Arriving the day before registration day there was a solid 40 knots blowing with some guys trying to tune their high wind gear in but were having problems to even sail at all on 9.8m sails in this kind of wind. I was quite tired after the long drive from Lake Garda in Italy to Douarnenez near Brest in France so I just rested this day preparing some of my new equipment for this contest.
Day 1; we had very gusty and quite light off shore winds. We headed out to race and got the start off but it was too shifty and light so they called this race off. Then after waiting for some time for the conditions to improve we were sent back to the beach, end of racing for that day.
Day 2; was wet, cold and no wind until mid afternoon when it began to clear up with a light sea breeze beginning to blow and we were called out to race. For me the start line seemed too short for over 100 competitors so eager to race trying to get the best start. Then really the sailors were pushing line so much that we had quite a few general recalls before being sent back to the beach as the anchor line on the start boat broke causing the race committee not to disqualify any of the sailors over the line early. So when we finally headed back out we had more general recalls as the sailors were pushing the line due to no one being disqualified before. Then finally they began disqualifying the competitors that they could see over the line early and finally getting a start off after more than 7 general recalls. I opted to start on port tack to make sure that I would not be over early as I was told that even the start that counted there were quite a few sailors over early. I still ended up getting through quite clean on port tack but it had seemed that the guys starting on starboard had got a very good lift on the other side of the course putting me quite far back. I was still looking to round the top mark in top ten but unfortunately I missed the mark by 4m or less dropping me back to out of the top 15. Then on the down wind I jibed much earlier than all the guys and laid the bottom mark perfectly passing many guys. I also managed to pass a couple of guys on the next up wind to get me into 9th position and unfortunately I couldn’t pass more guys on the next down wind as they now new where to jibe from seeing me on the lap before, leaving me in 9th position with Wojtek POL 10 1st Devon ISV 1 having the best race he ever had in such an international fleet to finish 2nd and then tall Israel Arnon ISR 1 in 3rd position on Fanatic.
They then tried for one more race before the time limit at 7pm but it was no surprise to have another general recall running us out of time, with then the back to the beach flag hoisted and end of racing for day 2.
Day 3; There was perfect wind ranging from 10 – 16 knots from the left. We headed out for a start at around 10:30 am and the start line was much longer and everything looked good. Although obviously there were still many guys pushing the line far too hard but they were disqualifying many more sailors today calming the guys down before getting off to a clean start after just a few general recalls. I didn’t get such a clean port tack start this time and Antoine FRA 192 had a killer start and was gone winning this race start to finish. I made quite a good come back in this race with good board speed passing many guys on the reaches. I then almost caught Devon from more than 50m behind on the last reach, although I just missed out leaving me in 4th position for this race with Antoine 1st, Micah USA 34 in 2nd.
Race 3 of the contest; Also having a couple of general recalls before getting a clean start off, this being very challenging on the mind to keep in there for a good start with being pushed over early by the other donkeys. So I went for another port tack start getting through clean although with a few guys getting a little better start above me as I was going a little further down the line just to be safe and clean through by myself. This was beginning to work quite well for me rounding the top mark in 3rd position behind Speedy Gonzalo ARG 3 and Yannick FRA 83. I managed to pass Yannick on the first reach down wind but Speedy Gonzalo still had a very good lead on the bottom mark although I was pointing much higher and gaining ground for when we would tack for the upwind mark. I then tacked at the same time as Speedy for the upwind mark and it was looking tight to make it and I had come right up to Speedy being just under him coming to the mark when we got a small knock causing me to miss the mark by what felt like less than 1m and Speedy Gonzalo scraped around just making it by the skin of his teeth. This was 1st place opportunity gone for me as after having to make a quick double tack Speedy Gonza was gone and I was to finish in a comfortable 2nd place in this race with Antoine making a good come back to take 3rd place over Yannick.
Race 4 after lunch; This race was to start with one less top competitor as for me it seemed Wojtek spat the dummy heading home claming a sore shoulder after having been disqualified in the first race this day and then 13th in the second one. It was just when the racing began to get much better as many of the guys pushing the line too much had all had some disqualifications making them hold back a little more now, so there was just one general recall before we had a clean start in race 4. This race seemed to have a bad wind shift on the port side of the course with the starboard tack starters making out better and I had to fight my way back to finish 5th in this race with Arnon ISR 1 on Fanatic taking 1st Micah USA 34 in 2nd and Antoine FRA 192 in 3rd
Race 5; I went for the port tack start again starting very clean with Gonzalo and Devon also opting for this start as they both had 1 over early each, and there was also Jannick right there with us on port. Devon tacked off half way out on the port side and Gonzalo went further with me and tacked for the top mark, I opted to go just a little further feeling Gonzalo tacked a little early and Jannick also tacked with me sitting on top of me all the way to the first mark. Gonzalo missed the mark by a lot, then Yannick and I were in a good lift making the mark easily before getting a big header just before the mark making me miss it by like 2 meters and Yannick almost made it stopping on the mark. Then Devon and Gonzalo tacked around the mark while Yannick and I had to make a double tack letting Devon and Gonzalo get away to a good lead. With the decreasing wind I was unable to close the gap on my 11m down wind. But then on the next up wind I tacked off to the starboard side of the course as I felt this could be better as I was not gaining anything sitting in the same line as the other guys and felt I didn’t need another result 4th or worse and needed to try something different to catch the guys ahead of me. It paid off very well and with Gonzalo falling on his tack let me round the top mark in a comfortable 2nd far ahead of the rest. I was unable to catch Devon on the down wind with his 12.5 m sail in this light wind and I almost fell off the plane on my 11m letting Speedy Gonzalo get a little closer but I managed to hold him off to finish 2nd.
My plan for this day with such a huge competitive field pushing the starts so hard was to just stay consistent in the top with no DSQ for being over early and this turned out to be enough to put me into the lead after 5 races with 1 discard as my results were incredibly consistent compared with the other top guys having only 2 or 3 good results and some even DSQ for over early on the start having to be their discard.
Then on Day 4 and 5 there was not quite enough wind to have any further racing leaving me in 1st position for the contest with Gonzalo ARG 3 in 2nd , Antoine FRA 192 in 3rd Arnon ISR 1 in 4th and Micah USA 34 in 5th position for the contest.
I am now in Poland relaxing a little and organizing everything for my next trip to Sardinia (Italy) on the 19th of May where I plan to have a good week of tuning before the Euro-Cup contest starting there on the 28th of May until the 31st. Then directly after this contest I will drive all the way down to Lisbon (Portugal) for the next Euro-Cup contest starting on the 5th of June until the 8th. After this I will stay on there for some time until we finalize the new Formula board for Fanatic before flying across to Gran Canaria for the PWA Wave event.
Best Regards,
Steve
