8 Metre World Championship at Yacht Club Italiano - Day 2
by Yacht Club Italiano 30 Aug 2023 18:09 BST
28 August - 2 September 2023
8 Metre World Championship in Genoa © jrtphoto / IEMA / YCI
For the second day of races, Genoa has provided a perfect day again, with short waves and an initial 8-knot breeze from the Southeast, which later increased to around 14 knots towards the end of the day.
The Race Committee managed to start two races today as well, bringing the total valid races for the world championship to 4; in order to validate the championship, five races are required, and from the sixth race onwards, the discard will come into play, allowing everyone to eliminate their worst result from the score.
Out at sea today, the first race started at noon, after all the boats were towed out of the Porticciolo Duca degli Abruzzi in Genoa - the 8 Metres do not have auxiliary engines and require assistance for all mooring and leaving operations from the port. The first start was regular, with the fleet splitting to the two extremes of the racecourse for the first leg, with the left side proving to be the most advantageous and enabling the frontrunners to consolidate an advantage that they maintained until the finish line.
For the second race, the wind increased above 10 knots and the Committee, after an initial attempt, started with the black flag. With the fleet spread across the entire course and the gaps among these boats truly minimal, the final results then provided some surprises - apart from the Swiss team on Yquem II who firmly remain in the lead after four races (1, 1, 1, 3) and shine for the consistency in their placements, the Australians on Peter Harburg's Mirabelle by had an excellent second race of the day, placing second, following the Swiss at just 3 points.
The series of excellent races continues for Bona, the 1934 Baglietto owned by Vera Mogna - the top two are modern yachts - maintaining the third position (first among the Italians), and a strong ranking for Vision, the glorious 1930 Nicholson skippered by Paolo Manzoni - who, for the occasion, also has Tommaso Chieffi, Flavio Grassi, and Vittorio Zaoli on board, securing the fourth position.
The championship will continue tomorrow morning with the start of the first race at 11:30 with weather forecasts similar to today, expecting a light breeze from the Southeast. Onshore, however, the Crew Party is scheduled today at the headquarters of the Yacht Club Italiano in Genoa, where a regatta village has been set up to welcome all the over 200 sailors present.