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Flip flops, shifty winds, and a bumpy ride

Posted 1 year, 2 months ago

Flip flops, shifty winds, and a bumpy ride
It is a comfort to know that lesser known sailors, myself included, have some basic understanding how to play the defensive strategy when you are ahead. This includes some match racing rules of thumb, ie covering both upwind and down. It was a tough day of sailing with light shifty winds, lots of leftover lumpy seas, and then when that was all said and done, there were the tactics.After getting the better of the start, Alinghi went to the left side and was immediately behind after the first shift came in on the right. New Zealand had wanted that side, to the point of just getting over the committee boat and going real slow. It was a long slog up to the 1st mark, putting Alinghi at one point 400 meters behind. Alinghi halved that on the downwind leg, New Zealand lost their footing when they had the spinnaker go into the genoa lead and couldn't tack. When they did, Alinghi had gained and held with them on their windward hip after New Zealand leebowed them on port tack. Tacking away, Alinghi was first around the weather mark and New Zealand followed. To everyone's surprise, Alinghi jibed away to the left side of the course. This goes against what most people consider common practice, staying with your competition, even if it is at a guarded distance. It is also common knowledge that the wind clocks to the right hand side along with the sun, especially on the Spanish coast.So there you have two amateur sailing maxums proven to be true today. Are we having another meltdown of a major sailing figure in the finals? Redemption would be sweet tomorrow and then we can really have some suspense. Full Story »

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