Match racing on the Neva river for the National Congress Palace Cup 2009. Image copyright event organisers.
by Event Media
A quirky current demanded that complex planning was needed for each race: “Should we sail to the gust or should we stay in slower water?”. Every leg was different, the many variable factors made every race unique and the skills of the sailors were rigorously tested – this is the Neva River and THIS IS THE MATCH RACE!!
As on the previous days, when the clouds cleared to let the sun shine through, the wind dropped, slowing the action on the water somewhat. On the other hand, this made every situation unpredictable, enjoyable and very entertaining for spectators; sometimes ending in a funny way. The Umpire Team said that there were an unusually low number of penalties, nobody was willing to be too close to their opponents.
By 1740 hours 15 flights were completed and the New Zealand team (WAKA Racing with skipper Phil Robertson) was close to took the lead – no surprise, they made many practices on the current in NZL. Unfortunately other scheduled races had to be cancelled, the reason being - no wind! Few more flights will be run tomorrow, but even now full leader board shows few teams will not be able to proceed to quarterfinals for sure (if there will be quarterfinals...).
Marek Stanczyk, POL, skipper of Nautiner Yachts Racing: “We feel very bad, our results is what we want to forget as soon as possible. We decided to come here few weeks before the event and didn’t have a chance to sail on the current at all before it. Our main weapon – fast, aggressive prestarts was neutralized in these condition, the current and light wind kills us; our weight is 300 grams under the limit. From the other hand this is good practice before Match Race European Championship which will be sailed on little current as well.”
Few words from Philippe Gomez - Chief Umpire: “Despite difficult weather conditions, the Race committee was able to make fair races in the wonderful venue .The decision to cut the quarter final was taken in order to have full semi final. A lot of spectators are able to see the race from both side of Neva river, which make that venue in the heart of the city unique. Until now no particular problems occurred, and we are confident that remaining races will provide exiting matches, until the end of the round robin.”
The event continues until Sunday, the schedule is to run full round robin, quarterfinals (dropped), semifinals and finals.
The National Congress Palace Cup 2009
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