The wind for the In-Port Race in Cape Town was good for delivering an outstanding race. The winds were strong, and not too shifty as feared, just a little that brought the icing on the cake.
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| close battles in Cape Town In-Port race. |
The Boats started well , except for Mapfre that made a terrible bad start with even a tack ahead of the start line before crossing it as last Boat.
Vestas was leading after the start, shortly followed by Dongfeng, Akzo and Brunel.
However Vestas did not get a proper furl halfway the race ,which bite them later as their A3 sail did not open properly on the last leg. This caused them to loose 2 positions in the End.
Dongfeng made a steady gain by clean strategic optimal sailing and took the lead halfway, not to let it slip till Victory was theirs.
Mapfre gained also steady and in the end could climb to the 2nd place , closely followed by AkzoNobel.
Clean Seas sailed a solid race, starting well but falling back a little, but could just stay ahead of Brunel, that had a strong last leg.
Brunel started well, but got in a battle situation with HunSungKai, which led to a penalty for the last Boat, but maybe also disadvantaged Brunel.
Now the Boats have a day to prepare for the long Leg 3 to Melbourne, through the Southern Oceans, with traditional strong, stormy winds and huge waves.
Start for Leg 3 in Cape Town on Sunday 10 December , 1200 UTC.
