TP52 Worlds
We did not have a great day on El Desafio. The wind was very shifty and tricky. We were mediocre. We are tied for 7th after three races.
Artemis had the winning form today with a 1, 2, 2 Quantum is in second with a 2,6,1 and Mutua Madrilena is just behind with 3, 1, 6.
The wind was very shifty. Many times, boats that were in the back half of the fleet on the first windward leg and had no where to go except where the leaders did not want to go, ended up passing the leaders. On both runs of the second race, the shift was so big that there were no gybes by any boat.
In the last race of the day on the last run, Platoon went from 3rd to 13th while Audi Q8 went from 13th to 3rd.
We had a bad last race, most of it on the last run as we basically had Platoon’s fate going from 6th to 11th.
The wind speed was 9 knots in the first race building all day to 14 knots in the last race. But even the wind speed was anything but steady. There were micro bursts touching down a various times from various directions and it was very hard to figure out the pattern. Russell Coutts, tactician of Artemis, obviously had a good feel for it.
Three races done and 8 to go. If it stays like this there will be plenty of ups and downs to go. We are racing on the south east side of the island of Lanzarote and the gradient wind is coming from the north so we are slightly in the lee of the island. Sometimes the wind comes right over the island, then at other moments with wind comes around the corner which gives an easterly direction. There has previously been a line of clouds trailing off the highest mountain to the north, which was a good telltale as to where the wind was going to come from but that line was not very well delineated today.
Forecast for tomorrow is slightly more wind but same direction.
Top 5 scores are:
1. Artemus – 5
2. Quantum – 9
3. Mutua Madrilena – 10
4. Matador – 15
5. Synergy – 20
El Desafio is tied for 7th with 23 points.
For complete scores and more information go to:
http://www.tp52worldchampionship.com/ultimanoticia.php
