Day Five: Today in Marseille was the first day in which there was no postponement of racing. The wind had filled in nicely overnight and there was a steady 6 to 10 knots across the bay of Marseille awaiting the teams to get their second last day underway reports Cork Institute of Technology's Dee O'Rourke.
The committee decided to get the fleet on their way with a windward leeward course. The ‘3 mobile’ CIT team got off the line in a good position and rounded the top mark in 4th place. They were in close battle with the front runners as usual for the entirety of the race, only to be taken by Wales on the final downwind leg when they finished up in 5th place in race one of the day.
In the second race of the day the committee sent the fleet on the longest inshore coastal yet, a 20mile sprint along the coast of Marseille showing the crews some new sights. CIT was well placed in the top of the fleet when they suffered damage to their spinnaker having snagged it on an object below deck during the hoist for the final run of the race. The crew were able to continue to hold the spinnaker but were hampered by the mishap which prevented them from gaining any positions and they started to fall out of the leading pack resulting in them crossing the line in 7th place. However, undaunted, the ‘3 Mobile CIT’ crew got themselves back to the dock as soon as possible in order to make the necessary repairs to the spinnaker in preparation for the night race.
As this press release goes out the teams of the Student Yachting World Cup have departed from Marseille and have started the night race. Only time will tell how all the teams will fare on this grueling race, after such a long day on the water. ‘3 Mobile CIT ‘are currently in joint third position with the USA after today’s two races with Italy in the lead followed by the Czech Republic.
