(I thought you might find this report interesting -- especially the part about the wave conditions they experienced today. This was sent to me by e-mail from Jill Nickerson of the Suncoast Sailing Campaign.)
Robbie Daniel and Eric Jacobsen of the Suncoast Sailing Campaign are in Barcelona Spain for the Barcelona Olympic Week of Racing. This is a world class event that is attended by all the Olympic Classes and sailors from all over the world. Most of these sailors will continue on to
compete in the Palma Olympic Regatta called the Princess Sofia regatta, following this event on the island of Majorca, then onto Hyeres France for the Semaine Olympique.
The Tornado class is packed with top sailors from all corners of the world with 62 entrants. A tough fleet, to say the least, with at least 40 boats deserving a top 10 finish. The competition is expected to be tough, but the conditions have proven to be even tougher.
The first scheduled day of racing was Sunday April 6th. After floating all day, the race committee finally started a race at about 5:30 in the afternoon, only to cancel it shortly there after, due to the lack of wind. This was a far cry from two days prior when the wind was blowing
about 50 knots knocking over almost everything in its path.
Today (Monday, April 7) brought REALLY cold weather, coupled with strong winds and MONSTROUS waves -- it made for stronger conditions than many teams could handle. The first race started in about 14-15 knots, building to 17-18 for the second race and dropping slightly to 12-14 for the last race of the day.
Robbie said, "in all my years of sailing I have never seen waves like these. They were HUGE and with a very strange pattern. They were so big that the boat beside you would disappear." At one point Robbie and Eric were going up wind, both on the trapeze, with the hull up in the air so they were off the surface of the water as much as possible, when suddenly one of these huge, strange waves took both of them off the boat in a heartbeat. They both hung on for dear life and Robbie continued to try and maintain some control while dragging along side the boat. Fortunately, they both managed to get back on with out flipping over.
There where many harrowing stories that they heard on the beach. Several boats were hit by a wave so forceful that it would break the tiller in half while the skipper was holding it. Some flipped, some broke and some
just gave up and retired for the day.
Robbie and Eric hung in there and managed to finish all three races without any serious injuries or breakdowns. Other than being really cold and really exhausted, they are ready to hit it hard tomorrow, make the necessary repairs, and go out there again.
News and information on the race can be found at www.bosw.org. At the time of this report, the organizing committee had not posted results and since it is about midnight in Barcelona....I imagine they may not be up until tomorrow. I can tell you that the guys are in about 12th place we think....this may change slightly after the dust settles from the day.
Best regards,
Jill Nickerson
Suncoast Sailing Campaign
I hope someone was there to take pictures, that sounds incredible.