It’s another glorious day here in Sardinia with the Bay of Angels glistening and the breeze starting to build slowly. Iain Murray, Race Director is expecting around 12-15 knots so the teams will be agonising over jib selection. Yesterday, all the teams went through all three of their jib codes, (J1, J2 to J3 – big to smallest) and they are expecting potentially the same again today. It’s going to be all about boat handling and wind pressure spotting on the water.
The format for the day is simple. We have two fleet races – and the great news is that GB1’s excellent shore team has repaired the issues from yesterday and will be racing – and after the two fleet races have concluded, the top two boats with the greatest number of points in this high-scoring regatta, will contest a one-on-one, one race, match-race final. The pressure to perform and the weight of expectation on those two teams will be intense.
Of note, is that the winning boat overall in the fleet racing will have the option as to which end of the starting line they would like to approach from in the match-race final. This could be a critical decision as in match-racing, if a boat comes into the starting box from the port (left) side, they do so at 2 minutes and 10 seconds. The starboard (right) hand entry comes in at 2 minutes but with the right of way, being on starboard gybe. Depending on the wind strength, the teams may well have differing strategies depending on the number of manoeuvres they wish to perform, so it will be interesting to see which end of the line the winning boat selects.
Yesterday, no team played their delay card, so Luna Rossa 1 Women & Youth, La Roche-Posay Racing Team, Tudor Team Alinghi and both ETNZ 1 and ETNZ Women & Youth have that option in their armoury if they should need it. GB1, Athena Pathway and Luna Rossa 2 played their delay cards on Friday.
The leaderboard is tight, and there is all to play for in this high scoring regatta with ten points for first, down to 3 points for 8th. The fight for a place in the top two is real.
Racing gets underway at 3.10pm with the second fleet race of the day at 3.46pm. The match-race Final is scheduled to start at 4.27pm – all times subject to change. Post race reports will be posted here as soon as possible after the winning boat crosses the finish line.
The Race Village and FanZone Lazzaretto open at 12pm and with it being Sunday, we are expecting record crowds. Sardinia has turned on the style as the first stiop on the ‘Road to Naples.’ Let the action begin.
Race 1 – 3.10pm scheduled start…
