Race Day 1

We had a windy forecast today; 15-20 from the south going southwest and west with a cold front approaching. Things started off slower than expected with less than 10 knots of wind from 200 up to 1030. So we changed from our heavy air mainsail to our all-around main at 1030. As soon as we did that, the wind filled in to 15 knots with stronger gusts.

We had one general recall and then a black flag start. The line was square and no one got caught by the black flag. We were a bit too gun shy and got swallowed up by the pack. The course was short enough, 1.5 miles, that the boats stayed pretty tightly grouped so if you were not in the first 10 you did not have clear air. We battled around the track in 25th and wound up 20th. Freddy Loof (SWE), last weekends winner, was just in front of us the whole race and finished 17th. I think our speed was just fine, it was just a matter of getting our nose in a clear lane. Ian Percy and Steve Mitchell (GBR) won the race with Mark Reynolds/Steve Erickson (USA) second, and

Koch(GER) third.

The second race had the same sequence, one general recall then the black flag. The front was in sight at the warning to the start so it was a bit strange that the committee started us. Sure enough 2/3rds of the way up the beat, the wind shifted 50 degrees right and the whole fleet reached into the windward mark. The race committee did the right thing and abandoned the race right there and sent everyone in as the fleet was hit by a squall with 25-30 knots and lots of rain. We took our brand new mainsail down, rolled it up on the boom to save it from getting abused by the gusts, towed in behind our Protector and won the race to the dock. Upon arriving at the dock we learned that three boats were caught by the black flag and won