Key West: British Richard Thompson and the Black Seal - Mt Gay Rum Boat of the Day
January 20, 2016 - Key West, FL, USA - As published by Event Media - Unlike yesterday in the howling wind, today started well in Day Three of Quantum Key West. During his morning weather briefing, Ed Baird alerted the assembled sailors about the importance of Wednesday’s racing.
“More than likely, there’s going to be three races today. That means the regatta is going to be more than halfway complete by the time you come off the water,” Baird said. “Like I tell my kids with their junior regattas, this is moving day. This is when all the action happens. Some boats are going to fall off the cliff while others are going to climb up the standings.”
Baird’s words proved prophetic and many teams did indeed make a major move on Mount Gay Rum Day as multiple races were contested in perfect 15-18 knot northeasterly winds that held steady enough to provide the closest race action of the week.
Richard Thompson and the Black Seal GBR850 - photo IM24CA/ZGN/MauroMelandri
Factoring in the discard in points put British skipper Richard Thompson and the Black Seal team into first place of the 12-boat Melges 24 class. Jamie Lea and Nigel Young are tactician and strategist, respectively, who has won four races and leads Blind Squirrel (John Brown, Philadelphia, PA) by a point. Their impressive 1-1-1-3 scores for the day was enough to earn them the Mt Gay Rum Boat of the Day prize.
"I really must give credit to my tactician, Jamie Lea, for this prize. He made a lot of great calls today," Thompson said. "Our crew work as a whole was fantastic. Blind Squirrel sailed very well today, but we were just a little better."
John Brown and the Blind Squirrel USA290 - phptp IM24CA/ZGN/MauroMelandri
Lying in fifth place in the Melges class is Thomas Ritter’s Tramp from Bloomfield Hills, MI, who also had a day good enough to earn them the Corinthian Boat of the Day winner.
More photos by IM24CA/ZGN/MauroMelandri - Day 1 ; Day 3
Thomas Ritter's Tramp USA708 - the best Corinthian after Day 3 - photo IM24CA/ZGN/MauroMelandri