RC44 Austria Cup - And the fight continues

by Paul Cayard on 14 May 2011 RC44 Austria Cupday 3. Paul Cayard on the continuing fight for both Artemis and Katusha on Lake Traunsee in Austria.

Paul Cayard:

It was a tough day today onboard Katusha in which they are now left fourth overall. There were three races held and Oracle posted some great scores in the second two of the three leaving them well out in front. I did not sail well today as tactician and got pretty frustrated by it all. Our helmsperson for this regatta is Sarah Gundersen and on top of steering the boat well, she is doing a good job of keep my attitude upbeat through all that happens out there.

The first race of the day was a classic Lake Traunsee. Wind shifts of 180 degrees, flat calms and puffs of six knots and in the end only six boats finished within the required 10 minutes of the winner. We were not one of the first seven boats, neither was Oracle. Team Aqua sailed well and won this classic.

In the second and third races it seems we had a bit of a bullseye on our backs and we got tacked on pretty hard. We had to live in thin lanes the whole time and this made our races pretty difficult. We finished eighth and seventh respectfully.

So after seven races, Oracle is leading with 19 points, Team Aqua is second with 24, No Way Back is third with 29 and we are fourth with 37 and the US boat Ironbound is fifth with 38.

The forecast for tomorrow is not special so it could be more racing like the first one today.

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