Star Sailors League: Tough & Tempestuous Golden Day in the SSL Gold Cup 1/4 Finals

Fleet 1, Race 4

With Great Britain effectively qualified, and Denmark out, the focus was all on the battle between the Malaysian ‘Monsoon’ and French ‘Les Bleus’ with just a single point separating them in the ranking. France inflicted a penalty on Malaysia in the pre-start, giving ‘Les Bleus’ the initiative from the off.

The ‘Monsoon’ started late on port after their penalty, and ‘Les Bleus’ immediately tacked, ducking the ‘Danish Dynamite’ to keep a close cover on the Malaysian team.

With the British ‘Spitfires’ in their customary lead, Malaysia put in an early gybe on the first downwind leg which the French mirrored, but 200 metres apart, giving the ‘Monsoon’ a chance to sneak through.

When Malaysia gybed to re-engage with the French, they had closed right on to the tail of ‘Les Bleus’. As the wind decreased and the sun went down, the battle for the last semifinal place was on.

The French pulled out a 27 lead at the leeward gate, with Malaysia crucially just behind Denmark, which handed control back to ‘Les Bleus’, who once again kept a close cover on the ‘Monsoon’.

Maintaining their advantage, ‘Les Bleus’ were briefly held up by the ‘Danish Dynamite’ having spinnaker trouble, which again allowed the ‘Monsoon’ to split gybes. Could the Malaysians find a route through in the dying breeze? ‘Les Bleus’ were taking no chances though, gybing twice to put themselves in line with the ‘Monsoon’ yacht.

As Great Britain’s ‘Spitfires’ recorded a perfect 20 in the 1/4 Finals, the ‘Monsoon’ again gybed away in a desperate move to overtake ‘Les Bleus’, but the French held strong to finish second in the race and seal qualification to the semifinals.

The Malaysian ‘Monsoon’ progressed through the 1/32 Finals, the 1/16 Finals and the 1/8 Finals, but the quarterfinal is where their superb campaign in the SSL Gold Cup came to an end. They have captured the hearts of the Malaysian nation, all the way up to the King himself, as well as collecting fans around the world, and will no doubt come back stronger in future events.

Fleet 2, Race 4, Take 1

What a way to start the day! Qualification to the semifinals was on the line with Hungary, Germany and The Netherlands separated by only 2 points.

Crashing through the waves, Germany started beautifully, flanked by The Netherlands and Hungary, while Chile only just squeezed round the pin end of the line.

With some powerful gusts, these were full-on, hard conditions, with the mainsails regularly spilling wind, trying to depower, testing the skill of the sailors to the absolute limit.

The German ‘Unbreakables’ looked to be controlling the race when a massive windshift left them head-to-wind, handing the ‘Dutch Lions’ the lead, but the wind was swinging so wildly it was becoming impossible to sail.

The unstable conditions left the race committee with no option but to abandon the race, and the fleet was sent back to restart.

Fleet 2, Race 4, Take 2

It took two hours for the wind to settle, but finally we were back underway again soon after 1pm in a calmer 10 knots from the opposite direction. At the start Germany were squeezed out by Hungary at the committee boat end, while Chile started mid-line, with The Netherlands at the pin.

Excellent speed helped the German ‘Unbreakables’ squeeze out from beneath the Hungarian ‘Shamans’ to clear their air, with all four teams powering out on starboard in a drag race to the left hand side of the course for the first five minutes.

The ‘Unbreakables’ rounded the windward mark first, but their fine work on the upwind leg was all undone when they pulled their spinnaker pole out too early and had to complete a penalty, dropping them to the back of the fleet. At this point the ‘Shamans’ and ‘Dutch Lions’ filled the qualifying spots.

While the ‘Shamans’ were calm and composed at the leeward gate, Chile’s ‘Finis Terrae Sailors’ had problems with the jib hoist and the ‘Unbreakables’ were untidy with the spinnaker drop, which all played to the ‘Dutch Lions’ advantage, moving them up to second in the race and firming up their qualification spot.

With the Germans on the attack, The Netherlands kept a close cover on them, defending their spot with vigour in a tense tacking duel, before taking a huge gamble, going left while the German and Chilean teams went right. Would this prove to be a huge mistake?

As Hungary rounded with a comfortable lead, the three other teams were neck and neck on the final mark rounding. The second qualification spot would all be decided on the downwind leg to the finish!

The ‘Dutch Lions’ luffed the ‘Unbreakables’ but then both teams fluffed their spinnaker hoists and split gybes. On equal points, it was all going to come down to which side paid. While the wind was dropping, heart rates were hitting the red line as the tacticians looked for the best breeze as the two teams converged.

As the Hungarian ‘Shamans’ won the race and qualified top, the ‘Dutch Lions’ crossed ahead of the ‘Unbreakables’. Chile’s ‘Finis Terrae Sailors’ finished second, but The Netherlands sealed the second qualification spot by finishing 9 seconds ahead of the Germans. Such are the margins between success and failure in the SSL Gold Cup.

Fleet 3, Race 4

In another fleet with a tight points situation, an aggressive prestart saw Brazil trying to control the fleet. New Zealand were under pressure early and had to restart due to being over the line at the start. The ‘Brazilian Storm’ led Australia’s ‘Boxing Kangaroos’ and Portugal’s ‘Navigators’ out to the left, with New Zealand’s ‘Guardians’ rolling the dice heading right, trying to make gains after their poor start.

The ‘Guardians’ clearly rolled double sixes, going from last by a long way to rounding the windward mark on the tail of the ‘Brazilian Storm’, getting themselves right back into the picture for qualification.

At the leeward gate New Zealand had overtaken Brazil, with Australia and Portugal battling for third, with Portugal choosing an alternate route, splitting left while the other three went right, which proved a bad call for the ‘Navigators’, effectively pushing them out of contention for a qualifying spot.

Going into the final downwind leg, New Zealand held their lead from Brazil, with Australia close behind. As things stood, Brazil would be joined by New Zealand in the semifinals, just a single point ahead of Australia, but with the ‘Roos’ splitting from the ‘Brazilian Storm’ and ‘Guardians’ anything could happen.

As the Australian team came in on starboard, New Zealand were clear, but the ‘Roos’ had caught Brazil, forcing them to gybe. In an extraordinary photo finish, reminiscent of the Tokyo 2020 49er Medal Race, Brazil’s bow crossed the finish line millimetres ahead of the Australians, sealing Brazil and New Zealand’s place in the semifinals. The margin between success and failure had incredibly become even tighter.

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Text and images form Star Sailors League. For more and to read the full release, please visit starsailors.com.