C-Class Catamaran Championship at Restronguet Sailing Club - Day 1
by International C-Class Catamaran Association 22 Sep 2013 21:57 BST
21-28 September 2013
Falmouth fog foils racing on day one of the C-Class Catamaran Championship © Meredith Block
Falmouth fog foils Little Cup opener
Light air and a rare, zero-visibility sea mist put an early end to day one of the 2013 International C-Class Catamaran Championship today after three abandoned races. "We don't sea that kind of fog often, but there was just no way to run safe races with such terrible visibility," said local catamaran expert Brian Phipps.
One race was abandoned after less than a minute due to a big wind shift, but when the fog lifted shortly afterwards to reveal a beautiful, sunny day and 6-knot breeze, smiles shone throughout the fleet. Minutes later, Christian Pavey aboard 2010 Little Cup winner Canaan port-tacked the fleet in the second start of the day, sailing off to a big lead in the first leg. As Franck Cammas's Groupama chased Peavey down, the fog rolled in again, and within ten minutes the entire fleet was lost. "We had no idea where the mark was," said Cammas. "When our tender found us we learned we had sailed more than a mile away from it."
The race was quickly abandoned, with the rest of the afternoon spent herding together the wayward flock before the fleet returned to the Restronguet Sailing Club beach in convoy.
Look for more news, photos and videos later this evening.
Racing begins at 1100 GMT on Monday and continues through Saturday, when the new C0-Class Champion is crowned. Fans can track the event with live video coverage of every race, tracking, and an extensive stream of visual and social content on Facebook, Twitter, and Vimeo.
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Beginning of the racing postponed (from Team Hydros)
The two crews representing Switzerland during the C-Class Catamaran world championship, had to be patient this afternoon on the first day of the competition. The wind was indeed absent while a thick fog was covering the space dedicated to the races.
First, the Race Committee had the competitors wait for a while; then the wind rose up to 5-7 knots, allowing a starting procedure. After a first false start, the competitors started for good, but the fog was too dense, making the conditions dangerous and forcing the Committee to cancel this race.
"It was really hard to see where we were going", Bastiaan Tentij explained. "We spent a long day on water and it is a pity we couldn't race. We were able to organize a small speed test between Hydros and Groupama, and then we took the time to work on the maneuvers and to train. I hope that the visibility will be better tomorrow. If all goes well, the wind should be stronger so we are very hopeful."
"It is absolutely not a problem for us", declared Jérémie Lagarrigue who is in charge of Team Hydros and crew-member on one of the two Swiss boats with Billy Besson. "It is the lot of sailing competitors, and we are used to it. Actually, this waiting period enabled us to observe all our future adversaries on water, and to measure our level of preparation compared to them."
Founded in 1961, the C-Class Catamaran World Championship is one of the most prestigious events of the international racing calendar. With simple rules, it symbolizes the fundamental research and technological development without limits.
Sponsored by Lombard Odier & Cie and represented by two successful crews, Team Hydros was the first to sail on the site of the regattas in Falmouth in the south of Great Britain more than a month ago.