2019 Australian O'pen Skiff Championships at Whitsunday Sailing Club - Day 3
by Ryan Spring 23 Apr 04:13 PDT
19-24 April 2019
Today was a polite reminder that we are still in the tropics. The rain was relentless and with that came undulating wind. A tough day all round on the race course with the constant breeze being under 10 knots but shooting up to 15+ in the gusts.
The unpredictable weather was also noticed across the results, as the light shifty wind favoured different skill sets and new sailors appeared further up the leaderboard. This was apparent in both the Gold and Silver fleets. It was also a tough day for the race officer as the varying wind strength and direction made it hard to set the right course, both direction and length. Never the less three races were counted before the sailors were sent in for lunch.
Adventure Race
Today's 2up Adventure Race was arguably one of the most fun/challenging races EVER held. The sailors are paired up, 1st place overall paired with last place overall, 2nd first to 2nd last etc etc. This creates a great opportunity not only for sailors to make new friends, but also some what evens out the skill level in the fleet and gives the less experienced sailors a chance to sail with National and sometimes World Champions (what an opportunity!).
Todays course was a Le-Mans start leading into a series of marks before landing on a nearby beach, where one at a time sailors had to run around the local lagoon before swimming back through the lagoon (even the local lifeguards were informed), tagging their partner and them doing the same, before jumping back into the boat and racing back to the finish line. Throw in a huge rain storm and you have yourself an extremely memorable Adventure Race.
Tomorrow is the last day of the Championships and with 2 races left, all is still to play for!