BANG! It is only a minute into Race 5 and we in Team Baghdad breaks our running backstay. It is really breezy and we are fighting to get a clear lane when the forestay goes slack and the mainsail looks terrible with the sudden shift to the remaining permanent backstay. What do we do? Do we try to fix it straight away or do we continue and value our options later on?

We decide for the latter, find some good shifts on the first beat and round second at the first top mark. Next stop is to send Trond down below deck to try to repair the damage but he only have bad news as he finds it impossible to do any repair.

No option other than to continue and do our best. It is actually possible to continue to sail but the running backstay is one of the most important trimming control on the boat and it a breeze you really want to pull it tight in order to get a straight forestay and resulting flat jib.

Suprisingly we continue to do well and on the 2nd upwind, we really pick some good shifts and work our way to a lead. From then on we just controlled our position into the finish. What a great feeling. …and it almost felt as good when the race committee decided that one race was enough today which will enable us to repair the boat for the remaining races.

The whole day started a lot slower. Today Nynäshamn once again offered strong breezes. The organizers found really strong breezes on Course C in the morning and decided to postponed the start. After the delay we were sent to another course with a bit less waves and it was interesting to sail in slightly different conditions.

3 possible races remains until friday. Most probable the organizers will try to get two races in tomorrow for an ultimate race on friday. Obviously our lead strenghtened and we feel confident we will continue to stay on top. At least as long as we don’t get any worse gear failures than the one we had today. Overall results here.

Stay tuned!