Easy Oars soars

Sailing

Tony Buckingham's 40ft Easy Oars led the celebrations for the British trio of 1997 Admiral's Cup boats as they put in another set of solid performances at the SORC regatta in Miami, writes Stuart Alexander.

Despite gear failure in the third race of a five-day series, the Olympic helmsman Andy Beadsworth took Easy Oars, the former American team yacht Pigs in Space, to a close-fought third race and then led from start to finish in the fourth.

Also enjoying the breezy, 18 to 22-knot winds was the crew of Tim Barrett's Mumm 36, Bradamante. With the 1996 Olympic silver medallists, John Merricks and Ian Walker, steering and calling tactics, aided by 1992 the 470 Olympian Andy Hemmings trimming sails, they showed good downwind speed to take two second places.

Completing the picture, Graham Walker's 45ft Indulgence made up for a fifth place in the third race, when caught by a shift in wind direction, with a well-earned third in the fourth.

The 14 yachts in the BT Challenge begin the fourth leg from Sydney to Cape Town tomorrow.