	4	5	18	1
3821	Tba	Steve Goacher	1	3	13	6	3	[16]	26	3
3739	Ffortune	Aaron Goodmanson	5	6	[11]	7	6	8	32	4
3781	16	David Tucker	15	5	1	5	11	[33]	37	5
3840	Ffrenetic	Murray Gilbert	11	[17]	3	4	16	4	38	6
3905	Secret Ingredient X	David McKee	9	[18]	8	8	5	11	41	7
3917	Art Gekko	Mike Hart	3	36	[81]	1	2	2	44	8
3931	N/a	Alan Bax	8	4	[40]	2	9	23	46	9
3923	Ff	Charles Apthorp	4	7	[81]	34	14	3	62	10
3823	Ffoto Finish	Brett Willcock	10	15	[21]	15	8	14	62	10
3881	I'd Swap This For A Bundy	Adam Hawkins	7	[23]	10	16	19	10	62	10
3661	Fizz	Gavin Dagley	[43]	9	16	18	12	9	64	13
3799	One Under	Veronica Falat	[23]	20	2	19	22	12	75	14
3832	Blowffish	Craig Coulan	[58]	10	4	23	36	21	94	15
3670	Escalator	Graeme Lillingston	29	16	14	11	25	[38]	95	16
3718	Fully Active Board	Ashley Smith	14	22	[48]	10	33	18	97	17
3910	Yes	Brad Sheridan	25	[46]	26	13	26	7	97	17
3914	Defying Gravity	Adrian Tattersall	20	42	[42]	20	13	15	110	19
3909	Skandia	Gavin Gourley	12	25	[45]	42	10	26	115	20
3796	Ffatigaos	Javier Chac?rtegui	21	[81]	35	21	21	19	117	21
3717	Glamour Buoys	Greg Leversuch	16	[65]	28	41	15	17	117	21
3903	Elise	Ian Cleaver	36	21	19	[43]	29	13	118	23
3662	Wings	John Tracey	28	12	36	[39]	23	22	121	24
3641	F'feckin'Eegit	Andy Martin	22	31	15	[47]	27	30	125	25
3525	Freodoctor	Doug Cooksey	42	[51]	6	28	30	24	130	26
3743	Spot The Difference	Greg Tonnison	33	34	34	14	17	[50]	132	27
3572	Relience 17	Hamish Carnachan	18	[49]	33	37	24	25	137	28
3754	Business	Ian Morley	[54]	30	7	30	35	36	138	29
3907	Foreign Affair	Phil Quinn	[56]	29	23	27	7	52	138	29
3619	Affrodisiac	Ron Packer	27	28	[39]	22	31	32	140	31
3851	Ffuk	Ian Linder	19	38	[51]	32	32	20	141	32
3883	Boat	John Lavery	38	11	9	24	[81]	61	143	33
3880	Where The Bloody Hell Are You	Craig Rainey	30	[40]	18	31	34	31	144	34
3611	Smooth & Stoned	Steve Douthawaite	37	8	20	51	40	[65]	156	35
3890	If Only.....	Geoff Bayliss	13	35	29	[54]	42	39	158	36
3930	Aussie Falcon	Dale Collings	41	[81]	27	44	41	6	159	37
3818	Ffizzy	Gill Browning	44	13	[81]	46	38	29	170	38
3800	Saltheart	Rupert Leslie	35	19	[63]	26	53	37	170	38
3797	Changing Lanes	David Swan	49	14	31	36	[56]	44	174	40
3928	Got any lettuce?	Howard Green	26	33	[81]	33	20	64	176	41
3897	Kooigjug	Ken Dumpleton	32	32	32	[81]	55	28	179	42
3541	Snafler	Richard Guy	59	37	24	17	[81]	45	182	43
3879	Aussie Way	Kim Peaker	47	26	47	29	[48]	34	183	44
3062	Good Thing	David Meldrum	45	54	22	25	[58]	40	186	45
3861	Supertoy Plays On	Brian Carroll	31	45	44	38	28	[48]	186	45
3822	Ruffians	John Crosby	[81]	56	17	58	44	27	202	47
3527	Just Looking	Peter Milne	17	64	46	[81]	18	57	202	47
3786	Sans Culottes	Christopher Harris	51	43	25	45	[67]	42	206	49
3835	Sucking Feagulls	Andy Goddard	46	24	81	9	[81]	49	209	50
3854	Relience Ffenty Ffoo	William Shand	50	52	30	40	[63]	43	215	51
3095	Fiddle-de-dee	Adam Semple	[53]	27	50	48	46	51	222	52
3878	Ffast Lane 2	John Wilson	40	[53]	37	52	50	47	226	53
3259	Celtic Pride	Chris Hall	48	57	43	[60]	47	35	230	54
3775	Absolutely Ffabulous	Philippa Packer	[81]	39	53	49	37	62	240	55
3169	Skinffull	Robert Anderson	52	55	[55]	50	43	41	241	56
3814	Comited to conffusion	John Wallace	24	66	57	55	45	[66]	247	57
3774	Rollercoaster	Tom Murphy	39	[62]	59	57	39	53	247	57
3616	Ffunnily Enuff	Stephen Leiceter	[64]	44	41	62	57	46	250	59
3087	Iff	Sally Garrett	55	48	38	[61]	54	56	251	60
3902	Blue Flame	Peter Hogg	34	61	54	[64]	51	54	254	61
3815	Passing Wind	Athol King	57	59	60	35	60	[69]	271	62
3893	Ffrig It	Peter Lawson	62	41	[81]	56	49	67	275	63
3709	Ghost Magic	ronald walker	60	58	52	[69]	61	59	290	64
3767	Bubbles	Ken Bubb	[81]	63	62	53	52	63	293	65
3088	Ffirst Offspring	Fred Price	63	47	68	[74]	62	70	310	66
3063	Stress Free Zone	Kevin Griffiths	65	[72]	56	59	65	68	313	67
3846	Demon 3	Alan Carson	61	70	64	63	[81]	60	318	68
2823	Diffino	Murray Latham	[81]	50	61	71	71	74	327	69
3859	Gannin Tappy Lappy	Michael Clark	[71]	69	69	70	64	55	327	69
3761	Grumpy Old Woman	John Hassen	68	67	58	68	69	[71]	330	71
3745	Splash	Tom Ruut	67	68	49	65	81	[81]	330	71
2825	Happy Days	Jennifer Sims	70	[75]	74	67	70	58	339	73
3722	Noisy Forefather	Joseph Nelson	69	71	65	66	73	[76]	344	74
3876	Kerfuffle	Carlyon Knight-Evans	81	60	66	73	[81]	72	352	75
3836	Effeffex	Peter Bradford	[81]	77	67	75	59	75	353	76
3887	Affa	Robert Chaffe	74	73	73	[76]	66	73	359	77
3442	Lean & Mean	Doug Bell	[81]	74	71	72	68	77	362	78
3012	Sunday Session	Jennifer Richardson	66	78	70	77	72	[81]	363	79
3309	Clockwork V11	Denis Buckley	72	76	72	78	74	[81]	372	80