International Canoe World Championship at Pwllheli - Day 2

The asymmetrics starting to heat up on the downwind legs on day 2 of the International Canoe Worlds at Pwllheli © David Henshall

Race 3 - Wind 160 degrees 6-9 kts. Rain and sea mist.

Some things never seem to change! Day two and whilst 90% of Wales was forecast to be bathed in sunshine, on the weather map a single black cloud was positioned right over Pwllheli. It is such a shame for this is now shaping up to be a really good event, well supported by local sponsors (what scribe would NOT want to thank the excellent Gwinn Lyn Wines from Pwllheli, a very local company that is proud to be associated with Pals Heli) whilst it says much of the re-emergence of the IC fleet as a powerhouse in sailing that they can attract a high-quality headline sponsor such as Hytera, a leading global company in radio communications.

After a short delay, the fleet headed out to where most thought the start must be. The clouds hung low over the sea with rain and a thickening mist giving what could be seen of the course a grey monochrome colour. With wind over tide, the sea was confused and in the unstable winds, there were shifts and holes aplenty. Chris Maas looked to be continuing where he had left off the day before. Showing good speed upwind to go with his acknowledged downwind performance, the American sailor was able to control the fleet from the front. Wood meanwhile was in an uncharacteristic 6th place at the windward mark. At least going upwind, you know that at some point you'll get to Mark 1, once on the reaches the problematic visibility really came into play. Some went too high, others went too low and the main fleet, which had already shown how quickly it could spread out, became even more dispersed. It was a tad easier for the asymmetric fleet; having gotten themselves upwind, they only had to sail deep (which the ACs do anyway) for their leeward mark to appear out of the gloom.

Since the rules have changed, the fleet has become very diverse, yet the racing is incredibly close on day 2 of the International Canoe Worlds at Pwllheli - photo © David Henshall

With the lumpy sea, the leading Asymmetric might have been aptly named as Seasick Steve, sailed by Stephen Bowen racked up his second win ahead of arch-rival Andy Gordon. Another helm who was continuing the winning trend was Andreas Steiman, who took his second win in the Taifuns.

For the main fleet, the last lap was miserable, with more rain than mist and a softening breeze. Maas was clear away, with Alistair Warren and the consistent Gareth Caldwell linking him to the rest of the fleet; Wood would have one of those bad mornings, having a very 'unlike Robin' moment just after the bottom mark where he didn't capsize but seemed to spend a long time stuck at 45 degrees before finally getting going again. These moments all add up with Wood only finishing 6th This time there was to be no confusion. The races would not be run back to back, so after the shortened course had been completed, the fleet were free to grope their way back to the beach

Race 4 - Wind 220 degrees. 7-11kts, Improving visibility and NO rain.

Unlike the previous day, when the break for lunch had allowed the conditions to deteriorate markedly, after the 2 hour break the conditions had improved considerably, with much better visibility and a stronger, steadier breeze. The course had been set up on 205 degrees but just before moving into a start sequence, it was clear that the wind was tracking right. The Race Team made the right call, the mark layers very quickly re-laid the course and off a true line, the fleet set off with most helms fully hiking at the extremities of the sliding seat.

The main IC fleet start Race 4, now able to see where they are going on day 2 of the International Canoe Worlds at Pwllheli - photo © David Henshall

The conditions were enough for some interesting capsizes, rather than the earlier, more simple swims that usually followed clumsy tacks. The latest variants of the International Canoes were now fully powered up and demonstrating just how fast they could go. Woods was leading again, but by the bottom mark Maas had closed the gap and looked to be aiming to challenge for another win. With a little more breeze, the asymmetric were now starting to 'heat up' on the downwind legs and were doing their windward leeward laps in a much quicker time. This would be a race that would certainly go the full course.

It would be easy to report that Robin Wood got a mega windshift that re-opened the gap between him and the chasing pack but that would be wrong. Not only that, but heading up the beat he was keeping a careful but open cover on the American boat in second place. I could see no other reason other than Woods suddenly started sailing significantly quicker than the rest. He was clear away by the windward mark and was sailing with an extra gear; upwind and downwind he was simply sailing faster – a lot faster. By the latter stages of the lap the lead was out to almost a half mile, this was one for the books!

It was business as usual in the Asymmetric fleet with Stephen Bowen taking his third bullet in a row, with Andy Gordon again runner up. For Race 4, Peter McLaren had his best race to date with a well sailed 3rd place whilst in the Taifuns, Cladius Junge went back to the top of the fleet; Once the first race has been sailed today and the discards kick in, it will be very close at the top of this fleet.

Despite the conditions, the sailors are still having fun (even if you're an Australian sailing in a chartered US boat that has more stars and stripes than the 4th July) on day 2 of the International Canoe Worlds at Pwllheli - photo © David Henshall

As the afternoon came to an end the biggest competition was between how quickly the fleet could finish and the arrival of the next band of rain. As the tail enders slogged up the last beat, it was already wet again with the visibility closing in – everyone was glad to get ashore.

After two full days of sailing the biggest observation is how diverse the fleet has become. Since returning to being a full-on development class, innovation has blossomed with a very wide variation in hull shapes and styles being produced. Some are going super-extreme, with very narrow, minimum beam and in the lumpy conditions here in Tremadog Bay, these looked more like wave piercers when going upwind. The waves have been longer enough (certainly on the top reach) to allow those boats that do 'surf' to do so but technique and hull shape seemed to account for some big differences in speed on the leg (Robin Wood excepted – he was just sailing quicker than the rest). The Asymmetries looked good when heating up on the legs but just a handful of boats again asks the question of the helms – are they doing the right thing.

At long last the forecast for tomorrow includes the possibility of some sun (we'll believe it when we see it) but looking further out, at least one of the 3 remaining days could be at the upper end of what is possible for Canoe sailing. It is so close at the top, who knows what will happen tomorrow.

Results after Day 2: