It has been a whirlwind week-one, so I haven't had much time or energy to sit down and post about our adventure, but now that we've settled into the rhythm of racing, I'll try to post daily updates for the remainder of the event.
Today was day two of the qualifying series at the World Championship, so for the last two days, the fleets have been seeded and divided into four, roughly even fleets of about 50 boats each. Yesterday I was on Course A with Sam and Michael, Chris and Wade, and Ian and Nic, while Leandro covered the other three teams on Course B. With about fourteen to eighteen knots and lumpy chop, the goal for the day was to put up some keeper scores, and to get settled into the rhythm of big fleet racing. All three teams did an awesome job getting to the course early, working together to get tuned up, and working hard between races to figure out which side was favored, and where to set up on the line. Overall, day one was a fairly low drama day, with the Team USA boys executing strong starts, and rounding many of the marks first, second, and top ten. The whole team sailed very well, with Chris and Wade leading the charge by leading all three races at some point.
Today was breezier, with massive waves contributing to significantly more drama on both courses. Big wipeouts by the leaders were common, and at a few of the leeward marks, boats piled up flipping one after another as they came in to round. In Red fleet, Nic and Ian spent the day in an epic battle with the top Kiwi team, swapping bullets (first place finishes), and in the last race swapped the lead in the race on five different occasions. In Yellow fleet, Max and Andrew put up some solid scores, leading one race by a healthy margin until capsizing on the downwind.
One more day of qualifying before the final series starts, and the forecast is for much lighter breeze. We'll keep you updated.