2017 Blind Fleet Racing World Championship - Day 4

2017 Blind Fleet Racing World Championship racing © Blind Sailing

The GBR team woke to glorious sailing conditions with the wind from the South at 12-14 knots with a slight chop from the South East.

Teams all left the harbour on time to get a few training runs in before 10 o'clock. This was lucky as when GBR B2 did a test beat, their goose neck broke, but after a quick change of booms by the Bosun the team were back off to the start.

The B2 team showed good boat handling skills pre-start right to the gun, controlling their speed and handling with each attack by the USA. Canada had good boat speed today against GBR, giving them a tough time on the first beat, although strong and smooth boat handling skills saw GBR take the lead and keep it throughout the race. GBR B2 had a solid day with 4 wins seeing them comfortably in 1st overall on Day 4.

The two B3 teams are close overall and the wind stayed steady all morning. Race 1 saw both teams OCS, with both ducking back under the line. Both teams sailed hard and fast and fought back to a 1,2 at the top mark, where the positions stayed; a 1st for GBR B3a and a 2nd for GBR B3b. Race two saw both teams again race hard, this allowing Canada to slowly catch up. But both teams sailed close to the finish line, crossing in a photo finish. They continued their day racing each other hard with GBR B3a getting a 1,1,3,2 and GBR B3b 2,2,1,1.

A great morning for all three teams.

The B1 team headed out for a 2pm start with the breeze still holding steady from the South East at 10-12 knots. B1 was in 2nd overall going into the dya. Race one saw GBR get clear ahead which maintained throughout until the last downwind leg where USA and Canada reeled them back to see all three boats finish tight on the line but with GBR ahead. Race two was again close but GBR got a good start seeing them have a bit of a lead into the bottom mark, but GBR took the left-hand gate mark which saw them drop back one place and fight all the way to the end to take a 1st. The racing remained close for the last two races seeing the breeze drop slightly, but GBR remained strong with a 1, 2.

Team GBR have put in solid racing over the last four days seeing them ahead of USA for the Squadron Cup with two more days of racing to go.

Results after day 4 can be found here.

Thank you to all sponsors:

• Barton Marine for radio which will also be used for future events and training
• Marine Skills Academy for kit along with Gill
• Optimum Time for great racing watches
• Aquapac for kit bags
• Dubarry for shore shoes
• Adidas for on the water footwear
• Bottles and Bags, for water bottles
• Morrison Foerster for funding the trip