Day three of the Allianz Dragon Grand Prix saw a beautiful sunny day with a steady southerly breeze that settled in around 2.00pm. This time the race officer was able to set a course in the west bay of Cannes which meant the start line could be very close to the shore, this allowed for a great spectacle to all the interested locals and the many visitors on the sandy beaches enjoying the winter sun. As all 65 dragons reached up and down the start line, checking wind bearings, wind pressure etc………………
The first race of the day (race 4 of the series) started cleanly and all the sailors could immediately try to settle their boats into the “perfect groove” whereby the dragon almost glides over the flat water as the sails are trimmed and the crew keep as still as possible to allow for maximum speed…… It was difficult to tell at first which end of the start line was favoured, however leading boats soon tacked onto port and headed out to sea, whilst others kept going on starboard hoping that the left hand side would pay. GBR 375 Ivan Bradbury was one of the first boats to clear themselves from the right hand side and tacked back to the left three quarter’s of the way up the first beat. GER 1042 helmed by Philip Dohse came out strongly from the left, as did FIN 85 Christian Borenius and both crossed Bradbury before the windward mark. In 4th place at this stage was NED 305 helmed by the veteran Bram Wilde, who also came out strongly from the left hand side, so in fact both sides of the race course had paid at some time during the first beat. On rounding the windward mark FIN 85 sailed very low, whilst GER 1042 was hounded by Bradbury all the way down the first run. Wilde still in 4th place had his work cut out to contain the closing “bunch” of dragons all breathing fire down his neck……………
At the end of the 2nd beat GER 1042 still held the lead from GBR 375 and FIN 85 in 3rd place. But on the final run, GBR 375 gybed a split second before GER 1042 and managed to gain a winning advantage. FIN 85 held on well to take his deserved 3rd place. However, fleet leader GBR 716 Gavia Wilkinson-Cox recorded a mediocre 24th position, knowing full well that she could discard this result if a 5th race was sailed. So it was a big relief to her when a second race got underway sometime after 4.00pm……
Starting late in the day should tell us all that maybe the right hand side would be favourable, as the sun usually draws the wind around to the right…. But most of the fleet started down at the crowded pin!!!! However, some smart sailors did start at the committee boat end of the line and were rewarded with more pressure and a favourable lift…. SWE 305 helmed by Magnus Ahmne was the leading boat with GER 1042 Philip Dohse again having a great race in 2nd place. Meanwhile Ireland’s Mick Cotter was having a great tussle with GER 1099 Marcus Brennecke for 3rd and 4th place, both sailing brand new Petticrow’s only Marcus also has a broken arm! So eventually Mick took the podium place, it was a fair fight ….. So the race ended with SWE 305 1st, GER 1042 2nd, IRL 213 3rd and GER 1099 4th……
However, overall leader GBR 716 fought hard to finish in a creditable 10th place after making a huge gain on the first downwind leg which may just have been the tactical move that gives Gavia the title… She leads by three points from MON 9 Malte Phillip (who was actually Black Flagged), RUS 34 is still in the hunt so it all comes down to today… Probably only one race because of the lack of wind and the pure logistics of craning out all the boats before darkness falls… and then the Prize Giving Dinner…. Life could be worse…….
Higher, Faster, Longer…………. Stavros (GBR 375).