The RSA skippers commented as follows after day one of the worlds:

FROM WALDO AND WAYNE
Hi everyone! First of all thanx to all of you for your support and interest. IT really fires us up for racing as we know that we are not only doing it for ourself but for our country and our friends out there cheering us on. We had a very good day today. With fair weather and good racing. We have learnt alot so far and are applying everything we have learnt as we go along. The frist race started in about 10 knots of wind. The starline was pretty square and in a big fleet like this clear air is very important. We tried to start in the first row but as luck would have it we unfortunatelyu started in the second row. With bad air and chop we quickly searche for bettter conditions. We spent the whole race catching up and I recon we still did very well. We ended up 23rd just stealing it from an Irish boat at the line. We were heared up as we knew we were fast upwind aswell as down wind. The second race the result speaks for itself. With a 13th you can never complain. We started in the first row this time and stuck to the left side of the beat as it seems there was more pressure on this side. I must say we were a bit lucky at the weather mark lay line as someone reserved a spot for us. I will not try to raound the bouy this late again! We were about 15th and caught up the rest of the places mainly on the beats. It was very close racing and I enjoyed it so much. Thanx again for everyone's support. Will report again shortly with more news!!

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FROM ASHTON and NIC
The first days racing as a whole was really NOT a good start ot the regatta for us. The first race we had quite a bad start...managed to get into ions at about 20 seconds to the startgun. Luckily a recall was called. The next start we also weren't in that front row with clear air, but we managed to squeeze our way through to a dissapointing 39th position at the end of race 1. The second race we managed a good start with clear air and tried to keep it that way up the first beat, rouding the top mark in approx 29th possition. We pretty much kept that position through to the end of race 2...we finished 29th. A slow first day, but there are still a few days to come.

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From Brennan & Ricky
Day 1 o the Nortas MIRROR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP boasted nearly perfect sailing conditions with very little current and 10 to 15 knots breeze. Every one seamed to be taking the racing more seriously than the pre-worlds with only 2 boats ;eft ashre with an hour to go to the start. The startline was unbiased and we just found a nice spot on the left hand side of the line. Left was supposedly favoured because of the alledged current on the right hand side of teh course. We were going very well and approached the weather mark on starboard amongst a row of boats that was four boats wide. Then the whole fleet got pushed way below the mark and this meant trouble for for the previously non-overstanding boats. We had to tack about four times but I dont think we lost more than 10 places.We caught up a lot and finished in the 40's

In the second race we sailed very flat and and went very fast and pointed very well. Along with a good start we managed to get quite a good position. We went all the way t the left on the last beat with two Aussie boats and it seamed we were being helped a little by the current. It was a great days sailing with lots of entertainment at the end of the days sailing.

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FROM GARETH and SASKIA (WILDTHING)
The racing didn't start off on a great note today. As we were launching, our gaff halliard snapped. Luckily, we got some amazing help from the locals, one of which gave us a new halliard. Thanks to him we didn't lose out. We had a fantastick start to the first race and, combined with a bit of luck we were in the top 20 aound the first mark. Just after hooisting the spinnaker, the kicker snapped, so we lost on or two places repairing it. After a couple of wrong decisions, we ended up 47th which I am satisfied about due to the high level of competition. The next race went better, for most of it. We had another flying start and were again in the top 20 around the first mark. Things were going well untill the end of the race when a wrong decision regarding course selection caused us an accident. We had just settled down after a tack onto port when we collided with another boat. We did our 720 turns and proceded to finsh the race. Apion reaching shore, we discovered we had received a rather large crack to the side o our boat just above the bouyancy tank. The involved boat owner said to us they would not protest but would only look for redress. But at the jury meeting the jury disqualified us for not retiring due to the damage we had caused. With ond average race and one disqualification we will have to sail with all we got tomorrow.

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FROM KUBA and TAARIQ
Race one: Started on line two thirds towards pin. Ist beat left side played, roudned in high 30's. Reach and run maintained position. 2nd beat: Right side, lost out, rounding at bottom mark lost 10 places by being on the outside. Lost more places on Gybe. Final beat made up a few places, finished 55. Race Two: Started on line, but slow, one third from comm boat. Went middle, had port starboard collision with Aussie boat, they did a 720. Not good 1st beat. Reach and run good. 2nd beat, left first then right, lost out again. Had foul up of shooting pole on hoist, lost some places. Good gybe, then had incident with Diether and Spies. Good last beat, End up 68. Good days sailing, nice conditions. Not too much slop, and for a change warm.

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FROM TREVOR AND MEGAN.
Race 1:Start. Next to committee boat. Wnet up about 200 meters tacked onto port. Went down to lay line. Up to No1 mark. In the front half of fleet. 2nd boat out to the left. Lost a lot of ground. 3rd beat up the centre. Made up some places. Ended up 70th. Race 2: Start at committe boat. Tack onto port. Stayed in the middle of course. In about front 3rd of the fleet. Sailed middle of course. Seemed to pay off. Ended up 52.

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FROM THOMAS AND CHRIS.
We kicked off worlds with a disaster of a 1st race, die to a very bad start and deciding to go up the wrong side. We finished 51st and are hoping to do better and not get anymore shocking results like that one. In the 2nd race we had a much better start and as the wind dropped we found that we had alot more boat speed and pointing than the rest of the fleet. We finished up 26th and were very pleased. Hopefully we can continue to achieve better results as the regatta progresses.

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FROM DIETER AND ANDREW
What can I say? Discards? WE had a shocking day. Actually the past few days have been really stressfull. I know I can preform better but it just won't happen. The first race today wasn't that good. I managed to find every header and do all the wrong things. Second race started out pretty much the same. The second half was better though and I managed to loose a protest after a 53. Well as I said DISCARDS!

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