Indian MR Sel. Trails 2011; Day One

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After a good night sleep in the RBYC, I left the city center to the venue and arrived at 09:30. No breeze.
Well, lets first do the skippers briefing and see how it looks like then.

Ten teams finally registered, so the format the OA decided on, was to go for a full round robin. 45 matches in 23 flights; that would take 2,5 days, more or less. Then we could do the semifinals and finals in 1,5 day.
The wind did come and developed into a nice steady breeze around 8 to 10 knots, a little later than expected, but we started racing around noon.

The four J24's were made as equal as possible, although some had winch problems and one broke its tiller-extension after one race. No matter, on set would operate without winch handles and one set without the tiller extensions.

A clear pattern emerged pretty soon. There are three or four skippers and crew who have worked hard on their skills and are doing some pretty close racing. But the others are not there yet. To much boat handling problems, too much spinnaker issues and - like beginners - making unexpected and sometimes not logical moves.

It looks like we will have some close races later in the event deciding the winner. For now all are having a good time. Only one rule 14 issue and half a point deduction. Which is pretty good for this event, Pat assured me. With nine flights on the books we are right on schedule, despite the late start.

I'm back at the club and will have some diner in a short while.

The OA does have a bit of an issue with what is actually the "Prize" that one or more teams can win. A question from the morning briefing. What will the selected 'get'? Like always - the budget will decide that in a great part - I suspect.

If I remember I'll take some pictures of Mumbai's skyline tomorrow. And of the MR-action, of course. I have no special rules situations or calls from today. Perhaps later this week.