In-form Hele wraps up victory

John Hele completed his victory in the Etchells class  to win the KF Trimingham Trophy in the Bermuda International Invitational Race Week.

Hele won two of the three races yesterday and was second in the other to wrap-up a seven-point-margin success at the end of a 12-race competition in which sailors were allowed to drop their two worst scores.

Tim Patton secured second overall after two thirds and a second-place finish on the final day of the Etchells action.

He held off a valiant late surge by Great Britain’s Jason Owen, who claimed victory in race 11 to go with a second and a third yesterday as he turned up the heat on the leaders. He finished on 31 points.

Rounding off the competitors was Martin Vezina with 40 points. 

Sunday had seen action in the protest room, too.

Owen (GBR 879) successfully protested Hele (BER 671) in race one of the day.

Hele was found to have broken rule 18.3 — the infamous ‘tacking in the zone’ rule at a mark.

With his DSQ of six points being one of his provisional drops, Hele was still comfortably in the lead.