Team SCA, Dongfeng Race Team and Mapfre all did Chinese
gybes from Monday to Tuesday, but the three crews escaped injury despite the boats crashing over in a massive seastate and 40 knots of wind (75 kilometres an hour).
"We had planned to
gybe at the mark, but we couldn't because our spinnaker had some turns, so the two boats behind gybed and I think because they were together, we gained, sailing a better angle."
Within sight of the finish line, Witt had to make a gutsy call, whether to keep on the almost airless path he was on, or
gybe with Rambler, which had taken a dig towards the shore where there was pressure.
"In many ways, I think these boats are similar to other sailboats; 'Do you sail higher and faster or lower and a little slower?' I think we did well to
gybe only once, because those are expensive, and in the end, we did well and had a lot of fun.
As the big white-hulled ketch favoured broad
gybe angles, Brindabella slid down the eastern shore.
However the Oracle team's favourable
gybe on the last leg almost robbed ETNZ of their sorely-needed point.
In Tack &
Gybe I catch up with Drew- Jones, Aquatic Events Officer with the NSW RMS (Maritime), with whom I coincidentally first sailed in my teenage years.
In Tack &
Gybe we banter with renowned Kiwi sailor Mike Sanderson on his experiences in big-ticket events such as the VOR and Team NZ America's Cup campaigns and his professional role today with Doyle Sails NZ.
Other features of interest include our Tack &
Gybe interview with McConaghy's Jono Morris on the surgery undertaken for the 'new again' super-maxi Wild Oats XI, which promises to be the one to watch in ocean races to come, despite the 2015 Hobart race retirement with a torn main.
In the middle of the ocean, no one but the crew will hear Rambler 88's low mechanical growl as she eases her sheets to
gybe, but Sunday, when sailing's newest technological wonder stretched her powerful legs in the compact "stadium" setting of outer Newport Harbour, spectators on shore were within earshot and reacted with their own exclamations of gratification.
