🇬🇧: Going into the final races, Theo, Erik and Lukas were in gold fleet, Jonatan in silver and Emil in Bronze.
Today’s conditions were a bit different from before. A very strong current in the wind direction and winds of around 15 knots that dropped lower and reached up to close to 20 knots on certain areas of the course.
It was set for a start with many boats under the line which was also what happened. Unfortunately the Swedish sailors did not grab the opportunity but started with the rest of the pack. It took the first boat around 10 seconds before crossing the starting line… Lukas started at the starboard end and managed to tack to the right in free wind. Theo and Erik were fighting to find a clear spot on the left side. In the beginning the left side looked better but the first beat wind shifted back to the right and Lukas managed to be top 10 at the top mark. Theo around 30 and Erik with only a few boats behind him. Lukas then did a very good race and conservatively passed the boats nearest in front of him and finished 6th. A very good performance! Theo kept his position and finished 29th. Also Erik caught up a bit and finished 53rd.
In the blue fleet Jonatan made a text book start on port tack at the pin end in the strong current and passed the entire fleet. Unfortunately som problems with boat speed and a left wind shift ruined his race and he ended up with his worst race so far in the regatta.
Emil had a solid race and with a good start and rounded 3rd at the top mark. A really strong wind of at least 30 knots with enormous waves hit the blue fleet on the last beat. A misjudgement of tightening the outhall led to a boat filled with water and he lost into 10th place at the finish.
In the second race the gold sailors had learned their lesson from the first race and everybody was on the line. Unfortunately Theo and five other sailors were a bit too much on the line and actually a bit over… It was a shame since Theo were 4th around the top mark, capsized on the downwind and lost 15 boats and then caught up to a 9th place at the finish. Great effort but in vain… Erik and Lukas also had good starts on the starboard side of the line. Lukas tacked as he had done in the first race which turned out to be a devastating decision. He was not alone out there however, Gradoni was with him as well as Schultheis. A big left shift ruined their day, although Richard Schultheis managed to save himself and still were top 15 at the top mark. Gradoni was no better than 40. Lukas around 55. On the second beat Gradoni went right again which was just as bad, but still managed to pass some boats to finish 27th in the race. Erik took advantage of some of the UFDs and finished 18th. Lukas caught up as well to finish 43rd.
In blue fleet Jonatan had tough luck again. He got a good start at the pin end, but managed to get the rudder caught in the anchor line. He had to take out the rudder in order to continue and the race was over after that.
Emil missed the timing in his second start and did not make it all they way to the pin end as planned. Instead he got a decent start in the middle of the line, but the left side was much better. He was 25th around the first mark and managed to pass some boats into a 17th place at the finish line.
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