Mother Nature refused to play ball on the opening day of Extreme Sailing Series Act 5, Hamburg, resulting in no scoring races being completed. Conditions in the German venue are predicted to improve from tomorrow.
Light winds versus strong tide on the River Elbe meant the boats were unable to race, leaving the seven international teams the remaining three days to make their mark on the scoreboard.
Race Director John Craig explained the conditions he faced: “Today the maximum we saw was five or six knots of breeze but from a variety of different directions, coupled with one of the largest tides we've seen here in a long time. We had about five knots of current. We ran two demonstration races and then we tried one for real and we had to abandon it.
“Tomorrow is looking better, we should have a bit more wind to play with, but I am looking forward to Saturday and Sunday even more as the forecast is set to build,” added Craig, who is optimistic for improved conditions for the rest of the event, with 10 – 15 knots of wind predicted on the final two days.
Due to tidal restrictions, the fleet of 11 Flying Phantoms, whose racecourse is based further along the iconic river, will be heading out this evening to run racing. Results can be found on the official website once racing has been completed.
