Walker Series: Day 1

2017 Star Midwinter Championship © Marco Oquendo http://www.imagesbymarco.com

Today was the first day of both the Walker Series and the Star Midwinter Series. 44 Stars showed up for a one hour delayed start to race 1, on Biscayne Bay. The delay was due to very light easterly winds which only ever got up to 7 knots today. It was sunny and beautiful, just not very windy.

In Race 1, Luca Modena and Sergio Lambertenghi of Italy led wire to wire, sailing smart and fast. I am sailing with World Champion crew Josh Revkin this week. Josh and I got off to a great start in race one but unfortunately went the wrong way on 3 out of the 4 legs. We weren't terribly fast either and this coupled to put us into 20th at the finish line. Augie Diaz, one of our main rivals was just behind us at the finish.

In race two, I got a horrible start and then fouled Andy Mac and had to do a circle. This put us pretty much in last place, two minutes after the start. And with the wind being so light, this was not going to be an easy race for us. Nevertheless, Josh and I fought our way back to 11th at the finish line due to better speed after some rig changes and we went the correct way most of the time. The team from Denmark, Jørgen Schönherr / Jan Eli Gravad, won race two with Augie Diaz and Bruno Prada close in second. The Danes finished 4th in race 1 and are leading the regatta at this point.

So it wasn't a great first day for Josh and I but there are three more days, and 6 more races, to go. The forecast for rest of the weekend is in the 12 knot range which, I for one, will be looking forward to.

For complete scores go to www.yachtscoring.com