With a front due to pass over the Solent imminently, the second day of the 44Cup World Championship Cowes was set to be a tricky one. For PRO Maria Torrijo and race team from the Royal Yacht Squadron led by Bruce Grant patience proved vital and after a long wait paid off.
Initially the race committee and the nine RC44 teams ventured out on to water off Hillhead to be greeted by an overcast sky and a northerly that built to 10+ knots. However coinciding with the midday warning signal, blue sky appeared overhead and with this the wind banged 60˚ right and dropped off to nothing. After a wait the boats were sent ashore leaving the race committee to see what would materialise. The Western Solent looked most promising of the poor options available and with the race committee boat relocating just south of the Beaulieu River, fingers were crossed that a southwesterly sea breeze might establish at Hurst Castle and migrate up the West Solent. Finally just after 1600 the southwesterly filled in at Hurst and the RC44s were called out again.
For the start, close to Lepe Middle at 1640 the wind had built to 14 knots from 230˚ but coincided with the last of the ebb, providing tacticians with the options of heading left (on the Isle of Wight side) into deeper water or right on the mainland side.
Team Aqua of event patron Chris Bake had the best start by the committee boat and tacked immediately with the majority of the fleet. Meanwhile Christian Zuerrer’s Black Star Sailing Team in the good company of defending world champion Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika and overall event leader, Pietro Loro Piana’s Aleph Racing, chose the left where it rapidly became apparent that they had chosen well. Having won the pin, Black Star Sailing Team was first to the weather mark and led down the run. However at the leeward gate they chose to repeat their tactics heading left as on Aleph Racing tactician Michele Ivaldi chose what seemed to be the unfavoured right. As the two front runners came back together up the beat the French-flagged RC44 crossed clear ahead of Black Star Sailing Team, to lead into the top mark and went on to score their second bullet of the regatta.
As a result Aleph Racing now leads the 44Cup World Championship Cowes at its half way stage, four points ahead of Team Aqua with Markus Tornqvist’s GeMera Racing another three behind in third but then with third to sixth placed boats all within two points.
A second race had been hoped for, but with the hour getting late and the tide building, this idea was abandoned.
“It was good, finally to have this race,” mused Black Star Sailing Team’s Chris Zuerrer. “I was concerned when this morning the sun came out andthe wind disappeared. I'm thankful that the race officers were patient to wait and to send us out again. We had a beautiful race - sunset sailing.”
His Kiwi tactician Cameron Dunn shared his take on the race: “We got what we wanted on the first beat. It was not an easy place to sail, but we were pretty convinced that the current was going to be better out on the left on the first beat. There were only three of us going left but when we tacked, it was clear we'd made a big gain.”
Dunn added that he regretted repeating his tactic on the second beat. “I wanted to go right, but everyone was going left, except for Aleph, and so we decided to stick with the numbers. Credit to them [Aleph] - they made a big gain because of the way the current had got less.”
Having led into racing today, Aleph Racing scoring their second bullet has now given them a welcome, but far from unassailable, four-point lead over the rest of the fleet. Tactician Michele Ivaldi explained their winning tactics today: “Maria [Torrijo] did a good job waiting for the westerly and when we went out it was very tricky because it was at the change of the tide, so thanks to Graham [Sunderland, of Winning Tides fame] who is helping us. We had a solid strategy and decided to go straight on the first beat and then early gybe to see the change of current [on the run].
“Then on the second upwind, we saw that the tide had changed in the main channel so we went all the way to the right and we made a good gain and passed Black Star.” Ivaldi acknowledged that they had been pushing it on the shallower right side, the water beneath their keel having got down to just one metre.
According to Cameron Dunn, conditions tomorrow looks similar to today. Already the PRO has said we will be starting one hour later. “Tomorrow looks pretty marginal, real soft and there's no isobars around. I think it's going to be a tricky day.”