Owen Siese Moves To 5th In Singapore
Bermuda youth sailor has moved up to 5th in the 2010 Youth Olympics being held in Singapore, remaining in medal contention. Yesterday [Aug 23] three races were scheduled, but only 2 sailed, which saw Owen finish 6th and 8th. After a slight delay in the morning, breeze only began to fill in just before the scheduled start however built quite quickly, such that there was a good 8 kts from SSW by the time the racing started just after 1pm.
Owen rounded first weather mark in approximately 20th place, and steady sailing from here on in saw Owen chipping away, picking up places on every leg, eventually running out of race course when well placed in 8th place.
The breeze continues to build, and was up to 12-14 kts by the start of second race of the day. Another good start in the middle of the line – but this time followed up with good shifts to be racing in a group challenging for 4th-8th. A steady downwind leg picked Owen up to 5th, but while still in the hunt at the 2nd weather mark he got “stuck in traffic” just low of layline in current and ended up hitting the mark and having to do penalty turns. Another good downwind leg, and second beat and Owen was back in 6th place.
During the 2nd race the breeze began to drop, and the 3rd race of the day was started in 8kts, but dropped quite quickly. After one windward and one leeward leg, the race was abandoned due to lack of wind, and also due to approach of large thunderhead.
