Sailing Blog
Italian Ice Served to 24 Fleet – Day 3 24 Worlds »
May 18, 2011
With the wind forecasted into the high 20’s on day 3, many teams were licking their chops and preparing for a true Corpus Christi day of sailing. Clouds remained on the course most of the morning which seemed to keep the breeze down, and for the first race we saw 12-15, and maybe touched 20 kts in the second race. For a big open body of water, the breeze sure is tricky here, and it is very hard to see on the water so decisions are often based on course positioning with other boats, and hoping that you are going the right direction.
Both starts today on the FT were almost a carbon copy of yesterday of starting near the pin, leeward of the group in the middle with Uka Uka above us. Our speed is good with the boats around us, but I am highly impressed with the Italian team of when they pick their tacks and always seem to manage a critical cross with a starboard tacker to get to the right and off to the races. The first race we rounded the top mark in 3rd and were late to gybe with the group behind us which forced us to extend into waning pressure. After dropping a few boats on the run, we engaged in a full streetfight with 10-12 other boats dueling for 3rd place. Boats were lee-bowing, ducking, spitting each other out the back, and the boats who would get forced a different direction, would come back and re-start the process all over again which lasted most of the 2nd upwind. With several boats overlapped at the finish, we snuck in for a 7th place and were happy knowing it could have been a lot worse.
The 2nd race of the day was much less stressful as us and Uka, Blu Moon and the Irish boat were all able to extend from the pack. With solid downwind rides and good speed up and down, we were able to take a 4th place and finish up with a decent day. After 6 races, the “throwout” race has kicked in and we are now able to ditch our 16th place, and sit just 1 pt out of 2nd overall. The Italians on Uka Uka took both races today and now have a commanding 15 pt lead.
There are still 6 races remaining, and the challenge now will be how much longer teams will be able to take the physical abuse of sailing 2 mile upwind legs in steep chop, then ripping downwind giving the shoulders and arms an exhausting workout. Sailing on a Melges 24 is a reminder of how unnatural it is for your body to be bent in half hanging over a 5 inch wide strap for an extended period of time, and the welts left on our hip bones making buttoning our shorts a challenge. Much like the gristly, old pitching veteran Eddie Harris in the movie “Major League”, we will need to start pulling out all the high octane goods to get us through the next 3 days; sugar free Red-Bull, Icy/Hot, large amounts of Advil, and of course some ice cold beer waiting on dock at the end of the day. The teams who stay mentally tough will be the ones to excel the next 3 days.
The breeze is expected to stay in the high teens tomorrow and we are looking forward to making a strong push towards the second half of the regatta.
On board video highlights from day 2.
On board video highlights from day 3 with an action filled leeward mark rounding!
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