Auckland, NZ
February 16, 2008

There was tons of lively sailing action on the opening day of the Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland 2008 regatta on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour as our 46 Women’s Laser Radials mixed it up with Lasers and Men’s Radials and a fleet of Class A keelboats and gaff-riggers. 

Finish line action

I finished up ninth overall with a 7-10-12 record after three races but that score doesn’t really reflect my performance in the puffy, puzzling conditions. I came ashore knowing that my boat speed is good against this international fleet. The weather forecasters had promised westerly winds of 30 knots gusting to 35 but what we got was a shifty, gusty day with the occasional rainy squall and breeze ranging between 10 and 20 knots.

We waited through a couple of rain squalls and wind shifts before the first race and I had a bad start, back from the line and had to fight for clear air. I stuck to my game plan and went left and dealt with the tricky conditions pretty well to finish 7th.

The breeze was up to 12-15 knots for the second race and I was late getting to the line. Then a nice hole opened up and I punched through and accelerated too soon and was out there on my own, over early. The fleet cleared out to the left as I returned to the line, rounded up and set off on port. I fought back the whole way, working the lifted tack and was up to 17th place by the second windward mark. I had great speed on the reaches and runs, picking up six or seven boats on one reach, and finished tenth.

Sports drink break between races

The star today was Finland’s Sari Multala with a 3-3-1 record. Second was China’s Lijia Xu, with 9-2-3 finishes. Third overall went to the local talent, New Zealand’s Jo Aleh, with 1-7-10.

The westerly trend looks like persisting into tomorrow, perhaps more southwest, and the Race Committee is promising us four races, so it’s an early night for me tonight.