Jackknife takes the first race - the Pwllheli Day Race 26th April 2014
Race 1b - Pwllheli Fairway (S), Gwylan Islands (P), Causeway buoy (P), PSC No 1 (S), Finish. - Full results here.
The initial forecast of SE 15 gusting 26 hadn't changed much all week and on Saturday morning it was still forecast to be 17 gusting 28 and due to back to NE.
Once out in the bay conditions were around those forecast, although a little higher at 20-23kn constant wind and with lively seas. Jackknife decided to reef and Mojito changed their headsail but all boats were enjoying the speed on the water and consequently hung back from the start line. Mojito had the best of the starts crossing first, with the bigger boats Predator and then Jackknife following.
Mojito didn't quite make the first mark (Pwllheli fairway) before being overtaken by Predator but managed to stay ahead of Jackknife. Once round and heading to the next mark on the course (Gwylan Islands) Andrew Hall's J125 - Jackknife showed their full speed pulling in front. A few squalls in the bay brought more wind and Mojito put in a reef but were still keeping up with the bigger boats. inside St Tudwalls all boats experienced interesting winds as gusts swirled around the islands and up the headland. Once safely round and heading towards Gwylan Islands, spinnakers appeared and Jackknife steadily pulled away. Mojito started to make ground on Predator who chose not to fly their kite on this leg but a series of broaches kept them firmly at the back. Around Gwylan and all boats on Port, Mojito noticed that the wind was veering rather than backing and tacked onto Starboard taking a more direct route to the next mark - the causeway buoy.
However as the tide started to head north, Mojito found that they needed to tack up wind against the tide to finally reach the buoy just as a squall brought constant winds of up to 34kns which stayed with the fleet for the rest of the race. Predator, had to take down their jib twice to replace jib sheets but were still well in front of Mojito. Meanwhile jackknife had already rounded the mark and with kite up, they appeared to fly home towards no 1 mark and then the finish. Predator finished 2nd and Mojito 3rd.
With steady boats speeds up around 18kts, Jackknife is sure to dominate ISORA this season.
