Fourth day jitters
Today was day 4 of racing, but the first day of the final series.
Our previous 9 races were all wiped out, and contributed only our
finishing place from the qualifying series towards our final
score… so we take a 1 through and everyone else gets
closer.
The day started out with an early long sail out to the course in
Weymouth Bay, then a start in a light northerly. Paul was match
racing us in the last 2 minutes, but Pepe tacked between us both
and we got a gap on the line. Unfortunately we were rolled after
the start and had to tack out to the right - and lighter
pressure.
Paul and Dylan were 1st and 2nd for the remainder of the race, with
us back in the late teens… but then the wind dropped to 2 knots
and the racing was abandoned. I’m going to church after that
one.
The breeze then reset to the south-west and started to build.
We started well in the next race, a little too well actually,
getting an OCS in the process. Oh well, now we’re up against it for
the rest of the regatta. We finished 2nd in that race which would
have given us a handy points lead at the end of the day… but it
wasn’t to be. The pinching Germans ended up winning, with Mikko
& Miikka in 3rd. Paul finished 8th in that one with Dylan
7th.
Race 2 was a bit windier. We didn’t start so well (probably due to
the OCS in the previous start) and had to fight though a very tight
pack around the course. The Argentineans (Gainza Eurnekian &
Villambrosa - I’m not going to spell those again) had a close
battle with the Brits (Twemlow & Perera) with the Brits
eventually taking 1st. Dylan slipped in infront of us at the finish
to take 6th. Paul was ahead in 3rd.
Pepe port-tacked the fleet at the start of Race 3 for a short-lived
lead. It became a one-way track after that with the stronger breeze
staying on the left hand side of the course. Dylan sailed
conservatively to take 1st, with Cameron & Matt in 2nd and us
back in 5th. Paul was in 10th. The moderate breeze was starting to
take it’s toll.
Then Race 4 came along. The breeze was slightly stronger again, and
the tired fleet quickly split. The top 3 (Tremlow, Miiko and us)
got a break when the breeze shifted left and the trailing pack
overlaid, then it was a boatspeed contest for the rest of the race.
We came off 3rd unfortunately.
So at the end of the day we have a OCS, 7, 5, 3. By some freak of
nature we are still at the top of the results
after 4 races.
Miikka is going for redress after losing the lead on the final run
in the final race. If he gets it then he’ll be ahead. But it’s not
bad to see two Finnish boats at the front of the fleet. It will be
a bit strange if we have to start racing against them to beat them,
instead of racing against them to be nice.
And the forecast is for the same tomorrow… a later start and more
breeze please.
