in Advance Half Ton Classic Cup at Royal Nieuwpoort Yacht Club - Day 1
by Half Ton Classics Cup 5 Aug 2024 23:33 PDT
5-9 August 2024
2Farr wins on day 1 of the in Advance Half Ton Classic Cup © Pit De Jonge
Irish 2Farr not distracted by light winds
With barely 7 knots of wind, the first round of the In Advance Half Ton Classics Cup 24 got under way. The windward-leeward track was located east of the port entrance. The time to reach the first windward mark, against strong current was too long. So this round was cancelled.
After waiting for more stable breeze, the fleet started in an 8 mile long 'round the cans', a course along the fixed buoys along the North Sea coast in front of Nieuwpoort.
Windward duel
Local hero Tom Florizoone immediately took the lead with Red Cloud (BEL 8500) over a fleet that fanned out very quickly. Everyone looking for the best breeze and still avoiding the counter-current as much as possible.. With the advancing 2Farr (IRL 2296) the battle for first place was quickly settled, Robert O' Leary forced the Nieuwpoort native into a windward duel, quickly fell off under Red Cloud and took the lead. The Irish only built up their lead from here on.
Cautious
When the course was shortened again, because the wind continued to decrease little by little, the 2Farr clocked in sight of the harbour channel of Nieuwpoort at 1h38min09sec, more than two minutes ahead of Red Cloud. King One managed to make an impressive comeback. After having to return behind the starting line for an early start, Espen Kamperhaug managed to sail his King One (NOR 18094) to third place. Not bad for a team that prefers to have a lot more wind.
The race control closed the line half an hour after the first one had finished. Ten participants finished within the time limit.
Results after Day 1: (top three)
1: 2Farr / IRL / Robert O'Leary
2: Red Cloud / BEL / Tom Florizoone
3: King One / NOR / Espen Kamperhaug