Racing Underway

Racing at the 470 Masters Cup started yesterday in a shifty, Southerly 12 knots breeze. Two of the three scheduled races were completed and dominated by Switzerland, France and Germany.

Due to some significant shifts of wind and a general recall, it took more than half an hour until a valid start became a fact. At the first mark rounding Switzerland’s Stefan SEGER / Dominik LIENER started to dominate the event, followed by Germany’s Markus MEILCHEN / Michael JUSTEN and Netherlands’ LA ’84 veteran John STAVENUITER sailing with Rick Van WIJNGAARDEN.

Three teams chased each other on the reach to turn downward in a close race. The Dutch boat capsized, giving France’s Gilles CHAPELIN / Elise CHAPELIN the opportunity to finalize the race in top three position.

During the starting procedure of the second start, the wind started shifting in a more aggressive manner. Only a few seconds before the starting signal of race two, the Race Committee cancelled the procedure and postponed until dark grey clouds had crossed the race course. After about half an hour, race two got underway.

First mark roundings were the same as in race one. SUI 1421 retained the lead with a few boats behind fighting for the remaining top three positions.

Race three started in decreasing winds. The Fleet on the right side of the course profited of a last squeeze of wind, which resulted in totally a different composition compared to earlier races of the day. For some minutes the wind totally left the course, to come back in a 60 degrees change of direction. For the Race Management this was a reason to cancel the race and send the 470’s back to the harbour.

Two races are scheduled for Wednesday starting at 10:00.

Top Ten After Two Races