A glorious Tour of the Bay was had by all! Wind conditions were perfect, the sun was out and the water was (mostly) flat.
The morning started with our final morning briefing of the event, where all the teams come together to go over the previous day’s racing and can talk and learn together. We were honored to have Warrior Sailing join us. Warrior Sailing provides maritime education for wounded, ill, and injured veterans, to support wellness, recovery and reintegration. Most exciting, Eric Wynsma announced that he is donating his GL52, Usual Suspects, to Warrior Sailing as part of their donation fleet. Huge gratitude for Eric and his family for their donation which will continue to grow and support veterans and future sailors.
In terms of the racing, even though it was a coastal-style race, it was the most chaotic start of the weekend; 3 teams were OCS at the start and forced to correct.
A thrilling addition to the start line was Natalie J. They are joining for both Tour of the Bay races. They sailed well, rounding the first mark at the front of the fleet. In the end, they finished in the fourth spot. Just to note, their scores are not being counted as part of the overall GL52 fleet series scores so do not affect the current standings for this event. But boy are we happy to have them racing with us!
There were multiple place changes throughout the just over two hour race, but in the end the fierce Windquest could not be caught and finished with the win. Leading the event going into the day, Katana was looking to avoid any big mistakes and though they missed out on the win, their second place finish keeps them atop the podium with 15 points. After being over at the start, Wizard was forced to play catch up and finished fourth within the GL52 fleet for the day. They remain in second but the gap between them and Windquest has narrowed to only two points. Mockingbird had an overall solid race and handily finished in third place.
The rest of the fleet fought hard and can attest that there were moments of glory and moments of immense frustration. Hooligan came away with fifth, Heartbreaker sixth and Fjord seventh.
today is the second and final Tour of the Bay race. Conditions are looking slightly lighter, but racing should be just as intense. First warning at 12 PM ET!
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