Over the last few days Zennor and I have been competing in our first big(isn) regatta together. As part of the build up to the Palma Olympic Class Regatta, a training event was hosted. With 35 boats entered, it was a pretty big step up from what we have been used to! And i think it was fair to say that the majority of the big players were competing, so it was going to be a great test
Day 1
If I’m honest, Day 1 was a crash reminder course (not literally) in racing for me. It has been 1.5 years since I last helmed a big race in anger, so there were definitely some quick lessons relearned! But with champagne conditions, and some fierce competition, we came away from day 1 having scored a 14th and a 10th. But knowing that we had a lot left in the tank we returned to the beach happy.
Day 2
The winds were a little lighter on day 2, but the sun was shining. We had great speed in the more marginal conditions, and having better starts in the first 2 races we were mixing it right at the front of the fleet, with the likes of Franc Cammas and Iker Martinez. In the first 2 races of the day we scored a very impressive 3rd and 2nd. Unfortunately the final race was a bit of a disaster, one of those races where if it could go wrong it did! we eventually finished up in an unfortunate 18th. But very happy with our great pace and starting to get my head back into racing again.
Day 3
Similar conditions to the previous day we knew we would had good pace. After being a little eager in the first race we ended up scoring OCS,10,5. But we were flying always moving forward up the fleet, and one point we sailed straight through Cammas’s lee and then up in front of him. We ended up in 7th overall, which on a world stage and in our first regatta together is a pretty flipping respectable result. For a team that is sure to improve, to be mixing it at the front already bodes pretty well!
We go back into a training program between now and when the OCR starts on the 29th, so stay tuned for more updates, pictures and video.
Cheers for the support.
T
