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Carina Madsen (9067) and Jon
Kjartansson
(8278) rush to complete their gybes
as Søren and Lise Jonasen get
ready
for theirs.
..
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Now this is a photo that Uncle
Al will
always treasure: approaching the leeward mark in fine form with the
whole
fleet behind Whistle. I imagine Jesper Friis likes this photo,
too!
Judging by apparent mast heights, you can tell that Anders Friis (light
blue spi) whose masthead fly is just visible below Al's top batten is
already
a clear 2nd while it is very close among Søren Jonasen (4123),
Joel
Bøgh (8278) and Steen Madsen (9067) for 3rd. Poul Ammentorp
(239)
is lying 6th but ahead of all his closest Silver Medal competition.
..
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Note how Uncle Al in 9355 is
standing
in Whistle so that he can heel the boat to windward just
enough
to remove any weather helm - the faster the boat goes, the more
important
this becomes. At the far right, we can see an apparently frustrated
Søren
Jensen getting into a luffing match.
..
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Note how the leaders are all
going just
high enough to keep their air clear ...
..
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... but no higher since higher
+ extra
distance = more time to get to the mark.
This close to the mark, Uncle Al is
also
starting to protect the inside for the mark rounding.
..
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I remember this moment: We hit
a dead
spot but I was able to re-assure Anders that the boats behind us had
even
less wind. Judging from the way Al is leaning a bit to windward to see
the mark, he is a bit high of it.
..
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Anders and Sune look very
relaxed as
they continue ...
..
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... to pull away from the rest
of the
fleet and chase Whistle in what has become a two-boat fight.
..
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As Whistle rounds onto
the second
beat about 50 m. ahead of Wassail (222), our plan is basic:
protect
the left side and stay between Anders and the windward mark as much as
possible. Note how Anders continues to fly the spi as Sune takes the
time
to stow the pole properly. This can be easily done to good advantage as
long as the wind is mostly from astern.
..
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The light-weights, Steen and
Carina Madsen.
Steen is looking back anxiously ...
..
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... to make sure that Joel
Bøgh
isn't coming up to take Steen's wind and get that last-minute inside
overlap.
..
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So - who has right of way here?
Yep -
it's Christian Bovet (5128) who has done a nice gybe to starboard and
it
looks like Gunnar Petersen (red and white spi) is about to follow suit
while Stephan Nandrup-Bus (red spi) will hold port, go behind Christian
and Gunnar, and then try to get inside at the mark. Since about 10
boats
- including these three - are nearly even in 6th place and will arrive
at the leeward mark in a big clump, having the inside position will be
a big help!
..
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Three more of the boats
fighting over
6th place: Søren Jensen (far right) and Per Larsen
(9733)
have gained a lot
on this run and are right back in the
hunt
along with Mogens Just (left).
..
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Looks like Per has gone high
and out
of camera range across Mogens' transom (foreground) but another
6th-place
challenger appears: Steen Schubert in 10249. Meanwhile, Søren -
ripped spinnaker and all - has the inside track for buoy room.
..
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Bo Christensen (2042) is
another one
of the 10 boats headed for the Meeting at the Mark. Per Larsen on the
right.
..
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While crew, Thomas Anderson,
concentrates
admirably on the spinny, Bo Christensen keeps a very good lookout
as the tricky manoeuvering begins -
first
he'll need to avoid running into Mogens Just off his bow.
..
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John Friis and Mary Jakobsen
(light blue
deck) are right in the hunt but will have to give room at the mark to
Per
Larsen (gray deck) who has Christian Bovet inside him.
..
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Getting pretty close to the
mark now.
Looks like Per (white spi) has done a quick gybe to port while John
(3264)
appears content to go around on the outside - it wouldn't hurt 3264's
speed
if Mary were to sit a bit further forward. The wooden boat is Mogens.
Don't
know what happened to Christian - maybe the aliens got him!
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