Andrew Campbell- Laser Worlds Update- Days 3 & 4
by Andrew Campbell on 11 Feb 2008
Laser competitors swim their way up the course in the Qualification stage of the 2008 World Championships. Monica Palloni
To nobody’s surprise, the rain continued on the third day of the championship here in Terrigal and after an hour delay on shore waiting for a storm to pass we headed out under still gloomy skies.
With storm cells littering the ocean over the course area, the wind never stabilized long enough for a course to be set, and after a torrential downpour lasting just less than an hour and a bolt of lightning flashing across the sky, the fleet voted with their tillers and headed back to shore. Realizing that the majority of the sailors had headed for cover, the race committee came out of their cabin on the committee boat and signaled a AP over H (return to shore) and we waited until 4 o’clock before heading back to the water for one late race that evening. As the front finally cleared we had about 18 knots of breeze over 3 meters of leftover swell. The third fleet around the course did not get back to the beach until close to 8pm with the sun well below the hill that surrounds Terrigal. To say it was a cold and wet day would be an understatement.
Yesterday, Day 4 of the championship was the end of the qualifying series and last two races before the Gold/Silver/Bronze split. After getting off the water at 8 the night before we were on the water at 8 in the morning to be ready for a 9:30 starting gun for the first of three races to be sailed in 15-18 dying to 12 knots of breeze in the remnants of the previous day’s swell. Big waves and big current were the story of the day with strong tide heading with the wind. The beats were set at 0.6 nautical miles, but they still managed to take 18-20 minutes even with the steady overpowing breeze. The downwinds were rediculously short and the pileups at windward marks were monstrous.
Today’s racing will be the first day of three classic Laser World Championships Gold Fleet racing. The top 54 sailors from the regatta will be in the same fleet instead of spread between the three groups. Lanes will be scarce and margins will be thin.
More to come from www.CampbellSailing.com
See also: Http://aus08.laserinternational.org
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