RS:X Worlds: Day One Sees Ashley in Third Overall

by Jodie Bakewell-White

It was a long day on the water for sailors at the 2010 RS:X World Championships where racing kicked off last night in Kerteminde, Denmark. Tom Ashley is in third place and Jon-Paul Tobin in ninth at this early stage in the six day series. The women’s fleet never left the beach.

“We just finished a very long day on the water- went out at 1015 and got back at 1830,” reports New Zealand’s Tom Ashley.

“Managed to get two races done in very light and shifty conditions,” says Ashley. “I placed 1st and 5th in the races, so I'm pretty happy with my day. Plenty of good guys posted big scores today in at least one of the races, so probably the biggest victory today was just staying out of trouble.”

“I led both races at the first mark, but in the second race I made a bad tactical decision on the second upwind and lost a few places. Not a big deal - these things happen.”

Tom Ashley’s race results from day one put him in third on the leader board behind Poitr Myszka of Poland with the lead and Shahar Zubari in second place. Myszka is on three points after a 2nd and a win, Zubari placed 2nd, then 3rd giving him five points, just one point clear of Ashley.

Jon-Paul Tobin is also inside the top ten of the 111 strong fleet lying ninth after day one after placing 6th in both races sailed.

Yachting New Zealand