2003 Lightning Worlds

Opening ceremonies last night were great: the Honor Guard, national anthems, flags. Plenty of pomp and circumstance, and absolutely priceless evening weather: cool, clear, enough wind to shake the flags...

The cold front that came through last week has left us with beautiful sunny skies and not a lot of breeze. Today we went out at 10 am, and got the first and only race started at around 1 pm.

One general recall, and then the fleet of 60 boats sailing from 11 countries started under the 20% penalty flag. That means if you are over the line early, and you go back and restart, you get 20% off your finish place. The idea is to keep the fleet back behind the line.

I just checked the preliminary results and it looks like 16 boats were over early and didn't go back, thereby earning an "OCS" -- never mind how they finished. But the results are preliminary because there are a bunch of protests, and at least one of the boats has been reinstated.

Our boat had a pretty bad start to the regatta with a 26th place finish. We got smushed at the start, with lots and lots of boats around us. We tacked behind just about everyone and then were never quite able to get speed or a lucky break to push us up through the fleet.

Right now, the two Chilean teams are looking great: Juan Reid has an OCS, but was first by a way, and Tito Gonzalez was OCS but was reinstated to a first. The results will probably change, so check the lightning class website for complete details.

Until tomorrow!