Today we were met with very light winds but with the forecast of a front passing through the area and increased winds behind. The wind direction was forecast to stay in the North to Northeast quadrant so we were apprehensive about racing along this Southern coast of Lanzarote.

Fortunately, the front came a bit earlier than expected and a good wind filled across the whole race area. In fact, the wind got up to 22 knots on the final windward leg back to Puerto Calero and the finish line.

We had a very good start in about 7 knots of wind. Artemis and Quantum had poor starts and got flushed out right away. One minute after the start, the wind went 20 degrees right and both Artemis and Quantum were well ahead of us. The first windward leg was short, about 1.4 miles, and the final shift was to the left but too much so we all reached into the mark with El Desafio about 9th. Next was a six miles 90 degree reach in a puffy 8-14 knots.

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

Three races were completed today off the coast of Lanzarote with winds of 14-18 knots from 015 to 080. Shifty and difficult again.

We did pretty well again and stretched our lead to 11 points on Platoon with a 5,1,4. The competition was a bit tougher today with Quantum and Artemus out on the track. Artemus won the first race and Quantum got 2nd in all three races.

I really can’t remember what happened in all the races but I do remember that we came from fourth to win on the last run of the second race…, very fast and a bit lucky with the shifts.

We are using older sails in this regatta as I am sure most of the teams are, saving the good sails for the Worlds. So the boat is difficult to keep on her target speeds and this is challenging.

We are hosted here by the Hisperia Hotel which is a fantastic 5 star hotel. I believe the Calero family developed this area including a very nice marina with shops and restaurants lining the harbor, a few hotels and lots of private homes. The development in on the eastern slope of this volcanic island. If you go to Google Earth and look at Lanzarote it looks like the moon as it is full of craters. Check it out…, pretty cool.

The forecast for tomorrow is a bit lighter as a low and associated trough move over Spain and get closer to the Canary’s.

For complete results go to www.trofeopuertocalero.com

We could not have had a much worse day today. An 8th and a last dropped us to 6th overall.

The wind was light all day. We did not get off the line well in either race. In the first one, we made a nice come back to round the last windward mark 6th but we lost two boats on the final run.
In the second race, with a line of clouds coming from the right, and the forecast calling for the wind to go right, we invested hard in the right and rounded the first windward mark third from last. We went slow down that first run and to the left. The wind finally went right 30 degrees but we were on the wrong side of it were last at the gate. The committee did not move the windward mark for the last windward leg so no chance to pass as it was all starboard tack up the second beat.

The wind all but died on the last run and for a moment it looked like we might pass a few boats, but no.

So a frustrating end to what was our best regatta of the season after two days.

But I told the team that we have to take a lot satisfaction in the fact that we have raised our level of competitiveness substantially since the beggining of the year. We are now often fighting for the top spot in the fleet. This took a lot of hard work and determination. There is nothing easy about the Med Cup fleet.

So we will take that improved performance to the World Championship in Lanzarote in Mid October.

Quantum had the best day with a 1, 4 to win the regatta over Matador who had a 11, 2 today. Bribon made a big come back in the light air today getting a 2, 5.

No wind, no race.

We pick up again tomorrow with windward-leward racing. The forecast is for 11-16 knots from the east.