04/06/2026
It was back to business as usual today after the sailor’s traumas of Tuesday. The overnight high winds from the Northeast had left a decent bit of chop though, and this was arriving onshore to scare people, not to mention also leaving big chunks of palm tree bark scattered about the boatpark. The committee decided for these waves to quieten down a little before hoisting the Delta flag for the Classics to allow them onto the beach at about 1pm. Three races were scheduled again, and the PRO looks determined to get a full race series of twelve races in and looks on target to do just that.
A few nervously surveyed the scene, debating whether to go out or not. But it was suggested that it always looks worse from the shore, and the longer you stare at it, the worse it becomes in your mind. It rarely was bad once you get out, and indeed this was true in this case. Sailors who were on the verge of quitting, once afloat, had a great time.
The courses were again Classics South, Open to their North and once out, the Classics didn’t hang about getting the show started. In fact, it was underway before all the open sailors were in their zone with some watching the Classics round their top marks as they sailed onwards to their own line.
The winds were 11-14 kts but there was still a reasonable chop on the course, but the Classics took that in their stride and power through it. Again, it was lake sailing rather like yesterday, but with fewer alarming shifts and gusts. The top left of the course seemed to offer a nice lift that several sailors discovered but kept to themselves. It even allowed a few to reach the gate with just one tack and places could be gained for free. But the wind was generally in a middle channel over the rest of the course leading to more tacks to stay withing the pressure if that’s what you wanted to do. But as these were A-Cats and not Lasers, most chose the fewer manoeuvres option and sucked up the lower pressure hoping for gusts.
Andrew Landenberger AUS 308 had done a few tweaks to his boat following yesterday’s outing, and it showed. The fleet leader, Jacek Noetzel POL1, was out raced this time in all three races today as Landy scored straight bullets in each race. Jacek was still dynamite downhill, his trademark downwind trapezing flat style sees his Classic Exploder Ad3 skimming beautifully, but the Former Olympic Tornado medallist Landy held him off by being able to sail deeper downwind whilst maintaining his speed in a masterclass of technical skill and course positioning.
Marco Radman ITA 55 lies in third. This self-effacing Italian is a master at being effortlessly smooth, making no great noise or show, but quietly gets on with the job in hand and had banged in 5 third place finishes as a result, so Landy better watch, because he’s only 3 points behind.
But the reigning Euro Champ, Gustavo Doreste ESP 72, is having a bit of a mare in this regatta. A UFD on Tuesday saw a points opportunity missed, and Marco had pushed him into a 5th and 4th in these two last races before a pressure final gybe 40m from the line saw him flip the boat and losing contact with it as he capsized. He was recovered and returned to the boat into the water downwind with no other assistance, but once righted he retired in disgust to lick his wounds and to take the second discard leaving him in 8th place overall overnight. However, after his discards, he’s in a fight with Landy for second.
The only other incident of note was a collision that left a boat foundering after a hull was pierced and started to flood. These things carry no extra buoyancy, to such an injury tends to be serious. Fortunately, quick thinking by the safety boat team saw the inventive use of fenders, stolen/requisitioned from the nearby committee boat, to get the wounded cat and uninjured sailor back onto an even keel and upright enough to be towed the mile to the launch area. An interesting future training scenario for any safety boat teams out there.
Up on the Open track, the wind was again in a central channel so both right and left sides seemed to offer no noticeable spectacular advantage. The lead rider, Tripple World Champ, Kuba Surowiec POL 41, looked to be on his usual supersonic form, especially in his frequently unbeatable downwind mode. However, he is being chased down closely by Italian Champion Lamberto Cesare ITA13. Lambi’s upwind speed is his key. He seems to have found that illusive ‘aggregation of small gains’ thing the British Olympic cycling team had, so essentially his ‘wheels are very round!’.
Catalan sailor Manuel Calavia ESP 11 is putting in consistent results to stay in third place and Polish sailor Michael Kornezczuk POL 111 is having his best regatta currently in fourth. However, below them, and pair of hotshots, Emil Järudd SWE 14 and Marco Anessi ITA 71 are getting great results but have poor finishes on a few occasions dropping them down to fifth and sixth. But, after Thursday racing, barring catastrophes, and the second discard kicks in, they could be in podium reaching positions.
This event is proving to be a great one so far. The battle for positions is all the way up the tables, and the winner is far from clear cut as we stand currently.
Photos. Gordon Upton, Guppypix.com
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