10 July 2005

It seems that we are finally starting to get closer to beginning the actual Championships. The practice race was postponed ‘till 14h00 which meant that we had slightly more wind. The delay was starting to play on nerves so I whipped the Team off to the nearby aquarium for ˝ an hour!!

The race consisted of four flights, 1st off were Odd Number Boys, 2nd Even Number Boys and ditto for the girls; the flights going off at 10min intervals. It was interesting to note that the SI’s stipulate a cut off of 30 minutes to the top mark and an overall cutoff of 90 minutes for the 1st sailor to complete else it does not constitute a race. There will be no shortened course or change of next mark in the Championships- a fairly confident RO! We watched the 1st boys round the top mark and they only just made it – a ~28 minute first beat!; just as the last girl flight’s gun went. Our bunch seemed comfortable and didn‘t lack speed – I felt they could have made better use of a general wind switch to the East (20 odd degrees). The start line length was generous and everyone got a neat first row though not necessarily in the best spot but better than I had seen RSA Opti sailors do in the past. Tonight we will get seeded into our divisions and every division will sail against every other 4 times if we get a full regatta. There are two Championships one for boys and a separate one for girls and they do not compete against each other – matrimonial bliss!

The opening parade was typical European fanfare, much bantering and Brass Band to boot. We marched down the street from the Hotel to the Sailing Village and then waved country flags and just made a general hullabaloo during unpronounceable speeches. One nice touch was the Mayor handing over the keys of the City of Gdynia to the sailors!

Rob Walker