Storms disrupted racing in Trapani. Image copyright Studio Martinez/RC44
by Paul Cayard
Only two races were held today due to thunder and lightening all around the area. The clouds generated strong winds in the 16-23 knot range from the northeast.
In the first race, Artemis Racing sailed a pretty smooth race and we finished 2nd behind Cereef with Katusha 3rd.
In the second race, we were battling away in 5th most of the race. Katusha had the race in hand all the way around the 2-lap course.
Seconds after a very close finish with Aqua, and a deep downwind "shoot", the leech of their gennaker touched our mainsail. The fault could be debated, however it's not material, as both boats had finished. Unfortunately the umpire making the call was about 6 boat lengths to windward of the line and could not judge the fact that both had finished.
Artemis Racing was penalized after the finish and therefore scored last which is 13 points. All on the water umpire calls are final.
Katusha sailed very well to win the second race and coupled with their 3rd place in the first race, they won the day by one point over Cereef who also sailed very well to score 1, 4.
So after 3 days of racing, Cereef leads with 35 points, Aqua is second with 40, Katusha is third with 42 and Artemis Racing and Nika are tied for 4th with 52 points.
Tomorrow is the final day of this event and the race committee is hoping to get 3 to 4 races in tomorrow as today was a short day.
Our skipper, Torbjörn Tornqvist, is leaving us today as he has to attend to business. Sarah Gundersen will be taking his place at the helm tomorrow.
For complete results go to www.rc44.com
