A lack of breeze doesn’t stop us taking line honours for the 3rd race in a row
As I arrived on the dock this morning, the crew of Unfurled
were suitably fuelled up and raring to go. After a well deserved rest
yesterday, we were all ready for another (winning) day racing on the water.
Sadly, the winds did not cooperate, and a wind speed of 1 knot on the dial dampened
our sense of enthusiam.
After an hour floating a couple of miles offshore waiting
for the wind to pick up, the 5-7knot NNW finally arrived and the VHF crackled in
to life as the race committee gave us our course.
With eerily flat waters and enough sun for everyone to whip
out their polaroids, today’s race was turning out to be entirely different one
to the wet and breezy conditions we experienced earlier in the week.
With a top windspeed today of 12 knots, it felt more like a
Mediterranean cruise than a South Coast regatta. (The calm conditions did allow
us to take plenty of pictures -see our online gallery here).
Heavyweight Adela struggled with
the lighter winds, whilst the smaller yachts like Mikado and Tomhawk coped well,
giving Unfurled a unique mix of competitors as we powered towards the
weathermark under Pendennis Point.
As some of the smaller yachts divided
around the last mark onto different bearings in a bid to hunt down the pockets
of wind, we beat past classics Mariquita followed by Mariette, before soon
enough crossing the finishing line at Black Rock, to receive our 3rd
line honours in as many races. Unfortunately, after corrected time we slipped
to 3rd place behind Mariquita and Mariette, missing 2nd
place by a mere 30 seconds.
The current forecast for tomorrow keeps changing between
gale force winds and a gentle breeze as a low pressure moves across the South
West. Theres all to play for as the lead yachts Unfurled and Mariette are on
equal points for first place. Check back tomorrow to find out who will take the
Pendennis Cup…
Check the full race results here
Photos courtesy Richard Langdon (oceanimages.com)