Up against the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club team, we pulled the restart to the right of the committee boat about 50 meters thinking we had plenty of time to push back. As we separated 10 meters or so farther the wind dropped from 7-8 knots to nothing. We drifted back to line, both late, but we were about 20 seconds behind. Right as they rounded the committee boat a big 12 knot puff came in and they were gone. All three races today were won by getting to the puffs first, and because we couldn’t get off the line we weren’t having much luck.

Unfortunately we didn’t finish up with our best performance, but we learned heaps this week and can’t wait to get back home to practice for the next race.

As we pack our bags to head home we would like to just thank everyone that helped us get here including all the friends, family and everyone that donated, King Harbor Yacht Club, The King Harbor Youth Foundation, Kevin and K at Extreme Fitness and Wellness, The Doyle Family, The Byrne family, The Lancaster Family, Brian Angel and Brandon Folkman for all their help here, and everyone else that made this possible.

To make up for lost time yesterday they sent us out this morning planning to finish both round robin and come in at 7:30 pm. We were glad to have had that extra days rest, and with a few extra power bars and some extra water we headed out.

The wind today was extremely interesting. In our race against Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club we got off the line with a few boat length lead and continued to extend. As we tacked onto lay line for the mark they were able to get a lucky shift and pull ahead. We were a little frustrated but kept trucking behind. Downwind we caught up and rolled over them as we approached the leeward mark. Out of our final gybe we luffed them but got a penalty with a red flag (meaning we must spin ASAP). We rounded the mark spun our circle and still managed to maintain our lead for the last lap.

Our lineup against the better teams in this event went much better in the second round robin today. Against Josh Junior who is the defending champ and is undefeated this year, we were able to beat him off the line and maintain a good lead for a while. Unfortunately, their expertise in these boats gave them the necessary advantage. We lost to the top teams but we gave them a run for their money.

As the day progressed the wind became more and more steady. The big breeze was quite fun in the Elliots but we ran into a little trouble in one race. We rounded up on the final down wind leg which cost us a win.

Today was a great day both for our record and for simply sailing to the best of our abilities. The weather and racing was also exciting considering we finished one race 1/2 inch ahead as the race committee said.

Even after 10 hours on the water they were not able to finish the last 3 flights of the second round robin. Tomorrow we are ready to go out and pick up a few more wins before we come back home!

We waited in the club watching the olympics for around 5 hours until they finally called it for the day. The canceled racing was disappointing since we were excited to really experience the Elliots in the big breeze.

The breeze was said to have reached 40 knots in the puffs during the day. A member of the local team said that the Elliots are especially fun boats when you get the kite up down wind and pop up on a plane. Unfortunately they also can’t go upwind very well.

No racing today didn’t give us a chance to add to our record but we also took the day to rest and be even more prepared to do our best tomorrow.

Our first race was up against the Hong Kong team. Knowing that they were as unfamiliar with the boats as ourselves we were a bit confident going into the pre-start. After a little confusion with the flags we came back to win the race and started our record on a good note.

The next 5 races were a little rough but we didn’t go down easy. In our race against the defending champion we were able to get a penalty against him and maintain a lead for the first upwind beat. Downwind he sucked up behind us and got a close windward leeward penalty on. He got around the leeward mark first and walked away as we slowly fought the current to get around the mark.

In our final race of the day we were up against the French skipper from new Caledonia. He was able to pull ahead with a little better boat speed but we kept it fairly close. Around the last mark their kite was not flying and we were able close in from 3-4 boat lengths to within one length. We rolled onto his breeze, collapsed his kite, and finished 2 seconds ahead.

All in all, today was a tough day up against the most talented teams here and we did what we needed to stay in the game. Tomorrow we will be finishing up the Robin with four races we are feeling confident about, then move onto the second found Robin.

As the other teams from Ausie and New Zealand headed after a couple hours, the Hong Kong team and us were left to learn the boats everyone else had access to more often. The current in the bay we are sailing in pulls sometimes maybe 5 knots and the wind so far has been in a completely different direction consistently every day so far. (5 knots of current is very strong!)

A big challenge in these boats is the fact that are a larger boat but like to be sailed like a laser. After the first half hour or so I was ready to head in. Even Dillon, who usually just sits in the back and steers had quite a multi-tasking  disaster on his hands. Fortunately,  Brian was out there with Brando and got some good film of the good teams that was very helpful, and by the end of the 4 hour practice we were feeling much more confident.

So after a big dinner and some more discussion about getting us all doing our part in the boat we are ready to for our first day of racing tomorrow, but we know it’s still going to be a BIG challenge to add racing back into the picture.