The next days were super tough long ones: the mornings started with an offshore breeze, building to a super nice 15 knots. Before the race, I did my sail tuning to make sure I was set up right for these conditions. A slow race committee combined with the guys fleet starting before us and having general recalls (which meant they had to restart several times), meant our start time was continually delayed. Finally we got underway, only to have the wind back off... The first upwind still had planing conditions, but by the first downwind it was marginal planing - for the second upwind, the wind continued to shut off and it was already pumping conditions, while the last downwind was painfully slow and lumpy, only to finish off the race with what seemed like a never ending slalom (supposed to be fast, exciting and 2 minutes long) that took 8 minutes, in near glassy (no wind) conditions. Needless to say, very tricky and almost impossible to catch up as the distances between sailors was increasing as the wind was decreasing. Then the wind completely shut off and thus we were sent ashore to wait for the wind to fill in from the other direction.
Lots of waiting... In the afternoon the seabreeze started to fill in and we were sent out for our second race of the day. The wind conditions for the rest of the days were always between 7-11knots. The water in the bay of Palma is also quite shallow making it quite lumpy - definitely very tough for me as I'm one of the heavier girls and I'm not the fastest in these conditions. The wind was also oscillating slowly (going from right to left back and forth) and I just couldn't ever get it right. When I went to the left, the wind swung to the right and when I went right, the wind went to the left. In those 3 middle days of the regatta I added many points to my score as I finished in the late 20's for most of them. Frustrating races they were, but I learned from some of my mistakes and finally, on the last day I actually put into practice some of the things I had learned from the previous days. Before the start I was very diligent in monitoring the wind, devising my game plan and sticking to it. For myself, I also needed to finish the regatta off on a better note...
Which I did! On the last day I sailed to finish a solid 18th in these difficult conditions yet was in the game the whole time. In the 2nd race I rounded the top mark in 3rd, and after losing a few boards on the downwinds (I just couldn't plane as long and as deep as some of the others) to finish 7th. Happy to end the regatta on a positive, my last races also helped me move back up to 18th overall in the regatta.Dead tired - I am now enjoying some days off (no sailing although I still have my regular fitness routine to uphold). I haven't even had internet, so I've really been out of the loop too.
On Sunday the training continues in Hyeres, France... Where the next World Cup Race: Semaine Olympique Francaise will take place from April 23-29th.
Nikola
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www.nikolagirke.com <http://www.nikolagirke.com>
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