HOME TEAM WINS! – “YCG – 2013”,FRI./SUN. JUNE 21-23
During the Holly Spirit weekend (a Greek Orthodox holiday) offshore racing sailors have choices to their heart’s content. Not one, not two, but three demanding endeavors are on the calendar; the “Mavrie Gida Race”, the “Andros Island Race” and “The Yacht Club of Greece (YCG) Sailing Week”!
The YCG competition is without a doubt the main attraction for purely racing boats, by tradition the first choice for well prepared teams to stand up to the challenge of offshore windward leeward courses. The “YCG Sailing week” is The Event that the “Athens Sailing Circuit” is wrapped around; the pride of Our Club for 21 years in a row and in no way would we not consider going again, in spite of the much promising four day sunbath on and around the wind-laced Island of Andros.
On Friday June 21, we started at 4:00 p.m. with two fast windward leeward courses taken care to perfection by the Committee and with the weather by our side. At the end of the day MELX II scored one 1st and one 2nd positions sending us straight to the top overall sharing the #1 spot together with Mr. Alevizakis’s PEGA
On Saturday morning the race was scheduled at 10:30’ and the fresh north wind dictated the long 35nm course Faliro-Tourlos-Faliro-Myrmigia-Faliro keeping both the Committee and the participants on their toes.
The first leg to the N.E. tip of Aegina Island started with the wind from N.E., the boats sailing with the spinnakers up, broad reaching on a port tack but not for long. Although expectations were high at first, as a fast and fascinating sailing experience was apparently lying ahead, to everyone’s disappointment before long the wind became unstable both in strength and direction.
However, by choosing the right tactics we kept our momentum and we sailed around the Tourlos mark maintaining a good position. So far so good, because on our way back while most of the boats turned to the east coast of the Faliro Cove, we chose to sail towards Hadjikiriakio hoping for fragments of the N.W. wind along the Piraiki Rocks. Not a good choice. And from bad to worse we lost precious time staying (literally) dead in the water. We struggled to make up for the lost time to the scoring gate at Faliro and we managed to get away with two 4th positions and 4.8 points (Ouch!), as it was an 1.2 point-weighted race.
Come Sunday morning MELX II was in the 4th position overall, with very little point difference from the boats at the top and with two more windward leeward races still to go, there was everything to fight for, everything was possible.
Now was the time for the Team to rise up and come together. For the Skipper and the Crew to show their Class.
There was no way to let our competitors win the race of our own Club.
We scored one 1st position and one 2nd, same as the first day, in order to win 1st place in our class with just 0.6 penalty points from PEGA.
All in all, winning is a state of mind…
…and a good reason to celebrate.
We‘ll see you soon!
RESULTS:
This Race