REPORT 2 19/07/2008
The breeze was 15 knots and steady with a short chop. There was a delayed start for an hour because the race committee decided it was a bit shifty (20-30 degrees) to send the sailors out.

Race 3 Flight 1 - Sam
At the top mark Sam was 17th with Italy, Finland and Puerto Rico the top 3. Sam made immediate inroads on the reach staying high and took 3-4 places in the first 200m. He worked his way up to 9th by the finish. The race was won by Puerto Rico, Denmark, Netherlands and another Puerto Rican in 4th. The Caribbean sailors really seem to relish these breezes.

Race 3 Flight 2 – Naomi and Logan
Naomi and Logan both worked the middle left. The left hand side of the course was getting pretty close to the shore with a bit more west in the breeze than yesterday. Nearing the top mark Logan looked to be in the top 3 but a last minute swing back cost him a few places to 8th at the top but benefited Naomi who rounded 16th. The German was 5th at the top mark but went on to win the race. Both Logan and Naomi went low on the reach making gains for Logan 7th and Naomi 8th at the wing. On the last beat Logan kept being bounced to left hand layline by about 4 different boats and Naomi was a bit clearer in the middle. The German won his 3rd race in a row with Spain 2nd and Denmark 3rd Puerto Rico 4th Naomi 5th and Logan 9th.

Race 3 Flight 3 – Erica and Andrew
We couldn’t see the first leg but by the wing mark Erica was 5th and after a 720 for a Rule 42 infringement Andrew was 26th. This race was won by Singapore with Bermuda 2nd and Dutch Antilles 3rd, US Virgin Islands 4th, Ecuador 5th and Erica 6th. Andrew made good gains upwind to finish 17th.

Race 4 Flight 1 – Logan
The breeze increased to 18-20knots. The German had a good 50m lead at the top mark from Netherlands and Australia. Logan overlayed the top mark on port, rounded 20th, hit the mark and did his turn. By the 2nd beat the breeze had dropped to about 15 knots again and Puerto Rico overtook the German to win with Netherlands 3rd. Logan finished 11th.

Race 4 Flight 2 – Andrew and Sam
This race started in 16 knots. Andrew was 10th at the top. Sam got caught in a bit of carnage, hit the mark and did a turn. He came out of that 16th. By the finish Andrew was 12th and Sam 16th. Many of the Optis had to sail around a superyacht on their last beat who decided to go a bit close.

Race 4 Flight 3 – Naomi and Erica
2 Norway boats were first and second at the top mark. At the wing Naomi was 18th and Erica about 35th. On the beat to the finish the breeze built again to 20+ knots and Naomi climbed up to 17th and Erica held on to finish 30th.

Race 5 Flight 1 - Andrew
The breeze kicked in further to 20-25 knots. Andrew got to top mark in 5th position, hit the mark, did a very quick turn and lost no places. He went on to have a great reach, run and last beat finishing 3rd behinds Netherlands and Argentina.

Race 5 Flight 2 - Logan and Erica
A big delay of 45 mins due to dragging start line marks. The breeze backed off to about 20 knots. Logan rounded in 7th. The Antilles and Polish boats had a good 100m lead. Logan quickly dragged a few places in with a good reach. He had a good attacking position and finished a close 3rd. Erica was back in mid fleet for much of this race and finished with a 38th.

Race 5 Flight 3 - Naomi and Sam
The breeze stayed around 20 knots for the first beat with Sam 8th around the wing and Naomi was 24th at this point. On the last beat of the day the breeze backed off to 16-17 knots and the race finished at 6:15pm. Sam scored a 7th and Naomi had a great beat to get back up to 11th.

Latest: Logan was another OCS in Race 4.

Forecast for tomorrow NNW 8-12knts building rapidly to 14-20knots.


by Peter Dawson   10:58 AM Sat 19 Jul 2008