Later: Having accompanied Frank (r) almost into the left corner, Al (l) has seen the inside boats getting better breeze and a huge lift. Throttling the urge to hang on and pray for a last-second knock, Al and Marc have decided to tack to cut their losses, which so far include Andrew (9657) and Sue (4677).

... this lead, I guess he can afford to be generous!! The new wind direction is holding and has allowed Al to tack in under a group (l to r: Tony, Sue, Andrew, Dave [just visible behind Andrew], Colin) who have obligingly overlaid the windward mark by quite a chunk.   - for full-size pic, click here

... matter of pride in looking good and doing things the way they should be done: Never mind the spinnaker just yet. First we have a 180° turn with a gybe to execute without losing too much speed. To this end, Al and Marc keep their weight (somewhat) to windward and let their 5-mil mainsheet run, the moment that can be done without fear of hitting the mark. This makes SHADES heel to windward, and all Al needs to hold the tiller for, is to keep the turn from going too far. After the gybe,  we'll hoist the chute. It'll be a windward hoist on a reach, so Al will briefly keep the boat on a very broad reach while hoisting, so that the spi will blow out the front of the boat until Al takes the sheets and starts luffing up slowly to the rhumb line course (to the next mark), while Marc adds the pole to the ensemble.

Note how Andrew - seen in mid-gybe - also heels the boat to help his turn. Nicely done! Al, meanwhile, is further ahead of Colin and Andrew than the photo makes it appear, and so can fairly safely bear off for the windward hoist. But that hoist can't come too soon for Al who seems to have sailed into a soft spot, and will be able to sail higher to increase his apparent wind, the moment that chute is up!!