6.00pm
An exciting battle between the British and the French led to a grand stand finish with skipper Ian Walker steering Wight Lightning to a thrilling win after Le Defi led around the first lap of the course.
The flight-four match had been rescheduled from Tuesday October 29 and, like all
the matches today, was sailed on a shortened 12.5 mile course.
Luc Pillot at the helm of the yellow FRA-69 was first out of the starting blocks with a well-timed run to the start line.
Wight Lightning GBR-70 started just to leeward and the speeds were very evenly matched, leading to a two-tack beat.
The French did well to hold their windward lane and took Wight Lightning skipper Ian Walker beyond the port tack layline.
When the boats eventually tacked, Le Defi was able to lead in, to round the first windward mark just eight seconds ahead.
After a close downwind tussle, the tension on the French boat was palpable as Le Defi extended their lead around the leeward mark to ten seconds.
On the second beat British tactician Adrian Stead called for a tack to the right and the French failed to cover, letting Wight Lightning squeeze ahead with a right hand shift.
On the run, the French crew was let down by sloppy sail handling and was unable to mount an effective attack.
Winds: up to 25k
Winning margin: 00.14
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