report de la première journée par RGiste americain :
"Recap from Day #1 - RG Worlds Day #1 started early with the first Race scheduled at 9:00am – and the last race not starting after 5:00pm. We had two seeding races, and then went into HMS style relegation/promotion (4up / 4 down) – with the fleet size being 12-13 at the start. Seeding races were both light, and the course had to be completely changed due to a major wind shift. We are sailing from the end of a long pier, that is about 1M off the water, at the end of a series of boat slips. The wind was unfortunately blowing from the Shore – so it was incredibly unstable and shifty – in both direction and velocity. The Committee did a good job in trying to set a square course, however – the distance of the marks—and the size of the boats—the starting line, and leeward gates were incredibly challenging from a deep perception perspective. The Leeward gate would be 90 M dead down wind and coming back to weather you be sailing directing “at yourself” – using only angle of heel , to determine whether the boat was on or “off” the wind. We sailed until a lunch break , and the wind had gotten very gusty – requiring #2rigs for most of the boats. The instability of the wind direction would be very frustrating indeed, -- as you have a favorable start, and simply sail out of breeze. The boats on the other “un=favored side of the course” would get a huge puff, and the lead would change hands very readily. As for lunch - there is a full restaurant at the club, so we had Steak (filet) rice and French fries both days – “this” I could get used to…..!! The committee decided to break for about an hour – and Denis Asbury helped set a new course with the committee (from an entirely new direction) late in the day. We got off a series of three race (5 total for the day), in what stabilized into #2 rig, and number #3 rig for most of the skippers. The fleet sailing in the “A” Fleet group is certainly aggressive, and the boat on boat contact is certainly more prevalent than that from the IOM crowd. You are allowed to brush marks in this group, and that is a true blessing – with the distances of the courses set here. Being a “Fixed point” venue – it is very similar to the IOM Worlds in Israel. My own performance has not been what I’d hoped – however, I simply can state that the front end in this group can really handle swing rigs in bigger breezes without much of a challenge. Pedro and Denis are both very quick, Herman from Argentina (with the Argon) has good speed as well. I have not seen any formal fleet standing yet – so I cannot comment on the leaders. I personally have been bumped to B Fleet twice – but was lucky enough to win both to promote back. The Hospitality for the folks that traveled here –has been notable. The committee is very considerate considering John from France, and myself are the only two none Portuguese/Spanish speaking participants. As for the backdrop being set in Niterio – having the Sugar Loaf (mountain) and the Christ statue as a backdrop for the starting line….. I’m not sure if there’s anything more that needs to be said. Mauricio Dante (USA #171) has been a great companion, and his linguistic skills here are priceless."
go team france, juste le temps de réparer les fuites, de fiabiliser le bateau.
_________________ http://miniflotte-flamanvillaise.over-blog.com/ propulsé par : Vam sail WEDGE par Vam Sail
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