It is the midpoint of the 52 SUPER SERIES. There is no time for half time oranges. That comes after Friday when there is a long break to the World Championships. With 21 races sailed so far and 26 more races scheduled before the end of Cascais in October, is it downhill or uphill from here?
The leaderboard is close. Well, Quantum Racing have that lead, 39 points over second place, but Platoon are now up into second overall. And it is incredibly close all the way down the table. Platoon are six points ahead of Rán on this morning’s Equator report. But Rán are only a point ahead of Azzurra who in turn are four points up on Provezza and Alegre. Sled are one point behind them. So, right now there are 12 points between second and seventh. Nothing.
The programme for today – the third racing day at the 2016 Puerto Portals Sailing Week – is for a normal windward-leeward race, followed by a mini-coastal race of about 15-20 miles. That course will be a four miles – or thereabouts – windward leeward followed by a beat and run back to the Illetas mark which is at the point to the west of Palma where a notorious transition zone between the two breezes usually exists. Often that is where the breeze is lightest.
The wind is due to be from a more southerly direction – Palma’s famous Xaloc – around 7-12kts. The mercury is still high, a long hot day on the water is expected.
Watch the race LIVE, via state-of-the-art Virtual Eye technology, at: www.52SUPERSERIES.com/LIVE.