SailGP Day 2 - Preview: French back in action for a windy Day 2
by Richard Gladwell at Portsmouth 20 Jul 04:42 PDT
Switzerland passes Spitfire Fort - Pre-Race - SailGP Portsmouth - July 20, 2025 © Richard Gladwell - Sail-World.com / nz
Oddly, the British summer is performing to forecast. After over a month without serious rain, it rained lightly last night and more heavily this morning.
However that has cleared away, and while there is some cloud about, there is "enough blue sky to make a Dutchman a pair of pants" as my late father used to say. So we may be in for a fine afternoon.
As far as the breeze is concerned it has been up all night, and the humidity which has plagued southern England has gone. Already the breeze is a healthy 15kts or more from a SSW direction, and there are "plenty of sheep in the paddock" as Kiwi sailors describe a seaway with plenty of whitecaps - with some of that caused by a wind against the tide condition.
The good news for French fans is that their broken wingsail has been repaired overnight, and there should be 12 teams on the start-line.
With today's conditions, and the breeze forecast to increase, we're in for a great day's racing.