COPENHAGEN, DENMARK | 19 AUG 2022 CEST - The ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix is off to a slow start, with racing abandoned on day one due to light conditions on the Øresund Srait in Copenhagen.
Commenting on the tricky nature of light-air racing, Flight Controller Andy Maloney says, “Days like today make for extremely challenging conditions.”
“We have quite a few changes we can make to try to get the most out of the boat, including using the bigger (29-metre) wing, larger foils and sailing in a four-up configuration where the grinders step off the boat and our strategist moves into that position to try to lighten the overall weight,” he said.
But despite pulling out all of the stops, it wasn’t to be - with wet and stormy conditions dooming all crews’ chances of making it to the start line, let alone getting on the foils.
While winds have been light, there has still been plenty of action in Copenhagen this week so far. Yesterday, Great Britain became the third crew to hit uncharted rocks in training, sustaining significant damage to their F50 which forced an early exit from this weekend’s competition. The two other teams - Spain and Denmark - were fortunately able to make repairs in time.
Racing returns tomorrow at 1530 CEST / 0130 NZT and with a shortened format and fewer crews on the starting line, anything could happen. Kiwis can catch all the action live on Sky Sport NZ and live and on-demand on YouTube.