Bouwe Bekking may have been first to pop the cork on his champagne, but Torben Grael had the broadest grin at the end of the Qingdao in-port race.
Maybe he was just relieved to get the race sailed. After all, two consecutive days of cancellations is hardly ideal preparation for a 12,300-nautical mile leg that begins in less than a week.
More likely he was pleased to have followed up a first place in the day’s opening race with a second in the final session. It was enough to give Ericsson 4 the day’s spoils and grow their lead at the top of the leaderboard by half a point, leaving them four ahead of Telefonica Blue, who finished second after a fourth and a first.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “Things are looking good for us and we keep picking up points. But it was hard.”
At the first windward mark, it was Ericsson 4 from Telefonica Blue, Green Dragon and PUMA, but a lot of changes were in the offing. By the second windward mark Green Dragon were leading Ericsson 4 and Blue held third from PUMA. Both duels became match races and ultimately the teams who had been trailing reversed their orders.
“Very marginal conditions for racing and for a lot of points,” Grael said. “A tough day, but a good day. It couldn’t have been any better so we’re very happy. We did well on the starts and the crew work was very good.”
Bekking was a victim of the variable conditions. “We went after Ericsson 4 at the start, the others took the other gate, got some pressure and sailed away. Very simple.”
PUMA’s Ken Read summed up his race. “We got an awful start and suffered for it. One mistake and that’s it.”