Liberty Bitcoin YFGC - Day 7
by Conrad Colman 10 Mar 2021 13:01 PST
10 March 2021
After days spent wishing for more wind, the Liberty Bitcoin YFGC sailors finally tasted full speed flying. Their carbon foils hissed through the water, sending geysers of spray into the grey sky as they scythed through Gaeta Bay at double the speed of the wind.
The stronger wind was a welcome change of pace after light wind cancelled racing yesterday. The American team, Southern Challenge, have been training in Gaeta since mid-February and finally experienced a full foiling lap of the racecourse. Not only did they foil upwind for the first time, but they hit 27.2 knots on a two sail reach and, if you squinted, looked like the AC75s that had raced in the America's Cup just hours earlier.
The stronger wind did not last for long, and as the sun peaked out of the clouds, the sailors were forced into light wind mode and flight was reserved for the reaching legs. Quickly changing conditions on the racecourse meant that whoever came to the fore had to be a true jack of all trades today.
In the finals, teams are allowed to use their branded sails. The orange lions head of Team DutchSail - Janssen de Jong was finally unleashed and led the fleet in both the strong and light winds, scoring a two first places and a second. The wheels came off in race four when they got caught in a light patch and finished fifth, but they are still six points ahead of second-place RHKYC Team Agiplast. Following the Hong Kong team, the midfield is closely grouped on points, setting up an exciting second day of finals tomorrow.
Calum Gregor, RHKYC Team Agiplast: "It was great to have the conditions that meant we could do foiling gybes and sail a whole race without the gennaker. The wind went from 13 knots in race one down to 8 in race three, and we had to change gears a lot and it made things a lot harder. I think we did a good job of getting the boat set up for the lighter wind again. During the last race, we got ourself on the right side of some nice shifts and were happy to get the win."
Results:
21.0 pts NED- Team DutchSail- Janssen de Jong
15.0 pts HKG: RHKYC Team Agiplast
14.0 pts EUR: Kingdom Team
13.5 pts SUI: One Switzerland
13.0 pts ITA: Young Azzurra
11.5 pts USA: Southern Challenge
Full results can be found here.