Breeze on for Day 3 for the 52 SUPER SERIES at Key West

Just as it was forecast at the start of the regatta, so the winds at Quantum Key West 2013 have built day by day, and so Day 3 of the five scheduled racing days, looks set to be the windiest yet.

For the 52 SUPER SERIES fleet, the N’ly winds of more than 20kts will really test boat handling, especially on the ‘corners’, the windward mark and the leeward gate.

Rán Racing lead the regatta by two points from Azzurra. Two races are planned. Rán Racing’s navigator Jules Salter explains:

We are definitely expecting a bit more breeze today, probably over 20kts and it will be blowing offKey Westand so it will be pretty shifty and gusty still. It will be good sailing and nice and testing like it was yesterday. I think when you get over 20kts of breeze on these boats the main thing is just keeping it all together, executing the manoeuvres properly, when communication is a bit more difficult things are quite loaded and everything is a bit more noisy and difficult. It is a lot about getting the boat up and moving fast downwind, just keeping it together really.

The guys are a pretty good unit and sail together all the time, they know each other but there are always things you can work on as a team. Every day you try to make it better and get better. Downwind in the gusty, shifty stuff the route into the bottom mark you can be not quite laying the bottom gate and the next minute you are having to soak away to get to it. That is where a lot of the place changing takes place.
Jules Salter, navigator, Rán Racing

Weather today will be a brisk post-frontal breeze, topping out to over 20 knots all day. The northeast direction means more of the classic short, steep chop seen here inside the reef, which should make the upwind and downwind legs particularly interesting for all the teams in the 52 SuperSeries. The assembled media may not like the cooler temperatures and overcast skies, but the action on the water will keep things hot.

And Chris Larson, tactician on Gladiator makes a point about having wheel steering which owner Tony Langley favours:

With the wheels we’re always challenged for getting the most feel from the boat, but Tony is doing a great job and we’re feeling good in general with our performance so far. Today’s increase in waves will make it interesting, so I anticipate a lot of gear-shifting – the teams that do this best will do well today.
Chris Larson, tactician, Gladiator

Weather today will be a brisk post-frontal breeze, topping out to over 20 knots all day. The northeast direction means more of the classic short, steep chop seen here inside the reef, which should make the upwind and downwind legs particularly interesting for all the teams in the 52 SuperSeries. The assembled media may not like the cooler temperatures and overcast skies, but the action on the water will keep things hot.