One of the 2 “Fleet Races” yesterday in Venice enjoyed by all 36 International Sailors.
Friday 2nd Oct and the beginning of the 2015 Metropole-Glenfiddich Dragon Team Racing event organised by the Vento di Venezia and the Compagnia della Vela Clubs with 12 invited International Teams.
The event started with 2 “Fleet Races” around a short 1.5 mile course in the heart of Venice.
Although the “Fleet Races” will not count in the overall Competition, it was great to start this “New” and “Exciting” event off with a bang & let this amazing Italian City know the Dragons had arrived in style 🙂 The winners of the first Fleet Race was Dmitry Samohkin, Alexsey Bushuev and Andrey Kirilyuk and the 2nd Fleet Race was Grant Gordon, Kasper Harsberg and Ruairidh Scott.
Venice is a City situated in north-eastern Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is well know for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artwork. It is entirely listed as a “World Heritage Site” along with it’s Lagoon which is where the Dragons have been granted permission to race over the next few days.
Javier Scherk and Gustavo Lima approach the start line for the “Yellow Team”
When the 2K “Team Racing” began, the 12 Individual Teams take it in turn to “Pair Up”.. 2 Boats make up a “Team” and when the 4 boats race over a short upwind and downwind course, the last boat to cross the finish line defines the loosing “Team” and will score Nil Points… Whilst the “Pair” who manage to not be last will score 1 point each… Simple.. 🙂
Dmitry Samohkin, Alexsey Bushuev and Andrey Kirilyuk fight hard to win for the Blue Team.
After three days all 12 Teams will have raced not only with each other but against each other after completing a total of 42 races !! With each Dragon Team having 11 chances to score a point, it will be unlikely that any one team will keep a 100% record… Indeed after 9 races it is Graham & Julia Bailey who lead the event on 3 wins out of 4, along with Marcus Blackmoor who also has a 75% win ratio… Here below are the full scores after Day 1.
This Detailed Table shows the Races Sailed and Points gained so far….
Between races competitors wait aboard one of 2 “Mother Ships” and view the racing from close hand as the teams go head to head….
Some of the competitors watch the racing from one of the “Mother Ships” in Venice….
So stay tuned for some more photos and results from this fantastic event……
Higher, Faster, Longer……. Stavros. (with the Baileys).