No race today.

Well actually, we raced in very wacky conditions with 150 degree wind shifts and velocity changes of 10 knots (from 2-12 knots).

The race was eventually abandonned about half way through. We had been 8th and we had been first. Quantum was really the team that should have won.

Anyway, it comes down to one more day. The forecast for tomorrow is for 12-15 knots from the northeast. I imagine we will have an early start and three races. So plenty of points are still on the table.

After browbeating the jury for three days, Matador got reinstated in the second race of the championship which was held last Wednesday.

The jury reversed two previous decisions to disqualify Matador for a port-starboard incident at the windward mark.

Needless to say, everyone is more than a bit upset not only because the reversal is not understandable, but also because we have raced for three days since assuming the points were a certain way.

Now Matador jumps from 6th to second, going into the last day.

For complete results go to www.tp52worldchampionship.org

What a difference a day makes!

Artemis scored a 1, 2 and moved into first place over all in the world championships today. We are actually tied with Bribon for that honor, with Quantum Racing one point behind.

Again, we did not get the first race of the day under way until 1500. Light, fickle winds were on the menu again. We had two great starts today and just sailed for clean lanes with little maneuvering.

The first race was very tight all the way. We did a great job of getting to the inside of the one of the gate marks on the first run, as all the boats arrived at the same time. This jumped us out to a bit more comfortable second windward leg. We rounded the top mark second and gybe set as the pressure was on that side. We passed Valars with the gybe set and later, just prior to the finish, put a fake gybe on Bribon and Quantum to shake them off our tail.

Race number two was a bit easier, actually. We had a good first windward leg and rounded the first mark first. Down the run we gybed early with most of the fleet. Matador went straight on starboard and was just ahead of us at the gate. We were neck and neck up the second windward leg. We were in a foot race with them out to the right with us to leeward. As it came time for us to tack near the layline, they were able to just get a lee bow on us and force us away. But the both of us had a huge lead over the rest of the fleet by this time. We had a tacking duel of 4 or 5 tacks each and they were able to stay in front of us. The run was uneventful and we got our second place in that one.

So, it was a very good day on Artemis. Due to just four races having been completed at this point, the coastal race has been postponed to Saturday and tomorrow will feature windward leewards again.

The forecast is for 10-15 knot from the west tomorrow.

For complete results go to www.tp52worldchampionship.org

We had the practice race today in 8-10 knots of wind. Quantum won the pin end of the start and the race. This race course is all left sided and the race committee did not bias the line to the right, so that was pretty much it.

We did not have a great start and we battled away between 4th and 6th. We finished 5th.

Tomorrow’s forecast is same as today, light. The format for the World Championships is ten windward-leeward races and one coastal race which is scheduled for Friday.

For complete results go to www.tp52worldchampionship.org

Not a great day for us, but all is not lost. We had a 7,6,7 and slipped into third in the season standings and 5th for this regatta.

We made a big mistake in each of the three races; over the start line early in the first, fouled a competitor in the second and did our penalty turns and in the last race we hit the windward mark.

In the last race, the mark was a rib and it was motoring forward, trying to hold its position. The real mark drifted away. The rib was adjusting it’s throttle, we believe, and so went from laying the mark to having to shoot head to wind but we could not avoid the rib.

The wind started out pretty mild and tricky in the first race. At one point, we had gotten back to third place before getting tangled up in a pack near the finish.

At the end of the day, the wind was up to 21 knots and extremely rough conditions.

We are 5 points behind Quantum for second place for the season and just 1.5 ahead of Bigimist who is in fourth.

So it will be a big day tomorrow.

For complete results go to 2009.medcup.org

Two Strikes

Unfortunate situation….no racing again!

There was wind most of the day, but it was very unstable, both in velocity and direction. The wind “ratcheted” its way from 110 to 210 over 4 hours.

We had two attempted starts, but both were abandonned about 30 seconds to go due to 30 degree shifts.

Pretty frustrating for everyone.

We did something nice though. There was a RIB out there with about 8 opti kids in it watching us. We invited them onboard and gave them all a chance to steer Artemis and get their photo taken. They were really cute, happy, smiling and enthusiastic. We even asked them which way we should go on the race course and they unanimously said “right”. And they were correct.

Let’s hope for sailable conditions tomorrow. The Coastal Race has been delayed at least to Friday and may even be cancelled to make time for more buoy racing.