Phil Robertson on a scooter in Bermuda. Image copyright Subzero Images/WMRT.
by Garth Ellingham
Today was an early start for all the skippers in the repechage, with a 7am briefing and 8am first race due too a bad forecast. It was an important four races for us with the top 2 finishers going through to the quarter finals.
Condtions were from the opposite direction from previous days, blowing straight through the buildings off the city.
The day started well with two solid victories over Bjorn Hansen and Alvaro Marinho.
Next we had a very tight race with Ian Williams with penalties galore going both ways. Unfortunately for us when picking a couple of nice shifts and closing in on Ian he tried to lock us at the top mark. Whilst trying to get out of this position we just clipped the back of Ian. The umpires correctly ruled that we were in the wrong and handed us a penalty and Ian the race.
The last race of the day was one that is always much anticipated for us. We got to have a shot at current world champions and great mates of ours BlackMatch Racing. Unfortunately today was not our day as the BlackMatch boys showed their class putting a penalty on us in the prestart and coming of the line to windward of us. We almost spat them after the start but luckily for them they got an inside right pressure (wind) at the perfect time, which enabled them to live and hold us for most the beat. After that they sailed really well not giving us a chance to catch up and went onto win comfortably.
Overall this put us on 2 wins/3 losses and placed us 10th for the regatta. This is a pretty disappointing result for the team as the two things (time on distance and starts) we identified prior to event as being crucial for this event, we performed poorly at. Luckily we get a chance for redemption soon enough in the very familiar Foundations 36 in Malaysia at the Monsoon Cup Qualifier. So for now its back home for the boys for a week or so, with some training on the agenda.
Waka Racing would like to thank our main sponsor Tax Management NZ and all the support we receive from the RNZYS, Frontend, Zhik , Wells and Co, PredictWind and Devine Consultants.
Waka Racing is Phil Robertson, Garth Ellingham, James Williamson and Sam Bell.
Waka Racing
World Match Racing Tour
