After a week of extremely windy conditions, the first day of the regatta was also extremely windy. The morning showed 25-30 knots and the afternoon was definitely 30+ as a few rain squalls came through. Temps were in the high 50s Fahrenheit, and may have even hit the low 60s. We've had 25-30 knots for almost a week now, and it seems that in September, Weymouth is like the San Francisco of England (minus the gnarly chop).
Windy start for the men (event photo)
The men's fleets raced in the morning, and the women's fleets started after 1 pm. It was a tough day for everyone with lots of falls and carnage around the slalom finish. I had a few decently planned out races, but got tired quickly after falling a lot. I finished the races, but not without a huge effort and several long swims after flying equipment. I even had a run-in with a women's match racing boat that was training near our course, and had to bail out when they jibed into me. Even with all the craziness, I was happy to find that my jibes and tacks are much better even in the very strong breeze, and I am sailing upwind well.
Hanging on: Rounding an upwind mark.
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