From Rick Bliss:...........Today the racing started with 16-18 kts of wind out of a heading of 30 degrees. I'm approximating the wind speed. It was pretty cold on the ride out to the weather mark. I was assisting there because the photographers were going up in a helicopter. A windward leeward course through a gate then windward and back through the gate witha reach to the finish. The finish line boat was now a big catamaran since the racers had hit the previous yacht twice and the owner probably had had enough. Blair Toland's teammate Mark Herrendeen was slightly dazed when we reached him the day before after their daggerboard struck the swim platform when a competitor didn't give them room. They were back sailing with a new spinnaker pole today.

It seemed that tacking up the middle of the course was the way to go most of the day. Banging the corners proved disasterous to some top teams and their many followers. The weather mark was a great to watch the race. At times we had so much action you couldn't keep track of everything. Boats coming in on port weaving through multiple boats that were screaming in on starboard. Everyone flying around the mark and reaching off toward the offset mark sometimes three and four boats abreast. All prepping to raise their spinnakers seconds later, some raising them before the offset mark and almost capsizing or struggling hard to make the mark. The rest turning down slightly and blowing passed or being passed depending on how good they were at getting the spiinaker up and sheeted. As the day went on the sightseers got more numerous. One poor team had to round a slew of powerboats when his mainsheet wouldn't release and he couldn't turn downwind.

We had a few more instances today where people got separated from their boats and had to be scooped up by safety boats. Yesterday one of the young lady skippers had to swim to another capsized boat when her boat couldn't get righted and the safety boats were dealing with 7 capsized boats at one time. I thought I was on a fast boat until I saw one of the safety boats blazing across the water like what you see on TV with the hydrofoil racers. Okay so I exaggerate but when the driver saw the body in the water and the teammate not able to get back to him he ripped down the course later saying something about 65 mph. It was what they call a flats boat and it carried a 300hp outboard.

I was at the weather mark not the finish and things do change often on the spinnaker run so I can't give all the results but I believe Gunnar Larsen, Mike Easton, Todd Riccardi, Taylor Reiss, Cruz Smith and Bob Merrick all appeared to have a pretty good day. Lots of women competing in this event.