Sitting onshore while it blew 25 on Tuesday was worth it, because the conditions delivered to sailors for Day Three of the 2016 Quantum Key West Race Week could not have been any more perfect.
Winds were in the 14-16 knot range out of the northeast as boats headed out to the racecourse. In Division 1, the Maxis were out of the gate running, but RC noted that the J/111s seemed "more conservative" with their start, waiting to see what kind of strategy was going to work on the course. Ed Baird told racers during the morning's weather briefing that the weather pattern they were experiencing was a wind-driven front, with a temperature gradient that led him to believe that a few righties would be seen. So perhaps "conservatively cautious" is the right word for the J/111's strategy.
In Division 2, boats were somewhat less so, as race committee called back a C&C30 and three J/70s as over early for the first race (I supposed three boats in a fleet of 54 is considered impressive, though). Tween Dream Gannon Troutman was out for blood (and a podium) after a rough start on Monday, and he rounded the top mark in second place. He dropped a few places to fourth in his finish, however, but we give him huge props for beating Tim Healy.
Stuck On You #backstay #keywest #startline #division3 #sailing #florida #ocean #sails #sailboat
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On the Melges 24 course, boats were screaming, sailing 1.5 nautical miles to the windward mark in just over 11 minutes. Robin Team on Teamwork won the start of a tight race within the fleet, and went on to take a bullet. He and Paul Milo have been trading them throughout the week, which is a change for the Hall Spars Team on Bluto, the Evelyn 32 Modified who is a perennial Key West podium fixture. Bluto's currently in 3rd, but let's watch her make some moves today (maybe?).
For Race Five, the wind dropped a bit to 12-14. In Division 1, the J/111s had figured their strategy out and pulled off a textbook start that even impressed PRO Ken Legler. Within the IRC-1 Class, Quantum Racing got a little greedy and was called over early, letting Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Steve Benjamin take off. On the Division 2 course, racing was even tighter.
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At the end of the day, it was great to see Gannon Troutman and Nigel Brownett move up in the leaderboard in the J/70 division. Brownett is sailing on Down the Line with tactician Jahn Tihansky of the Naval Academy Sailing Team. Today, look for Thom Bowen to break into the top ten in that division.
Themis dropped to a tie breaker with Bobsled, but that boat should never be counted out. If Moran's Bobsled is just getting going, look for some tight racing in the C&C30 class. As always, we're happy to see Robin Team and Paul Milo swapping bullets (just hopefully not any paint), shutting out the Halls. Somebody's got to do it.
For complete results, click here. And have fun, Bay boats! Enjoy Florida while it lasts!!!
