Bosphorus Cup at Istanbul, Turkey - Day 2
by Pierre Orphanidis, vsail.info 8 Jun 2014 11:40 BST
5-8 June 2014
Exciting and tricky Bosphorus Race keeps crews on their toes
Not only does the Bosphorus race take place in one of the world's most beautiful sailing stadiums, it provides one of the trickiest and most challenging courses with the shifting breeze and currents that come into play. Portel-Matmazel retain their overall lead in the regatta
"I wish the Bosphorus race had three laps instead of only two," stated an elated Mikael Margui, the French tactician onboard the Melges 32 Sütlaç-Eker, after a day of racing that crisscrossed Europe and Asia dozen of times. "It reminds me of the races in the bays of Brittany where you have to stay in phase with the breeze but also the strong currents. The difference here is, obviously, that you race in the middle of a big city with centuries of history and that it's much warmer!" This sums up perfectly Saturday's long race inside the Bosphorus, where tacticians were put on test as the shifty breeze, the lulls and the sudden puffs gave plenty of opportunities, even for the small boats, to shine.
With the starting line set right in front of the Dolmabahçe Palace the stage was set for a fierce prestart as the fleet was jockeying for a place in the confined prestart area. As a rule of thumb in the Bosphorus, with a northerly breeze, in the upwind legs one should stay as close to the European (west) side as possible, until the first big turn, past the Bosphorus bridge, where the current of nearly 6 knots becomes unfavorable.
At that point, tacticians opt to tack to the Asian (east) shore and stay there before the last stretch to the windward mark. After rounding that mark, the middle of the strait is considered to be more favored or at least the one where errors bear the least cost. However, today proved to be even trickier as the shifty and unstable breeze would make some decisions pay a big dividend.
Hundreds of VIP's and guests enjoyed the unique opportunity Istanbul and the Bosphorus Cup offer and watched the race from the gardens of the Ciragan Palace Kempinski hotel, right on the shores of the Bosphorus.
Bülent Atabay, owner of the Farr55 Orient Express VI, commented on the day: "For us it is so nice to be able to sail and race inside the Bosphorus because it is otherwise prohibited. It's also a very tricky course because you have currents coming down and currents going up. It is very important to know them and use them and today they were very important. The wind was also changing all the time, making it a very tricky but also challenging day.
"The Bosphorus Cup is a great event and is becoming one of the most important ones in Turkey. It is a race everybody looks forward to."
Dave Scott, tactician onboard Orient Express VI, commented: "The Bosphorus Cup is a great race that everybody wants to do it every year. It is much more involved because it goes beyond windward/leeward and this is the perfect place to do it. I was highly impressed by the number of boats racing. We are obviously the biggest boat in the fleet but in our division we had a group of forty footers sailing together the whole way around the track."
The 13th edition of the Bosphorus Cup will conclude on Sunday with two windward/leeward races, scheduled at 12pm. The forecast calls for sunshine and a good breeze, so more close and exciting racing is in store in Istanbul.
The event's official website, www.bosphoruscup.org, is your comprehensive source of information, with daily updates, official results and plenty of high-quality photos and videos. You can also follow Turkey's most prestigious sailing event through its social media on Facebook, www.facebook.com/BosphorusCup, and Twitter, @BosphorusCup.