Monohull leaders headed for the finish
It's Tuesday morning, and I believe the second day has been a bit easier, or shall we say less challenging. However, the wind is picking up significantly this morning, with gusts of 17 m/s at Gotska Sandön. Nonetheless, the competitors have mostly avoided rain, and they've been treated to a beautiful sunrise on this Tuesday morning.
Throughout Monday, several boats retired, mainly around Fårö. This included two with mast breakages that made their way to Fårösund.
Monday has also been tough for the sailors with a real beat down towards Hoburgen. From pictures and reports on social media, we've seen many boats beating with just headsails in the strong wind.
Still on the course are 22 brave crews sailing north towards Sandhamn. As of now, Elan Impression 434 Lady D'Or is rounding Hoburgen, and First 40.7 MagniPro No Limit is battling on at Östergarn, both in the double-handed class.
The giant catamaran Allegra missed the record time when they finished in Sandhamn on Monday afternoon. However, they secure a clear victory in the multihull class, where the Finnish boat Dancing Bear is expected to finish this morning.
In the race to be the fastest monohull boat, Farr 400 Wetjob seems to have an advantage, but nothing is certain until the finish line at Skanskobb is crossed. On estimated time, First 36.7 Team Pro4u is leading, with X-41 Magic Mix and Wetjob closely behind.
In the double-handed class, there's a fierce battle for victory between J/121 Jolene and Figaro 3 Tutalör. As of now, only a few minutes separate these two. Otherwise, it looks relatively calm for the leaders in their respective classes. But they have to make it to the finish. The wind is strong, and the waves are high. At the Huvudskär measurement station, the buoy out at sea, the current report indicates a wave height of 2.4 meters.
//Niklas Qvarnström
Tangosailing.nu