Yeah - a very frustrating pair of races early as neither side was consistent and if you played the shifts, you ended up going without pressure (unless you really got into phase somehow). One leg, the left would have pressure but you had to deal with some chop. the next leg, the right had the pressure. At one point, the wind at A-mark and the committee boat were 60 degrees different. We did what we could to hang on in those conditions and won the first race, tanked the next, and as the pressure built toward the end of the third, dug out of a bad "way back" 12th place position to 4th in one lap. Once the wind was up, it was a matter of getting a clean start and avoiding mistakes. Alex and Nigel, sailing meticulously, are very tough to catch.

Chris Batchelor does have the new aluminum mast.