Home - Carl Williams - Day 3: Races 5&6

Day 3: Races 5&6

Posted 7 months, 18 days ago

Day 3: Races 5&6
A testing day to say the least and not testing as in Boat Speed but in tolerance!!Race 1Positions: DNSDid Not Start (DNS). Normally you have this on your score sheet at the end of the regatta when you have such a large lead that you dont need to sail the last race. NOT the case for us today, nor will it be the case at the end of the regatta!It was an early start again, conditions very similar to the past 2 days of racing. Light, cold, and a little bumpy. We were just starting our tune up for the first race when the Jib decided to fall down (from our AC experience were used to this going with a bit of a Bang), from there it was a quick diagnosis that the Jib Halyard had broken and was just about to fall down inside the mast. At about 5m above deck it was well out of reach and it was obvious the only option was to drop the sails and tow at full speed back to the dock! Back into the Medemblik Marina were parked along side a Cruising 60ft Yacht, this is where Pepsi displayed the Athleticism that we all know he possesses (and now Rod does). He climbed the Vertical to the first spreader. For the non sailors the Vertical is a 12mm piece of steel rod that holds the mast up. Once he was 6m up in the air he recovered the Halyard, we quickly repaired the situation, hoisted sails and for the second time an an hour towed at full speed out to the race course. So Close..... but So far. We missed the start by 5 minutes! Might as well have been an hour?! We followed the fleet up wind and took the opportunity to study set up and other techniques down wind. The Italians were over at the start so after the top mark we got together and did some two boat testing while we waited for the race to finish. Which was won by the SUI, who are sailing very fast and smart here.Race 2Positions: Top Mark (1) 8th: Bottom Mark 5th-8th; Top Mark (2) 10th; FINISH 9thA really good start just down from the committee boat, we had our heads out of the boat as of the seriously shifty conditions. From there we never a strong shift to take across the course and found ourselves consolidating our losses and hitching in under the leaders so we could round in the top 10. Down wind we held a strong lane and got inside the bunch and we al rounded together. a good gain for us but overall not quite enough. Still fighting to find a clean lane (which was really tough) we sailed the second beat as clean as possible by limiting the tacking. We rounded the 2nd top mark in 10th. Once again we were pushing hard to get around as many boats as possible. We managed to pick up one boat before finishing in 9th.It was a tough race and nothing really to blame or pin it on other than ourselves. Every day is so important between here and the first race of the Olympics, not only the good days but the bad ones as well. Like my favourite saying: "A lesson lived is a lesson learned and everyday is a lesson" .Still in 4th overall, looking forward to getting back out there and climbing back into the top 3! Full Story »

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