2013 Optimist Worlds- NZL Yachting Trust team Day 3 at Lake Garda

by Angus Haslett on 20 Jul 2013
The New Zealand Optimist Team report in from Lake Garda, Italy, venue for the 2013 Optimist Worlds:

Day 3 of The Worlds

Another stunning morning greeted us in Lake Garda - bright sun and a warm 28degrees with the Peler breeze - quite strong (which is not that good for the afternoon Ora breeze as it has to work harder to push the Peler breeze away). The team starts each day at 8 with a light fitness session then after breakfast are all down at the club by 10.00am to set up their boats.

The Peler wind, as expected, died about 11.30am as the switch to the Ora began and whilst it built quickly to around 10 knots it never got above 12 for racing and again there were some large shifts and puffs in the breeze - simply a stunning day for the supporters but not a great one for the sailors.

Our team has had their worst overall day so far and have taken on board plenty of good learnings, particularly about the starts and getting to the top mark in a good position. We now only have one sailor, Leonard Takahashi - Fry in the top 100 and after a very solid 9th in the last race he now sits in 19th overall. In the same flight Tom Fyfe and Henry Haslett did not fare quite as well and perhaps the unluckiest was Henry who over-kited on a ferry wake and filled his boat with water, ending a difficult day for him and seeing his overall position slip to 133rd. Tom built on his learning from his first race of the day and managed a 29th in his last race but still fell to 106th overall.

Nick Egnot-Johnson and Alastair Gifford were in the second and third flights respectively and the wind lightened for their last races, however Nick managed to pull in a 29th in a race that saw him inside the boat for all of the race whilst the lighter sailors enjoyed the breeze. Alastair too had a tough day with the breeze dropping and the puffs continuing and he only managed a best result of 29th for the day. So not quite the day we had hoped for but the sailors are here to learn and there was plenty of that and there is nothing that can take away from the magic of sailing on Lake Garda - no matter what the breeze does - and the wonderful atmosphere the sailors are experiencing.

Tomorrow is the start of teams racing for two days then a lay day, so a good chance to re-gather and prepare for the final three days of fleet racing that starts again on the 23rd of July.

Results Day 3

Leonard Takahashi-Fry 20, 9 (19th Overall)
Nick Egnot-Johnson 44, 29 (105th Overall)
Tom Fyfe 38, 29 (106th Overall)
Alastair Gifford 39, 42 (112th Overall)
Henry Haslett 49, 63 (133rd Overall)
Regards from the:2013 NZL International Yachting Trust Optimist World's Team