The 4th day, race 6 of the 505 Worlds, was supposed to be a 15-20kn seabreeze. Yet when we struggled out of bed, there was a strong ‘gully wind’, a 15kn Sou’ Easter and lots of cloud. At Brighton, it will normally it will bend to the South West and turn into a seabreeze. But the cloud wasn’t a good sign, and when it swung to the Nor’ East, we knew we were in trouble. You never get a good seabreeze after a Northerly. Before the race start, it had bent back to the S/E and by the time we started, we were heading into a N/Wester. There was going to be trouble ahead.

The wind was light, 5-8kn occasionally hitting 10kn. And there were, as you would expect a lot of shifts. There were some massive positional movements throughout the field, with the field being both compressed several times during the race and then spread on the last beat. So up until that last beat, there were probably 40 boats fighting for the first few places. The Super Danes, Jan Saugmann and Morten Ramsbaek from Denmark, got their second win, but they had to work hard to do it, digging themselves out from 14th at the first mark. Their win gives them an 11 point lead at the front of the field. Team Tuesday’s Howie Hamlin and Fritz Lanzinger pulled second after being 9th at the first mark and Boris Herrmann and Julien Kliener picked up 3rd.

Beyond that there were some huge horror stories. There were plenty of shifts during the race, with the race committee moving the top mark at every bottom mark rounding. But it was the last beat, that was the doozy. The wind had weakened and had bent a little to the left, but there was slightly more pressure to the right and direction was WSW. However as the leaders approached the finish, the wind died and a S/Easter formed on the shore. The first two boats crept over the line, then we had boats coming from the right in a Westerly and boats running from the left with their kites up. In the end the Sou’ Easter kicked in, but a lot of damage was done.

On the Funk Mobile, we set ourselves of getting a good start, but again we stuffed it. These gates start are a whole new set of skills. We were second row instantly and had a tough decision, tack under everyone and hope, or foot off, get a lane and hope. We footed and gave up 200-300m instantly, but did find the shift we were looking for and instead of being 80th, rounded in the 20’s. After that, we played the compression game well and picked a few spots, but then threw a bunch away when the wind flicked back right. We were certain it was going left. Coming into the last beat, we were still in the high teens and after a lot of discussion, elected to play the pressure to the right. Every time it dropped out, we would step back right into it. It was high risk, but it was paying. Coming into the finish, we held the Westerly to the last and were only in a hole for a minute or two. We did come back massively knocked into the Sou’ Easter, but we were moving. In the end we got to 8th and we were stoked with that.

Tomorrow, there are two races and the forecast is again for a 15-20kn seabreeze. We can only hope.

Stay happy

Jfunk