Peter Greenhalgh & Chris Draper's Blog
17 July 2009
We have now overcome our problems we have been having with our standing rigging. All our 'T' terminals have been cracking so we have had to change them all. So, hopefully we will be fine now. We had a 1st, 1st and 10th yesterday which was a pretty good day for our race course area . In the last race the wind came in on the right hand side during the first beat and caught the front bunch boats, which included us, out and as result we ended up 10th.
The qualification series is now over and the British 49er team have 7 boats in the gold fleet (top 25) and 4 boats in the top 10, which is quite amazing. Current standings of the British teams are :
- 1st : Morrison / Rhodes
- 2nd : Pink / Peacock
- 5th : Campbell James / Asquith
- 8th : (us) Draper / Greenhalgh
- 12th : Evans / Hiscocks
- 23rd : Fletcher / Sign
- 25th : Mason / Peel
So, as you can see, it’s all on.
Tomorrow we all race together on the same course area we have been on for the last 3 days, so we might have a small advantage on some. We now have 9 races in the finals with the last race being double points. Any way spirits are high with us and we are very much looking forward to some full on racing.
16 July 2009
The day started with a bit of rain and a lack of wind but sure enough the wind filled in to a solid 15 to 20 knots. I was promised a birthday bullet but it was not meant to be. We scored a 6th, 3rd and 7th which, once again, was quite average but enough to keep us at 10th overall.
We ended up back on the same course we were on yesterday which was a last minute change from the race committee. That aside we made a lot of mistakes in the first part of our races but went on to sail well and salvage a reasonable result.
Tomorrow we plan to get a good start and nail the first beat! Looking forward to three good results tomorrow to launch us into the finals.
15 July 2009
The day started with a bit of rain and a lack of wind but sure enough the wind filled in to a solid 15 to 20 knots, I was promised a Birthday bullet but it was not meant to be. We scored a 6th , 3rd and 7th which, once again was quite average, but enough to keep us at 10th overall.
We ended up back on the same course we were on yesterday which was a last minute change from the race committee. Apparently due to the race team on our course had an invested interest with one of the sailors in the fleet that was going to sail on the same course, so our group were back on the tricky high scoring course again - bit unusual. That aside we made a lot of mistakes in the first part of our races, but went on to sail well and salvage a reasonable result.
Tomorrow we plan to get a good start and nail the first beat ! Looking forward to 3 good results tomorrow to launch us into the finals.
14 July 2009
We had 3 races today in 12 to 16 knots . We were on course A (North end of the Lake) which was a very difficult course to read and found several good sailors on the wrong side of things.
We managed to notch up placings of 2nd, 10th and 6th which was a very average day. Unfortunately, as the 2 other fleets sailed on the other course which was a lot more consistent, we are currently 14th overall. However it is early days and we all re-group each day and get swapped to the different courses, so it gets more fair the more races we do.
We feel confident that we can claw our way up the overall standings ! We will keep you posted!
July 2009
"We start today!
"We have gone through the measurement where they weigh the hulls / check the sails / measure the rigs etc - a whole day of taking the boat apart and putting it back together!
"The practice race was yesterday where all seemed to be good with us. We quickly found our way to the front and were very careful not to win it - avoiding practice race superstition!
"The event schedule is nine qualifying races and eight finals races . We get to discard our worst result from each.
"There are 95 boats and the fleet has been split into three groups. After the qualifying races the top 25 will sail together in the Gold fleet. We'll keep you posted!"
