Scandinavian Gold Cup on hold as fleet holds on

Racing was scheduled to start at midday on Thursday, but by 9.30 racing had already been abandoned for the day, followed soon after by the unusual decision to abandon racing on Friday as well, though the forecast was very unforgiving. A decision on Saturday will be taken Friday afternoon.

With very strong winds, heavy rain showers, and unseasonal, even unreasonable, low temperatures on Wednesday, all 5.5 Metres challenging for the Cup passed equipment inspection and were in the water ready for the scheduled start of racing on Thursday. However, despite this enthusiasm, the chance of any racing looked slim with a forecast through to the weekend of 25-40 knots from the north.

The fleet sheltered inside the Kaleo Restaurant at Olympic Marine for the opening ceremony on Wednesday evening as the wind battered the roof and the rain drummed on the windows. There were introductions from Stratis Andreadis, from the Yacht Club of Greece, Stavros Papagiannopoulos and Jörg Grünwald replying on behalf of the International 5.5 Metre Class Association.

As Stratis Andreadis welcomed the fleet, he was briefly interrupted by a huge gust that rattled the roof. “We are a bit unlucky with the weather, but we are really happy to have this historic class with us in Greece. The Yacht Club of Greece has for a century been the keeper, the presenter and the hopefully the enjoyer of some of the most memorable, difficult, interesting, beautiful and unique race courses in the Mediterranean. This is a unique opportunity for us to host one of the most historic and beautiful classes in the world in one of the most memorable and unique race courses in the world. Thank you for being here. We hope you have some interesting racing.”

After thanking the Yacht Club of Greece, the race committee, the measurers, and every participant for coming, Jörg Grünwald said, “We might feel like Odysseus, making an adventurous journey down here, but don’t worry, we will have some fast sailing and not take 10 years to return.”

Despite the gloomy weather news, the fleet were cheerful, catching up with old friends and telling long stories all evening, enjoying a wonderful dinner and the hospitality of Olympic Marine.

The area is suffering from the deep low pressure to the south and experiencing sustained northerly winds in excess of 40 knots. It has been blowing hard day and night for 4-5 days so far and forecasts don’t show much change until Monday, though some do show slight decreases from late Saturday.

The wind situation presents a problem for the organisers as never before has the Cup been abandoned because of adverse weather.

A further decision on the Scandinavian Gold Cup Saturday will be made late Friday. Sunday can also be used but is also equipment inspection day for the World Championship, which is scheduled to start on Monday. Thankfully the forecast for next week looks good in terms of wind, but still quite cool for the time of year.