Here’s a great example of the size of the crowd. Fried Elliott is here taking some cool shots.
We’ve had four races in four days here in Viareggio. Light air is still the name of the game, but the steady and relatively even pressure has provided for some very nice racing. This morning we sailed out in a hot offshore breeze ahead of a low pressure system to the west of us. But, by the time the start time came around, the dry wind was fading and signs of the seabreeze moved across the course. The RC patiently reset the course for a southerly and got our 2 hour marathon under way. Because of the sheer size of the fleet, the starting line is in two segments totaling 1.4 kilometers, more than 4000 feet long. The beats are kept to a reasonable 2+ miles and except for yesterday’s five-leg course, we’ve been tallying up 8 mile races no problem. So, two races and almost 20 miles of racing to go.
Brad and I managed to get off the line in places where we could continue straight in each of the last two races. That seems to be the name of the game: finding clear lanes and not getting bogged down by traffic or little one-on-one battles. Halfway up the first beats we have been able to make a break for what I think the favored side is at the top of the leg and we can come into the first windward mark in the top 20. Yesterday we clawed our way into the low teens and settled for a 15th. Today we had a similar race and similar result: 13th. There were about 10 boats called OCS today as well, so I’m sure there will be some mixing and moving in the scoresheet. Consistency has been our name of the game, hopefully in the next couple of races we’ll be able to make a move into the top group and fight for a top five finish at the end of the week.
Photo from yesterday’s finish
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