Day three (20 knots, 8-10 foot waves):

 

The forecast for day three was a prefrontal 20-30 knot southwesterly and that is exactly what we got, in addition to 8-12 foot waves.  In the early morning the breeze was manageable and the Race Committee decided to send the Finns out to race.  However, as the Finns were sailing out, the breeze kicked up to about 25-35 knots.  The race committee made the right decision to send the Finns back to shore only after they experienced a handful of breakdowns.  We waited onshore until about 4:30, and the race committee decided it was time for the RS:X sailors to give it a try.  The breeze died down to a steady 20 knots, but the waves were still large and they were breaking at our launch.   All of the windsurfers made it out safely and most of us successfully dodged the breaking waves for the 1st half a mile off the beach; however, there were a few casualties.

 

For me, both of the races on day three had the same story: I was very fast.  Unfortunately, my course management wasn’t entirely in synch.   My starts weren’t great, and I had difficulty judging the lay-lines.  There were a handful of instances where I would cross a racer, over-stand the lay-line and see the same racer 20 boards in front of me.   My speed, however, seems to be very good in these conditions, I just need to get some more racing time in them!

 

Here is a video of day three:

http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/videos.php?idiomaz=3&dia=31

 

Day Four (6-10 knots):

 

Sailing in the RS:X fleet is very interesting, and in some cases very humorous.  In the past two regattas, Miami and Palma, I have noticed a few particularities about the fleet, specifically at the starts.   If 15 of the top 20 boards in the fleet show they are going to start at one end of the line, then 98% of the fleet will start at that end of the line.   This allows massive amounts of starting space for the other 2% of the fleet.  This phenomenon was in full effect on day four.  Fortunately, I was able to take advantage of this in both of the races and have great starts and I was again able to get into the middle of the fleet in both races. I had some of my best light air races during day four.  Albeit, I did fall back every race, but not as much as I did the first day and both races I was in a position to pass 15-20 boards throughout the entire race.  I am continuing to improve in these conditions, which is a huge bright spot in my sailing, as these were the conditions that were seemingly holding me back.

 

Today’s forecast (the last day of the regatta), is for more of the same: 6-10 knots out of the southwest

 

Ciao!