Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/551192
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 5 AUGUST 2015 20 Sport SPORTTODAY SAILING FOOTBALL Prizes for Royal Malta Yacht Club team in Cowes DAVID Anastasi, sailing with Karl Miggiani, Tom Bonello Ghio and Zach Zammit posted one of the event's most consistent scorelines – 6, 5, 5 – to finish the opening day in third overall, as well as tak- ing the prize for Most Improved Team. "We had good crew work just like we did last year's event, when we had never previously sailed an Etchells," says Anastasi. "But this year being our second time at the event we are more confident to sail our own race and work out our own strategy to do what we know how to." The team qualified for the Royal Malta Yacht Club boat in the event by winning the Club's match rac- ing series. They then honed their skills by with twice-weekly prac- tice sessions on the club's H-Boat keelboats. In the first two races in Cowes today they correctly fig- ured the right hand side of the beat would be better for tide, which paid dividends. In the final race, which started after the tide had changed direction, they made a slow start after being shut out at the com- mittee boat, and rounded the first mark almost last, before climbing their way up through the fleet, working the windshifts in clean air on the centre left of the course. The Solent had delivered a bright and sunny day of spectacular sail- ing conditions on the opening day of the 2015 Etchells Invitational regatta for the Gertrude Cup in Cowes, UK. However, it was a day in which all but a handful of the 16 teams from 10 countries failed to post consistent results. Nevertheless, a win in the first race, followed by two second places, saw Mark Thornburrow's Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club take a clear overall lead. Jeanne-Claude Strong, of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron lies second overall, sev- en points adrift of Thornburrow. The Royal Malta Yacht Club team currently lies third, a further four points behind Strong. With only nine points separat- ing places two to eight, the trio of races scheduled for the second day is sure to see plenty more fierce competition. Race detail Principal Race Officer Phil Law- rence set three windward leeward courses in a south-easterly breeze that built from around 12 knots during the first race to gusts ex- ceeding 20 knots in the final two legs of the last race. For most of the teams that are competing for the 141 year old trophy it was a day of mixed fortunes, with their results swinging wildly between the front and back of the fleet. This was certainly the case for the defending champion, Jeremy Thorp of Antigua Yacht Club. Af- ter a disappointing seventh in the first race he fell to the back of the fleet at one stage in the second. However, in the final race Thorpe, and his crew of Mark Andrews and Olympian Mark Buckley, regained his form from last year, taking a 15-second lead on the first beat. Thorpe held this throughout the race, extending it to 23 seconds at the finish. Extremely tight racing made for an exciting and incident packed day, especially at the first windward mark, where a number of port tack boats tried to push their luck with- out success. In subsequent race many fewer competitors chanced a port tack approach. Nevertheless, numerous boats could be seen do- ing penalty turns for minor rule in- fringements throughout the day. A further six teams scored podi- um results in at least one race, but only four showed genuine consist- ency. Jan Muysken, from the Emir- ates Royal Palace Yacht Club in the United Arab Emirates, and crewed by David Bedford and Mark Lees, took third in the opening race, but slipped down to sixth and eighth in the next two, finishing the day on 17 points. Jeanne-Claude Strong, of the Roy- al Sydney Yacht Club, who recently became the first woman to win the Australasia Etchells Champion- ship, scored 5, 4, 3 to finish the day lying second with 12 points. Thornburrow's Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club team of Laurence Mead, Malcolm Page and Char- lie White showed impressively consistent form, finishing the day with only fivepoints. "This is a very good fleet with some excellent sailors and it was a great day with a building wind. Malcolm [Page] called some really good laylines for us that definitely helped us out," Thornburrow said. Page, a double Olympic gold medallist, added: "Often when you have a good day things appear to be simple – that's how our day seemed. When we had to we al- ways managed to find a way out of the pack. It also helped that we got a big reminder about the tides and laylines in the practice races yes- terday – and Charlie White [a 15 year old Laser 4.7 sailor from the local Royal Victoria Yacht Club] made sure I didn't underestimate the tide today." In a day that challenged many competitors, the Royal Malta Yacht Club team performed consistently well. Photogra- phy: Emma Louise Wyn Jones Photography Mourinho admits disagreements with Abramovich in the past at Chelsea CHELSEA manager Jose Mourin- ho's previous disagreements with owner Roman Abramovich are over and he is ready to fight for his fourth Premier League title start- ing this weekend, the Portuguese said yesterday. In his first spell at the club, start- ing in 2004, Mourinho won the league in both his first two sea- sons, only to fall out with the Rus- sian owner and leave in September 2007. He returned two years ago, fin- ishing third in his first season and then winning the title again in May. "In my first period, my personal relationship (with Abramovich) was very good (but) professionally we had some interferences and a bit of a disagreement with some ideas," Mourinho told Sky Sports News. "In this moment we don't have this problem. When I left Real Madrid to come here, Mr Abram- ovich asked me to fight for titles. "In my first season we were al- most there, in my second season we did it and in my third season if you are close, you can always do it." Chelsea are aiming to become the first team to retain the title since Manchester United in 2009 and Mourinho believes it will be the usual clubs challenging them. "The top five are the top five, and why not a club like Tottenham to get in there?" he said. "But in the end history plays a part and investment plays a part. "Chelsea (were) four times champion in the last decade. Arse- nal are a fantastic club with great players. Liverpool have amazing investment. "Man City is a squad to love and a club with two Premier Leagues in the last four or five years. And Man United with everything -- the history, the players, the invest- ment. "So everybody will be there." The champions begin their de- fence of the title with a home game against Swansea City on Saturday and their first away game is against Manchester City, last season's runners-up, on Sunday week. José Mourinho says he and Roman Abramovich had 'a bit of a disagree- ment with some ideas' in his first spell as Chelsea manager