12mR World Championship at Yacht Club de Porquerolles Day 1
by Soazig Guého 18 Jun 11:02 PDT
17-23 June 2024
The 12mR World Championship Porquerolles © Gilles Martin-Raget / YCP
No racing this Tuesday in Porquerolles. With a strong wind (22 knots from the east with gusts to 28), chaotic seas bleached by the sheep and waves between 80 centimetres and one meter, the race committee for the 12mR World Championship took the wise decision at 12:00 to cancel the scheduled races.
Tomorrow, the wind is expected to drop a notch, allowing the fourteen 12mR boats to cast off and start the first race of this World Championship...
22 knots on the anemometer this morning. Long gusts of 28 knots, in front of the Porquerolles Yacht Club, the flags of the 12mR World Championship partners SFA, Generis, CIS and Portland were flying.
After sending out the two-hour preview at 10am, at the 12pm briefing, the race committee announced to the crews the cancellation of the two races scheduled for that day.
Torben Grael, skipper of Kookaburra II: "It was a very good decision by the committee this morning not to send us out on the water. We've been waiting but the conditions don't allow us to sail safely today, especially for the classic boats. I hope that tomorrow we'll have enough weather to sail."
François Pailloux, South Australia: "The decision was completely logical given the weather conditions. When the boats were new, as was the case in the America's Cup where we had a lot of spare equipment, we could afford to sail. But here, we can consider that these are relatively old boats with no spare equipment. If you break a boom, a spinnaker pole... the week is over, so there's still this parameter to take into account and the committee's decision is therefore completely justified".
Tomorrow's weather
The easterly wind will still be there, but should ease off. The fourteen 12mR boats should then get down to the nitty-gritty of the World Championship. Less wind - between 14 and 20 knots - but seas that are still likely to be very rough. At 8:30 am, all the crews will be briefed for the day before the start of the hostilities. Tomorrow's programme includes three races.
More information at yachtclubporquerolles.fr