Light air today at the ICCT. Three races were sailed in 3-5 knots of wind and flat water, what a polar opposite from yesterday.
We had our backs against the wall being down 3-1. We did well in the pre-start and got a good start to weather of Johnny and Charlie. Unfortunately our speed was not as good and after about 200 yards of sailing, we had to tack to port. On the hitch to the right, I eased my mainsheet tension and we started moving a lot better. We actually made a big gain back but when we came back on the starboard tack layline, we knew they were going to spank us with a covering tack to the mark. We rounded about 30 yards behind. We hovered between 30-50 yards behind for the rest of the race. Game over for the defender selection. We feel good about our racing knowing that it was small mistakes that made the difference. In talking to Charlie after the racing, he felt they had a big advantage with the Cuben fiber mainsail they were using for all of the racing. This is an exciting development that is a trickle down from their successful Tornado program. I'm sure that WF will have one of these mainsails in the near future flying on the Gunboat HT.
The challenger racing was great for Enrique and Jorge and a bad dream for Mitch and Herbie. Mitch and Herbie seemed to always get the first advantage off the line but Enrique and Jorge seemed to have better speed and made some good tactical moves to pass during both races to even the score. I think Mitch feels there is still some learning curve with the Marstrom 18HT but most observers think the A-cat hulls may be too small for the crew weight of two sailors. The final challenger race is tomorrow and the forcast is for more light air.
Southern Yacht Club is doing a great job of running the event. Catamaran racing is a unique spectacle to this mostly monohull community and the ICCT is leaving a lasting impression to many.
Racing continues tomorrow with the final challenger race. The finals will be sailed on Friday and Saturday. The two teams that do not make the finals will race a "petit" finals on these two days.
Bob Hodges