SECOND DAY OF RACING – BMW DRAGON GOLD CUP
On the second day of racing the Marstrand fjord took its toll. After a couple of restarts the race was on its way but westerly winds up to 13 m/s, 26 kts and heavy seas caused some 15 boats to retire. A second race was scheduled today but was cancelled.

The sailing instructions in accordance with IDA (International Dragon Association) rules say no races in steady winds of 14 m/s, 28 kts. The weather forecast for this afternoon predicted winds up to that limit, which in combination with very heavy seas made the Race Committee decide to cancel the second race.

Winner of today’s race was UKR8, skipper Lars Hendricson, crew Igor Sidorov and Georgiy Leonchuk. “Not a very good start on the starboard side. We tacked directly to starboard because we thought there was less wind and waves and that turned out to be the right decision. So we were 3 – 4 at the windward mark. Downwind we bent the spinnaker pole but kept the spinnaker up anyway, which was a bit iffy. We rounded as 5th or 6th. After the second tack we rounded first. We fixed the spinnaker pole so we could use it and had an amazing downwind leg, surfing a lot of the way. Perfect sailing today! Great fun! Dragon racing at its best! Feels good after being 19th yesterday,” says Lars Hendricson.

Best Swede was SWE213, skipper Lasse Molse, crew Anders Ekström and Dan Lovén who finished 3rd. “We made a good start and decisive for today’s result was that we chose the right side of the course for the tacks. The conditions on the fjord were tough with fantastic downwind legs and thrilling surfs. The sails got some minor rips – otherwise nothing. Today compensated for our 29th place yesterday and gave us a kick,” says Anders Ekström and Dan Lovén.