Extreme 40's Oman - Dean Barker reports on Day 3

by Dean Barker on 23 Feb 2011 Dean Barker reports of the Extreme 40's in Oman:

Day 3 In Oman

Today was the first day of Stadium Racing which is where the organisers pull the course into confined spaces and run very short tight races with a total duration of no more than 10-15 minutes. As you can imagine there is a huge emphasis on starts and boat positioning and as one of the other team members called it, 'this is the start of the crash and burn racing'.

We had a pretty good day with the highlight being winning our first race of the series and also our first race in an Extreme 40. We also won our match race at the end of the day and currently sit 7th 1 point behind 6th place. I still have a lot of work to do with starts and maneuvers but it is starting to feel a lot more comfortable.

Sitting here after the racing glued to CNN I am still stunned with the devastation that has occurred in Christchurch. I cannot believe what has taken place in the Garden City.

All our thoughts are with the people and families of Christchurch.

All for now

Dean