WAKA Racing at the 2009 Monsoon Cup. Image copyright Brendon O'Hagan/Subzero Images.
by Garth Ellingham
The name says it all, Monsoon Cup. Landing yesterday morning in Kuala Terengganu, the rain was evident. Land flooded and drains blocked meaning a lot of current on the water. With over 24 hours of constant rain there was more than 4 knots of current running at the strongest point.
We started superbly today with a win over defending world champion Ian Williams after losing the start but keeping it close and pouncing at the top mark. We then lead the rest of the race to take our first win. Unfortunately this was the only one of the day for us. Next we raced three time gold medalist Ben Ainslie. After winning the start and gaining the first cross he crawled back into it at the top. With a severe dial down with us on port we were dealt a harsh red flag penalty and failed to recover from there.
Race 3 was against Richard. We came off the line behind and with the course so biased to one side all we could do was follow. This race really highlighted the importance of the start and winning the right. Our final race was against Bruni. We won the right and lead round the top but choose the wrong gate at the bottom mark where he managed to pass. We attacked on the last downwind but couldn't roll and lost by a boat length.
That's us for 2nd December, off to dinner and a function. A big day tomorrow for us to take down the big guys.
WAKA Racing
World Match Racing Tour
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