Wind ahoy, at last! After some very light conditions initially for the Modern yachts and a more established breeze at Pampelonne for the Maxis, who experienced highs and lows throughout the afternoon… patience and concentration were the order of the day, with some very evenly matched races enabling everyone to compete in their own categories for this first day of action at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez.
Wind ahoy, at last! After some very light conditions initially for the Modern yachts and a more established breeze at Pampelonne for the Maxis, who experienced highs and lows throughout the afternoon… patience and concentration were the order of the day, with some very evenly matched races enabling everyone to compete in their own categories for this first day of action at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez.
Patience On paper, the little zephyr that accompanied the competitors as they exited port this morning was supposed to be absorbed by a thermal breeze moving towards the land, offering a favourable medium breeze and a bracing start to proceedings. However, a thermal is synonymous with sunshine and beneath cloudy skies this morning, the Modern yachts had to sit pretty until they could be released onto the racetrack! Ultimately, it was at 12:40 p.m. that the starting gun let the IRC Bs take the stage. In a little less than 5 knots of breeze, which struggled to establish itself, it was vital to be powered up from the get-go, something that Blue Carbon was brilliant at. The Spanish TP 52 left all the rest of the fleet for dust on port tack, though she was caught before the La Moutte mark by Nanoq , the TP 52 helmed by King Frederik of Denmark. In these conditions, it took a while to make out which of them were the competing yachts and those awaiting their start in the smaller classes! In general, each category made for the line abeam of the Portalet tower and at 1:10 pm the four groups set sail onto coastal courses. Spanning 19 miles for the biggest boats, 15 for IRC C, D and E, no speed records were likely to be set today…