F18 Argentina, San Isidro Labrador 2013

All images Matias Capizzano www.capizzano.com . More at CSN FB. Calm winds for Saturday and great windy offshore & flat for Sunday. 6 Races and four different winners, two non used to score bullets marking how the level is rising in the local class.

I’m sailing an old good Infusion with a good friend & pioneer of the first Racecats F18, Javier “TideMaster” Poclava. On Saturday the first was pure ‘current racing’, wind was no factor at all (-5knots) and Javier pointed to perfection where and when to go taking account only on current lines. We were on a comfortable 3rd and positioned to win but I messed up in the last downwind playing with the non usable apparent wind and not following his recommendations to gybe to end losing 5 spots. Tough race when after 1:30hr of ‘floating’ racing!
Next race we had to quit as we caught some mess on the foils… and the 3rd couldn´t get the boat going. Those two with little more wind went to Mehl-Aragones on a Phantom.

Sunday excellent conditions although tricky on chosing course sides, but it was a blast, on the first one the F18 rookies from Mar del Plata, Hernan-Salerno (experienced dinghy & monohull sailor)  and my mate Gustavo  Rizzi (race at LA with him), on their second event on Gustavo’s Blackbeast Wildcat (ex Mischa), took the bullet with ease. We struggled again but on the second we modified some settings (we weight 170) and manage to lead to windward mark followed by the two speeding Wildcats, I missed the layline by 20 meters and rounded 3rd , when Javier hoisted the Spi the Haylard broke and we have to abandon again for the day.

That race and the 3rd of the day were won by the Wildcat from Uruguay, Christopher Schewe & Alberto Vieira. Both Wildcats were flying in extra gear in those conditions.

With no discards and on consistence Cruz Gonzalez Smith & Mariano Heuser are leading.
More racing next weekend. Two additional Arg Olympic crews are training to debut at Kiel, Lucas & Moira Gonzalez Smith, and Irina Piñeyrua-Franco Greggi.

The event is hosted by the Nautico San Isidro, home of the 2006 Tornado Worlds and possible candidate for hosting first F18 Worlds in South America soon.

Event website at https://yachting.cnsi.org.ar/13SIL/resultados.php
More images from Capizzano at https://www.capizzano.com/sil2013/