Blind Fleet Racing World’s 2017, Day 4. GBR Are Getting To Grips With The Conditions

The team woke to glorious sailing conditions with the wind from the South 12 - 14 knots with a slight chop from the South East.

Teams all left the harbour on time to get a few training runs in before 10 o’clock, this was lucky as when GBR B2 did a test beat, their goose neck broke. But after a quick change of booms by the boson the team were back off to the start.

The B2 team showed good boat handling skills pre-start right to the gun, controlling their speed and handling each attack by the USA. Canada had good boat speed today against GBR giving them a tough time on the first beat, although strong and smooth boat handling skills saw GBR take the lead and keep the lead throughout the race. GBR B2 had a solid day with 4 wins seeing them comfortably in 1st overall on Day 4.

The two B3 teams are close overall, and the wind stayed steady all morning. Race 1 saw both teams OCS, seeing them both duck back under the line. Both teams sailed hard and fast and fought back to a 1,2 at the top mark, where the positions stayed, a 1st for GBR B3a and a 2nd for GBR B3b. Race two saw both teams again race hard, this allowed Canada to slowly catch up. But both teams sailed close to the finish line seeing them cross on a photo finish. They continued their day racing each other hard with GBR B3a getting a 1,1,3,2 and GBR B3b 2,2,1,1.

Great morning for all three teams.

The B1 team headed out for a 14.00 start with the breeze still holding steady from the South East 10 - 12 knots. B1 was sitting in 2nd overall. Race one saw GBR get clear ahead, they maintained their lead throughout the race but on the last down wind leg USA, Canada reeled them back to see all boats finish tight on the line but with GBR ahead. Race two was again close but GBR got a good start seeing them have a bit of a lead into the bottom mark, but GBR took the left-hand gate mark which saw them drop back one place and fight all the way to the end to take a 1st. The racing remained close for the last two races seeing the breeze drop slightly, but GBR remained strong with a 1, 2