The final day of racing and just like in Palma it was 2 medal races. We were scheduled for the 2pm start which was nice as it meant we were able to have a bit of a lay in. During our warm up in the morning, it was clear that the conditions were pretty messy. Some of the other classes were already of the water and you could see that what wind there was, was coming for all different directions
As we knew we had a lot to do after racing I decided t spend some of my morning sorting of the trailer for the pack up later that day, and after that and and bit of a postponement we eventually made it to the water.
The breeze had filled in a bit, but it was still very all over the place. Medal races are raced close to the shore for spectators, but in dong so it creates very poor sailing conditions.
In race 1 after a good start the positions we changing constantly, one minute we would be right up there in the top 3 and next at the back. The was no pattern to the breeze, you just had to sail with what you had at the the time. After a lot of place changing, we just got the wrong side of it in the final leg and crossed the line in 8th
Race 2 was in similar conditions after after being a bit too eager on the line, we had to go back and restart. The combined with then missing all the breeze up the first beat put us unsurprisingly a long way back. To then add to the problems we managed to snap the tiller extension mean that luck was restricted to sitting on the side and not trapezing. We worked so hard for the rest of the race and despite the handicap of Lucy not on the wire sailed up to the back of the pack, and just picked one boat off before the finish. That and another boat being OCS meant we scored another 8th
So after all the racing we actually slipped to 10th overall, but I think we can safely put Hyeres regatta down as a learning experience. We seem to now understand the rig set up a little better, and also know there is a long way to go. I am back in the UK now and am meeting Lucy in Weymouth tomorrow to unload everyone's boats and stuff from the trailer. Then I'm taking our boat onwards to Cornwall to give her some TLC next week, before we are training in Weymouth again the week after. Following that we a off again to Holland for the next regatta
Check back for developments on boat work and training
Cheers
TP
