Worlds, Race Day 3 - a long day

Monday was always scheduled to have a 1200 hours start time so that we could get two races in. The weather was similar to the day before, with a layer of cloud in the morning and very little wind. Although there was enough to sail out to the racecourse this time, there just wasn't enough to start a race on time. After a few attempts to get things underway, we didn't actually start the first race of the day until later than the 1400 scheduled time of the other days. We still had two races, both with the shorter version of the course which only includes three beats rather than four.

The first race was all too similar to the second race of the day before. Once again, we had a fantastic start which was subject to a general recall and a much less successful start in the one which was allowed to continue. Once again, we did poorly in the beats, finding ourselves near the back of the fleet at the top mark each time and then made gains on each of the downwind legs. Unfortunately, this time we didn't even have the consolation of a number of disqualified boats for starting early, so we finished with our worst score yet, a 74.

The second race was rather better. By that stage the breeze had started to pick up a bit and the waves had become an issue. This time, however, we managed to balance the boat better to keep the bow up to stop the waves from getting into the boat, which also has the effect of getting the bailers working more effectively. This is a skill we just don't have to use in Auckland, at least not often enough to have mastered it: the bailers are set a fair way back in the boat, which means that when we sail the boat level they are not at the lowest part of the boat. However, if we sit a long way back in the boat to keep the bow up for the waves then they are in the lowest part after all and they become effective at keeping the boat dry. Today, for the first time, we really got that working and we managed to keep the boat fairly dry even going upwind. This really makes a difference, as we were able to hold on to the places we'd gained on the downwind legs to take a respectable 64th in the race.



We've now got five races completed, so we can drop our worst score. At the moment we're sitting in 66th place.

The forecast for today was for extremely hot weather and very strong winds from the northeast. Of course, the hot weather should give a strong sea breeze to cancel those strong winds, so maybe we will be able to race after all. We're going down to the club shortly to get the verdict of whether we will race this afternoon or get a day off to rest our aching limbs and/or do some sightseeing in Melbourne ...