Six teams lined up at the start to contest the 2017 WYC Three Peaks race on New Years' Day:
- Steve Cross & Christiane Coutant sailing a Nacra 5.8
- Will Fleming and Pierre Coutant sailing a Hobie 16
- Anna, Rob and Oscar Sleath sailing a Pacer
- Elodie Sleath & Sophie Mayes sailing in Optis
- Kai Smith & Naoise Wheeler sailing in Optis
- Joshua & Eve Wheeler sailing a Pacer
With winds steady but hitting 18 knots, Race Director Adam Smith set a sailing course inside the reef with competitors having to complete 3 sailing legs interspersed with challenges where they chose to Search or Solve, Balls or Brains and Fling or Sing.
After the first sailing leg it was Elodie Sleath and Kai Smith who were the first to hit the beach but their team mates were held up on the water with Sophie suffering gear failure on the Opti and Naoise showing great sportsmanship by staying with her until the rescue boat was able to get a line to tow her back to shore. In the meantime Steve and Christiane finished their first leg and established what turned out to be a race winning lead by quickly solving 2 of the 3 brain teasers that consituted the first challenge.
Anna, Rob and Oscar also wrestled with the brain teasers while Kai Smith was the first to find the secret location and hit the water for the third leg not far behind.
With Christiane and Steve comfortably handling their table-tennis challenge, the interest was all in the minor placings. Kai sailed into second place going into the final challenge so he and Naoise started their quest to sink 10 basketball free-throws each. Anna, Rob and Oscar were not far behind so there was much frustration on the basketball court as shot after shot fell outside the hoop. Both teams then made the tactical decison to swap challenges so the race then became a sing off, with the teams striving to remember all the words of Auld Lang Syne. This was followed by a mad dash to the finish line in the control tower, and a mad dash back when both teams realised they didn't read their instructions and get the code word they needed. In the end finish judge Tony Bailey called it a dead-heat for second. Meanwhile Elodie and Sophie convinced the talent judges that a beautiful rendition of the national anthem would be a better experience for all of us than their attempts at Auld Lang Syne and then finished close behind in 3rd place.
Last Modified on 02/01/2017 12:45