2018 F18 Europeans in La Ballena Alegre keep benefiting of perfect wheather conditions, and Day 3 saw three more races being sailed by a South East wind steadily increasing from 10 to 18 knots, progressively shifting to the right.
After D flag being displayed ashore at 12:00, Race Committee started a series of three superb races by 01:00 pm sharp, providing kite surfers and holiday makers on the beach with a magnificent spectacle.
Bullets have been shared between the top three teams on provisional ranking, race 7 going to Booth father and son, race 8 to young Henri Demesmaeker and Morgan Wirtz, and race 9 to Iordanis Paschalidis and Kostantinos Trigonis, securing then their leadership on the event.
Actually, the Greeks are impressive, their worst score on nine sailed races being a 5th place, giving them a large margin for the races to come, specially when it is more than likely that a second discard will be given to all competitors by tomorrow evening, when twelve races would have been sailed.
The wind shifted to the right during the afternoon, and the Race Committee did changed the course accordingly. The pressure then raised among competitors, leading to a general recall at Race 9 start as a result, but second start was the good one.
At the end of the day, Paschalidis/Trigonis take the lead with 22 points, ahead from a group of three teams (Demesmaeker/Wirtz, Booth/Booth, and Burvill/Puttman) scoring respectively 34, 35, and 36 points, when Patrick Demesmaeker & Gilles Tas got 5th place with 52 points.
Wheather forecast is announcing stronger winds for the two days to come, which should definitely grant the 2018 European Title the highest value, being gained through a wide range of wind conditions.
Complete results here.
Pictures by courtesy of Marc Gonzalez Aloma @MGAloma Fotografia