THE RHODES 1997 PWA WORLD CUP

Day 2 of the Rhodes 1997 PWA World Cup began with very light wind conditions and the forecast that the wind could well build to Beaufort Force 7 within the next couple of hours. Sailors and crew waited in standby for several hours until the early afternoon when the wind rapidly built to 11-15 knots in the prevailing cross shore direction.

The wind failed to build further and the race committee set an upwind course similar to the one used yesterday but with a much longer upwind leg. Along with the longer upwind leg, the start line was lengthened and the race format was altered to full-fleet racing.

There were no premature starters in Race 4#, the first race of the day and all 61 sailors got away cleanly. First to the upwind mark on lap 1 was S-10 Anders Bringdal ahead of a chasing pack consisting of K-66 Nik Baker, US-933 Kevin Pritchard, VI- 11 Jimmy Diaz and S-39 Christoffer Rappe. S-10 Anders Bringdal rounded the first gybe mark in the short slalom section first ahead of fellow countryman S-39 Christoffer Rappe. K-66, Nik Baker, US-933 Kevin Pritchard and VI-11 Jimmy Diaz rounded the downwind mark in 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively. The first four positions remained unchanged at the second upwind mark with Anders extending his lead to over 100 metres. At the finish it was Anders Bringdal who took the win, his 2nd of the contest, from S-39 Christoffer Rappe and K-66 Nik Baker. KA-0 Steve Allen, yesterday's overnight leader did not finish race 4# after kit failure forced him to retire.

Race 5# commenced 30 minutes after the final finisher of the previous race, the 40 minute break for many of the top sailors was still quite short after a gruelling 21 minute race 4#. Race 5#, like race 4 got away to a clean start and it was S-10 Anders Bringdal who was first to the upwind mark. Anders was closely followed by KA-0 Steve Allen, KC-1 Sam Ireland and KV-11 Finian Maynard. These positions remained constant throughout the second downwind and the sailor headed off back upwind to the upwind mark for the second time. It was very difficult to notice any obvious advantage by either choosing the inside or the outside of the beat although most sailors chose not to sail too far on the outside.

S-10 Anders Bringdal held his lead to round the upwind mark in first position for a second lap, continuing to accelerate away on the downwind leg. Bringdal finished race 5# in a comfortable first position ahead of KA-0 Steve Allen, S-39 Christoffer Rappe. K-66 Nik Baker pulled up several plaecs to finish in 4th position from 7th on the first lap. Several sailors did not have such a great beat on the second lap, KC-1 Sam Ireland and KV-11 Finian Maynard both dropped from 3rd and 4th to 6th and 5th on the second lap.

With the wind still remaining around 10-16 knots, the Race director chose to run one final upwind course race using the same course once more. For the third time today, the seemingly invincible Anders Bringdal charged up the first beat to round the upwind mark in first position ahead of US-933 Kevin Pritchard and KA-0 Steve Allen. Steve Allen was able to reel Kevin Pritchard in on the first downwind leg and both sailors headed into the exciting short slalom section, set immediately in front of a crowded beach.

On the second upwind it was S-10 Anders Bringdal who was once more first to the upwind mark ahead of S-39 Christoffer Rappe who had pulled all the way up from 5th position at the leeward mark. KA-0 Steve Allen dropped one position to 3rd ahead of US-933 Kevin Pritchard and K-66 Nik Baker.

After 3 more course races, the top three sailors remained the same, with S-10 Anders Bringdal taking the lead with just 4.8 pts ahead of S-39 Christoffer Rappe and KA-0 Steve Allen, tied on 11.7 pts. US-93 Matt Pritchard remains in 4th position ahead of KV-11 Finian Maynard who has moved way up the rankings now he is able to discard his DSQ.

Race Organisers and sailors alike are well aware that force 7 winds are blowing at several neighbouring islands, what we don't know is if and when this weather system will hit Rhodes?

Source: SSM Freesports / Dan Atkins