( Chart showing our speed over the 7 hours of racing)Talk about frustrating. Due to a complete lack of wind (apart from the expulsions from the previous nights meal) we had one of the most testing days on the water for patience. After an average start and being gassed we were unable to get in clean air to reach the leading bunch of yachts that included X factor, syrenka, peard, dark energy. These yachts managed to carry a small amount of breeeze around the first mark and continue downwind with reasonable breeze while the rest of us parked up. The frustration continued in fickle breeze for most of the day and we remained in different breeze from the leading yachts. At one stage we saw jelly fish swimming past us. Fairy Tern was overtaken by a turtle. Still, it could have been worse. We could have been on X factor. The only good bit of breeze we had after rounding the last mark enabled us to come from barely being able to see X factor to finish a minute or 2 in front of them across the line.
The outcome was largely up to luck, we pretty much did as much as we could with every bit of breeze that came by. I think we sailed well with what we had, doing 2 knots in 2.5 knots of breeze at times.
So the Valmadre series is now complete and the overall result will be very tight. We were leading in IRC and had a place in YAH. Yesterday we finshed 4th in IRC (160minutes behind 1st!!). But Peard only managed a 2nd so the results could be interesting. We are probably out of contention in YAH now but could still be 1st in IRC, though we may have done a Cadel Evans. We will just have to wait and see and put our focus back onto the Winter Series with 3-4 more races still to go.
Naviguesser
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