Sailing Blog
Switching in to Race Mode »
July 15, 2010
With teams filing into Fraglia Vela Malcesine and putting the final preparations on their boats, the Samba Team is now switching modes from speed testing and tuning over the previous three days, to getting into race mode. This involves focusing more on our boathandling, communication and practicing surviving in tight situations and tough spots on the race course. Wednesday was our first day mixing it up with 10-12 other teams and the pace of the day was a drastic change from when we were simply sailing in a straight line and tacking every 5 minutes. It was very apparent that getting close to shore is a huge advantage as the breeze seems to funnel and shear when it does reach shore making the velocity stronger with a favorable direction. A lot of time on Wednesday was spent short tacking an gybing up the eastern shore of Lake Garda to ensure you were the left most boat and taking advantage of the shore effect. This also meant the middle of the boat was very busy pulling off all the maneuvers while trying to preserve every inch of boatspeed.
Throw in 25 Melges 32s in 20 kts of breeze, as well as the hundreds of beachgoers, swimmers, international moths, A Cats, Hobies, kiteboarders, windsurfers, and other recreational sailboats and there is going to be plenty of action come race day. If racing on an ocean course with long, steady upwind beats it like the NBA, than sailing on Lake Garda during a busy weekend is like a game of Streetball in the hood (Note – I have never actually been to the “hood”, but I felt that the movies I have seen were a good depiction…minus the shootings, drugs and pretty much everything else with the exception of a hard game of basketball with no rules or structure). It is very fun racing however as we are getting close enough to the shoreline that we could take an easy step off the boat if needed. The Sailing Center Hotel has the best view as the deck just off the pool area hovers over the lake. Shortly after a spinn set yesterday, we got a good look at what the families of the Samba Team were doing at the pool when we sailed within a boatlength ripping on full plane, doing our best not to wipe out German and Swiss tourists floating on their inflatable lounge chairs.
Samba sails downwind with the town of Malcesine and Castello Scaligero, built in the 13th Century in the backround. Even though the temp is 93 degrees, spray tops were in order to help shed weight for the weigh in.
With the weigh in taken care of on Tuesday afternoon, we are having plenty of good food, wine and laughs at the local restaurants. Today is our final day of practice before we start racing tomorrow. We will be trying out a few new, experimental boathandling methods that we hope to make a decision on be the end of the event, so hopefully we do not have any major hang ups there, but there is a higher chance that something might get balled up while racing. We are looking forward to the racing getting started, but know very well that the next few days are going to a be a battle with every inch making a big difference in this very tough, experienced fleet. Stay posted to 42marine.com for daily reports and results for the the 5th Audi Melges 32 European event.
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