Worlds Day One

16 September 2013

After a very successful Fireball European Championship, which gathered 62 crews from eight countries, Portoroz, Slovenia, is now hosting the Worlds (13th-20th September). 78 crews sailed today in the first two races of the championship.

Although the European Championships didn't offer much wind, and especially sailors from Britain wished for more, it looks like things are going their way. A nice 'jugo' breeze made racing exciting and, because of regular shifts, not at all easy. Up to 16 knots of wind in the first race and a little less, around 10, in the second were enough for some nice trapezing.

"We had a nice breeze and two good races, the second race on the black flag on the second attempt due to a major wind shift just after the first start. I believe sailors are happy and I really hope the next days will provide similar conditions," said Croatian race officer Tonko Petesic.

European champions Matt Burge and Richard Wagstaff, who are ranked sixth overall after these two races said, "It was extremely difficult again, it was nice to stretch our legs and go a bit faster, so I think everyone enjoyed the sailing. It was easy to gain places, but was even easier to lose them. For us it was a big battle, but eventually we got somewhere near the top five, which was good enough for what we need, Chips is looking good, but these are early days."

Lighter winds are forecasted for tomorrow, with some rain showers possible during the day.