It was a big day out on the water for the team with the wind had swung around to the south and observations were 18-20 knots at the start of the day. The Nacra 15s faced challenging conditions and the wind had dropped to 16-18 knots over a short chop in the bay at the start of racing. Race one of the day saw five teams incur a UFD penalty for being over the line early, and Will Cooley and Evie Haseldine picked up a 5th.

Second race of the day the Australians led for the first lap of the course. Up the second work they opted to cover regatta favourites Argentina and Belgium and a shift at the top of the leg saw the boats on the right hand side of the course gain and the Australians drop to 3rd. The following race the Aussies were again on fire and crossing tacks at the front of the fleet to pick up another third. The final race of the day saw them boxed in at the start with no ability to tack which left them at the back of the pack and a 10th placing for the race.

On the windsurfing course the race committee took the option to include a slalom race. This has the fleet divided into heats with six competitors per heat. Alex Halank won his first heat. He picked up some weed on his fin in the second heat but placed well enough to get through to the 'A' final in which unfortunately he was flagged as an early starter however this still gave him a place of 6th overall for the race. Race 5 was also designated a slalom race however the wind dropped out and the race committee will be looking to complete the slalom round today.

Hailey was not that happy with her day yesterday but is still smiling. It is particularly difficult for the board sailors who have a long sail to their course area. Unfortunately we are located in a shallow bay and sailors have to sail up to 40 minutes to get to their course area.

The kiteboards run a series of eliminations, to decide the ultimate winner of the race. Sailors are split into groups of 4 and placing in the first round will dictate getting into the A final or the B final. Mani Bisshops won his first round elimination but unfortunately got a tangle in his second round elimination. His kite was torn so he had to get back to shore to pick up a replacement kite. He missed his third round with the delay. We have been able to repair the kite and tube damage over night and Mani is all ready to go today.

Forecast is a bit lighter today, around 10 knots and the direction variable between south and south east.

Unfortunately there is no live coverage so those of you back in Australia can follow the racing. There are however a few good photographers out on the water. Have a look through these images to find your sailors: https://buenosaires2018.sailing.org/images

Results can be followed here: https://buenosaires2018.sailing.org/results

Photo: Mani Bisshops takes to the air. credit; World Sailing 

Report by Karen Gojnich