(Key West, FL)- The prognosticator “extraordinaires” of all things
weather were, for one of those rare moments, remarkably accurate in
their predictions for a light air day with next to no wind or just
enough wind to make it happen. As it turns out, the light southerlies
driven by a “pancake flat” mini-High shadowing the Florida Keys and into
the Straits of Florida that border Cuba to the south were enough to get
two of the three race courses racing on the first day.
While
Division 1 managed to sail two races on super-shortened courses (with
breezes fluctuating wildly from 3.2 to 4.4 kts and swinging from 220 to
270 degrees), the other fleets on Division 2 and 3 had even less to
contend with. Neither the gradient breeze nor the sea-breeze along the
coast fully developed during the day. The J/70 fleet with 62 boats
strong sat around for 5+ hours on the water and the RC PRO wisely
canceled racing for the day. Nevertheless, there’s a fun blog being
written by UK J/70 sailor Ian Atkins sailing “boats.com” with a number
of his mates who’ve raced with him on the Solent off Cowes (read more here)Aside from D-1, the other “lucky dogs” for the day were the Division III teams sailing on the course that is further east along Key West. Waiting until at least 1530 hrs, their RC PRO managed to squeeze in a race for all three classes— the two PHRF fleets and the J/80s.
For the rest of the week, most weather models are in agreement that Tuesday will see a building breeze for the rest of the week with plenty of sunshine. Sailing photo credits- Ken Stanke/ kenstanek.com For more Quantum Key West Race Week sailing information
|
