REPORT FROM FRANKIE LARDIES

Day 1
The first day was a typical lake Garda day with the offshore breeze dying out early as we were towed out in glassy conditions waiting for the southerly Ora wind to build and come down the lake.
Race 1: Started in 8-14 kts with a building breeze, we had a good start at the boat and managed to tack into a big lift in the cliffs allowing us to be in second at the top mark. Some spinnaker problems during the hoist lost us 3 places but good boat speed and tactical decisions allowed us to chip away at the boats and end up 2nd for the first race.
Race 2: Started in the full Ora breeze of around 18 knots causing a lot of congestion at the boat end of the line with us getting stuck right in the middle and unable to get a lane out to the right hand side. At the to mark we were truly buried in the 30’s but being very fast downwind in pumping conditions allowed us to catch up during the outer loop to finish 16th.
Race 3: was again in the full Ora breeze and once again we were unable to get a clear start to be in the 30’s again at the top mark. Good speed downwind combined with an exceptional 2nd beat pulled us into the top 15 by the second top mark and we were able to climb to 8th place by the finish leaving us 6th overall for the day.

Day 2
Race 4: 6-14kts. An unusual offshore breeze was in for the whole day of between 6-16 knots. We had a phenomenal start with speed at the pin and led the fleet to the favoured left hand side of the course, rounding second at the top. We maintained this position on the downwind but on the second beat some boats got a big shift on the right and we finished 3rd
Race 5: 8-15kts. We had a good start but did not get out to the favoured side of the course early enough and rounded at the top about 15th and picked off boats on each leg to finish 9th
Race 6: 8-16ktsWe got an average start but managed to get a lane out right after dipping a few boats and got a good shift to round 4th at the top. We dropped back on the second beat unfortunately in some very patchy conditions to 9th at the finish

Overall we have made a solid start to the regatta and Garda has proved very difficult to master. Consistency has been key and we look forward to gold fleet starting tomorrow.