Sailing Magazine
Rob Holden reports
The opening ceremony was amazing with a great atmosphere. We got home at23h00 and were up to have breakfast at 06h00 and on the bus at 07h00.
We arrived at the venue at 09h00 and rigged boats in a promising 6 knots, but with a bit of rain. The plan was for a practice race at 13h00 and by the time we got onto the course the rain had stopped and we had a steady 6-7 knots of breeze with a very erratic oscillation going from 30 degrees to 80 degrees which seemed unpredictable in its phases.
The Boys started at 13h15 after a postponement for the RO to get in phase with the shifts. After positioning himself well on the start line Calvin Gibbs unfortunately allowed another boat to sail over him with seconds to go and this closed the door on him from keeping control of his race. From the second row he worked hard, but never really got back into phase. He learned from this and hopefully will be better at the start in the future. Before the boys race finished the wind started dying off and being a practice race a lot of them just headed home.
The girls fleet started 10 minutes after the boys and they sailed the inner loop of the trapezoid. Megan got onto the start line a bit early and was not sure where the line was so she ended up starting in the second row boxed in by some tail enders who took her off to a hole on the left and she could not do much as there were 3 boats around her. Again, she learned lessons and needs to be more aggressive on the start and make sure she takes a transit to we know where the line is.
