Glynn Williams' Swan 45, Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, crewed by a predominantly Hamble and Southampton based team, has it all to play for on the final day of the Swan European championships being held off Cowes this week.
After having swept the board at the Swan 45 North Atlantic championships, Williams is currently fourth in the sexy Swan 45 class behind Cuordileone.
The Belgian Swan 56, Filip Balcaen's Aqua Equinox, is holding on to first overall to date on a stunning nine points.
Lack of wind disrupted play on Wednesday, which put paid to the long inshore yesterday. Two races are needed to qualify for a discard and a race series.
Meanwhile, after a good start in the series for the Belgian boat Aqua Equinox featuring Volvo Ocean Race and America's Cup sailor Bowe Bekking, a shock lead by one of the smallest boats in the fleet opened the stakes up.
John McIntyre's Swan 36, Shaytana, was overall winner of day two. David Ross, helm on Shaytana, shared his tactics for the day, saying: "What happened evolved around the serious changes in weather. It started off very light and we were near the back of the fleet approaching the forts, then the wind swung round and we managed a gain a few places on the spinnaker legs.
"We took advantage of the second wind shift at Bembridge Ledge, compared to other smaller boats, improving our position all the time. We used the bigger boats ahead to give us a gauge of the wind and an indication of the best route to take. This definitely helped."
Ross added: "This is a great result for us today. We are just a crew made up of purely amateur sailors all from RAF Brize Norton.
"We'd never sailed together before Sunday."
The Swan 45s yet again rose to the challenge of light airs as Keith Miller's Crackerjack crossed the line first ahead of Aqua Equinox and the only Russian entry, Swan 48 Murka.
Paul Winkelmann's Swan 60, Island Fling, made a valiant attempt to get out in front but was hampered by the conditions and the superior boat speed of the Swan 45s.
In Class B the battle continued between Lymington based Stephen James' Swan, Jacobite, and Libby Deegan's Swan 441, Menenes.
At the start Jacobite found herself hemmed in at the Squadron end of the line and overtaken by the majority of the fleet. However, this minor setback didn't stop this well raced Swan from gaining ground and eventually joining Menenes and Alan Foulquier's Swan 441, Saga, at the front of the fleet as they made their way east along the Solent towards Bembridge Ledge.
As the front runners in Class A rounded the Nab Tower and made their way back up the course, Aqua Equinox and Graham de Zille's Swan 45, Amnesia, had managed to separate themselves from the fleet by ten minutes thanks to the breeze filling in to 10-12 knots. This advantage was maintained as they tackled the sprint legs on their way back to The Royal Yacht Squadron finish line, with Aqua Equinox taking line honours just ahead of Amnesia.
In Class B Jacobite proved her racing prowess by pulling away from Menenes after six and half hours of sailing to cross the finish line first, but suffered against the better rating awarded to Shaytana when it came to winning the class.
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