Day 1 was tough, 20-25 knots and huge swell made it a day of survival, reducing the risks around the course and staying upright! I didnt manage to work these key points out and scored a 23 and a 12.
Day 2 was a lot better for me. It was lighter and I managed to stay dry! I was showing good boat speed upwind but lacked the confidence to push the boat to its max on the downwind legs. I managed a 7 and 13 to jump up to 24th overall.
Day 3 was the lightest wind we had so far. With around 8 knots of breeze, it was all about a good start and staying in phase with the shifts. This was pretty tricky with the unpredictable wind we had. I had a poor start in race 1 where my only option was to go right for a clear lane. Unfortunately the wind wound left and every boat to the left of me was ahead. With such a big fleet it was hard to gain places and I scored a 42. In race 2 I managed to play the shifts up the right hand side to round in the top 20. I swapped places a few times to eventually finish 17th. Enough to maintain my position overnight.
Day 4 was the first day of the Gold fleet final series. It was an important day as we had only carried our qualifying postition through and so points were extrememly tight, not to mention we had 3 races that day! Race 1 was all about the start and boat speed up the first beat. I rounded mid teens and managed to work my way through the fleet with some good decision up the second beat to finish 4th. I priortised getting onto the lifted tack straight away in race 2 along with some other big names and we headed out to the right hand side on a port lift. We were looking in trouble until the top 1/4 of the beat where the wind shifted right. I had a great angle back to the mark and rounded inside the top 10 where I maintained and eventually finished 6th. In race 3 I had a good start at the pin end but was unable to tack and get back to the middle of the course. There was a bit of a right shift half way up the course which didnt favour me but I managed to win the left hand side of the course and lead a big group of boats into the windward mark. I took a couple of places on the first downwind leg then held on to finish 19 which moved me up to 7th overall.
Day 5 gave us 7-10 knots. It was very shifty to start with and in race 1 there was a big right hand shift with lots of extra pressure. I was lucky to have started near the starboard end of the line and so rounded the windward mark in about 20th. The fleet had been stretched out because of the big shift and was pretty spread out. I fought hard and kept attacking but didnt manage to make any gains and finished 21st. We had a bit of a delay before race 2 because of some big shifts but eventually got going. Just before go there was a big shift left and everyone tacked onto port imediately. I lead the boats who had started at the pin end and worked my way across the race course, when all the boats came together at the top mark I was leading and managed to hold this to the finish. This was my first Gold fleet race win and qualified me for the top 10 medal races the following day.
Day 6 was windy again, but being closer to the land it was a lot shiftier then the previous days. In the first of the 2 double point medal races I worked the shifts up the left hand side of the first beat and rounded the first mark 3rd. Unfortunately I capsized when a big gust hit me and dropped to the back, eventually catching 1 boat to finish 9th. In the second of the 2 races we had an individual recall at start time. I was ahead of the boats around me and so went back to the line with the French boat to make sure I wasnt disqualified. I managed to claw my way back to 6th in order to finish 9th overall. A few little mistakes cost me a couple of places overall but I was chuffed with the week! I have now moved up to 12th in the World rankings and looking forward to getting my wrist better before Hyeres.
Heres a picture from the medal racing.
