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posted : about 1 year ago Just One More Day at the 2009 Opti North American's
A frontal system came in yesterday evening and has hovered over south eastern Hispaniola ever since. Sailors woke up to grey, overcast skies with the threat of rain and thunderstorms. The harbour start was quite late as the organizers waited for the system to dissipate to an acceptable level. Once out on the racecourse the sailors found large seas and 15 - 20 knots of breeze. The BER/GER coach boat struggled as they exited the lagoon into the open water with 8 Bda boats and 3 German boats in tow. Since they were already behind schedule the Race Committee wasted no time in get the first group off and running. The weather system had produced a slightly more easterly wind direction than normal, ESE. The wind held steady for the start of the first 2 groups but started to lighten soon after, dropping to around 5 knots and shifting more southerly. The swells did not decrease and as a result many more sailors felt seasick than any of the previous days. During the last beat of the final flight the wind shifted 180 degrees dramatically mixing up the fleet standings. Dimitri had been one of the leading two boats of that fleet prior to the shift and had to fight for his eventual 11th place. Owen in the same race had hedged his top ten position prior to the shift and ended up 6th. In flight 2 Kalin had a 16th and Mackenzie had a 6th. In their matches Connor was 14th, Rahiem 42nd, Antonio 48th and Makai was over the line early and scored an OCS. The breeze dropped out completely after the 3 flight finished and the Race Committee was forced to cancel racing for the rest of the day. Kalin, Owen, Mackenzie, Connor and Dimitri all moved up in the overall standings. 3 Bermudians are now in the top 25.
Standings after 7 Races - 198 boats
Kalin Hillier - 11
Owen Siese - 12
Mackenzie Cooper - 24
Connor Astwood- 41
Dimitri Stevens - 53
Rahiem Steede - 91
Antonio Bailey - 128
Makai Joell - 171
