In a tense second day of racing in Benodet, Ali Baba and Artemis both notched up race wins in the 5.5 Metre Scandinavian Gold Cup.
Artemis (Kristian Nergaard, Johan Barne and Trond Solli-Saether) won the first race of the day, gaining a ticket to the next round in which only the first three boats to win a race are able to compete.
She therefore joins Thursday’s two winners, John B (Gavin McKinney, Lars Horn Johannessen and Justin Cunningham) and Ali Baba (Flavio Marazzi, Julie Marazzi and Eline Marazzi).
The unique nature of the Scandinavian Gold Cup, in which the first boat to win three races takes overall victory, requires different tactics and strategy to conventional regatta racing.
In particular, it tends to reward those who take tactical risks in an effort to win one of the first three races and therefore avoid elimination.
Ali Baba now only needs one more race win to clinch the trophy, while each of the other two boats remaining in contention need two. There’s everything to play for Saturday and tantalisingly close tactical racing is assured.
At the same time, the older 5.5 Metres in the Evolution and Classic divisions have been competing for the Hankø Evolution Cup and the Royal Haag Classic Cup, both of which have conventional regatta formats.
In the Evolution fleet another Ali-Baba (Wolf-Eberhard Richter, Beata Kallkowski and Jorg Grunewald) has notched up a straight run of four race wins.
However, the fight for second place is very tight, with three boats just one point apart. Another multigenerational family crew here in Benodet is sailing local boat Joker (Adrien Polaillon, Eric Polaillon and Jean-Baptiste Polaillon).
They took two second places today and now lie second overall.
Racing continues Saturday for these trophies, ahead of next week’s 5.5 Metre world championship, which is also hosted by the Yacht Club de l’Odet in Benodet.
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