Sailing Blog
Day 2 of Exhibition Racing at Cal Cup »
August 21, 2010
6 Races have been completed at the Melges 32 California Cup, and if Day 1 was known for its collisions and carnage, Day 2 was similarly exciting, but for its close racing, not expensive repair jobs. The skies again cleared over SF bay around the same time as yesterday, and just like the first day, once the breeze started to fill, it was a right handed program both upwind and downwind and for the boats that could call good laylines from the far corner of the racecourse and pull off a good gybe set at the top mark, they often were the ones to do well. The fleet was much more tightly packed today and it is clear that with one day of racing on the Bay, everyone is improving and upping their games.
Several teams showed moments of brilliance today which we can only assume will be more consistent as we get closer to the worlds and each of these teams get better. Full Throttle won the first race of the day by nailing a great gybe set at the top mark and blasting off to a massive lead by the end of the 2nd downwind. On the Samba, we were able to hold off a strong push from current World Champions Bliksem for an entire race and pull off the win in race 2. And in the final race of the day, the team aboard Leenabarca showed some awesome speed and took a convincing win in the final race of the day.
Heading into the final day tomorrow, we have a 9 pt lead over Bliksem with 2 races remaining and we will do our best to hold off a charge from several challenging teams. While we are excited about doing well in this event and sailing hard against great competition, the California Cup is basically like a pre-season football game in the NFL…it doesnt mean much until the real season starts. The challenge for tomorrow and the next few weeks will be to remain hungry and push ourselves and the boat to the limit to ensure there are no questions left unanswered when the worlds begin.
Full results here. It is off to bed for another sound night of sleep, and a morning with several advil and caffeine.
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