The Giraglia was the first opportunity to check the latest upgrades we made on Wild Joe for the 2021 season.
The original forward rudder had been replaced by a daggerboard to support the upwind performance of the canting keeler. We had expected this configuration to make the boat go faster on running angles.
The regatta proved to be a difficult one for us. There was only an hour and a half, when we could take good advantage of the DSS system. The rest of the racecourse had either light stuff in store for us, or upwind sailing.
However at the start we saw more breeze than had forecasted, so the first few hours our progress was quite ok on the downwind leg to Cannes. The wind was getting softer and softer after the rounding and we were sailing upwind near the rhumb line towards the Rock.
Our first costly mistake was on the second day early morning, when we stuck in a windhole for more than an hour 25 miles from Giraglia. Some of our main contenders escaped on a narrow gate of southerly patch caused us 10 miles to make up on them.
After a short and fast joyride on the DSS at the beautiful Giraglia we took a more easterly route compared to the boats closest to us. The wind shifting to our bow this easterly position saw us passing our closest rivals about 15 miles to the finish.
With the finish just a stone throw away the breeze died entirely. We lost about 3 hours parking there before we concluded the regatta.
All in all the boat was going well, we got rid of the rust in the teamwork so we hope for a race with a better outcome next time.
Marcell Goszleth
