Light breezes slow windsurfers

Press, 22 January 1988, Page 13

Light breezes slow windsurfers

The first day of the Rheineck national windsurfing series at Lake Ellesmere got away to an uneventful start yesterday with minimum winds giving competitors little chance for fast times. Murray Bright showed others how to take advantage of the light conditions and powered away to a convincing win in the first round of the competition. His lead at the end of the open section’s course was more than the distance between the last two markers.

Behind him, the rest of the open competitions were well grouped, with Andrew Mitchell leading the remainder, followed by Shayne Bright, Bruce Kendall and Mark Hursthouse.

In the production class, it was the lightweights who benefited from the light winds, with Wayne Meadows taking the honours in the first round. Race officials had to wait until 3 p.m. until the wind blew at the minimum 13 knots before racing could begin. Even

then, conditions remained marginal and wind speed rarely gusted over 15 knots. Fifty-six windsurfers took to the course which doubled as the course for the New Zealand funboard champs. It is the second venue of the five-venue Rheineck boardriding series, and racing continues until Sunday. Because of the variable winds at the Lakeside Domain on Lake Ellesmere, the competition has a minimum of four rounds

to be sailed. It is hoped at least three rounds for each class can be sailed each day until Sunday. The first round of the first day resulted: Open class: Murray Bright 1, Andrew Mitchell 2, Shayne Bright 3, Bruce Kendall 4, Mark Hursthouse 5. Production class: Wayne Meadows 1, Dean Metson 2, Terry Vernon 3 Nigel Bail 4, Mark Ashcroft 5. Social class: Allan Singer 1, Ollie Bolton 2, Warren Trethewe 3.