Race Area
Right wind direction. More north than before.
Start
With such a long line and unstable wind, there is often different wind on different parts of the line. So some of the outcome can be out of your hands once you pick a place to start. This time there was some solid bias favoring the pin end. Even more, the boats at the pin got right wind and were shooting up the ladder towards the top mark. The best example was YC Monaco that had pretty bad start and went very low. Later they got the right wind and went all the way up. On the other side, Still Crazy got the left wind and was sailing pretty solid on port tack. Sail Racing and Arete seem to be doing the best, tacking on next leftie and in control of the fleet.
1st Upwind
There were many different ways to arrive to the top in a solid place. Still Crazy went right with the initial left wind they had. They were patient enough to wait for some right shifts to try and cross, got some help due to the fact that the course was skewed with more sailing on port tack. At the end they got solid righty and went ahead. On the other side, YC Monaco has taken the leftie after the initial big right shift and was on top of the fleet. They, however lost a bit at the end, due to that right shift at the top. Rowdy sailed between these two and delivered a solid 1st leg.
There were many small wind shifts around the course. The best way to see them is to use the red/green colored tracks picture.
Many wind shifts at different places
Top Mark
Big differences in time it takes to round the windward marks. Much easier for boats ahead. Still Crazy also took a long time, going pretty slow after the gybe set.
1st Downwind
Gybeset option ended up in big losses. Still Crazy went for it and has lost a lot to the leading pack. YC Monaco and Rowdy had the solid leg. The only boats that spent less time on this leg were the ones quite in the back. They benefited with the better breeze in the back so Stubb ended up the fastest.
Once again very different conditions based on where you were in the fleet.
- Great straight set performance and very bad one for gybe set in the front.
- Late gybe setters going very well
- Mid fleet that ended up left had a hard time to get to the gate. ( Porco Rosso, Sassy, EuroVoiles)
Gate Rounding
14m of bias, favoring the left turn. Still All that matters on a day like this is to get into the good wind as soon as possible. So I would call 14m big bias otherwise, but not on a day like today. Still, you can see the jump in TTL graph for everyone doing the left turn as they gained on the leader that did the right one. Also, looks like boats in the back were doing better due to better wind conditions, too.
2nd Upwind
Difficult time for the boats in the front as they have parked after the gate mark. YC Monaco losing the most on the left side. Main pack had much easier time and Sassy sailed the fastest upwind, picking the shifts in the middle of the course. Noticia and Good To Go did similar. YC Monaco ended up as a boat that spent the longest time on this leg. Losing a lot to Rowdy that suffered less more right. The wind direction was pretty stable as the wind arrived, compared to earlier today. It looks like at the very top, it was a bit better to arrive from the left side.
The bottom half of the leg was with better pressure.(except the leaders). There was a bit of slowdown at the top.
2nd Downwind
Finally a leg where you can get some info on performance. The most stable one today. The wind was dropping and slowing down the finish line approach. There was also subtle right shift during the leg, making it easier for straight set boats going left. Noticia did the best, overtaking Sail Racing and gaining with sailing through the middle of the course. Rowdy and YC Monaco kept their positions also by controling the fleet through the middle. In the mid group both Jelvis and Elvis did well, following similar path to leaders.
Quite a slowdown at the finish. A bit more red on the right side of it.
