measurement

So after a very much needed siesta the rest of the team hit the boat park at 4pm and came back at 8pm . So what were we doing for 4 hours ?

measurement queue

 Measurement.. because this is a Selector and final selector for some countries the Organsisers are being pretty strict on measurement.. we needed to produce full boat papers, passports to prove the team were still in age to  sail an Optimist and of course boat insurance. You had to register before measurement and then come back if you had to check things. Two of our sailors did not have even copies of their boat papers but one of the measurers was somewhat  frustrated with the chaotic way things were  not organised and so he signed off our boat without papers in return for the promise on a scanned  copy of Rya certificate. Good thing carla has been to so many events .... the Volvo/Gill stickers all had to come off..whistles were inspected and all the safety stuff but nobody could tell us what was being checked before we started ..

it took Carla over an hour in the queue to get to registration and the sailors waited for measurement even longer .. in fact Tim went home to cook supper as promised.. chicken casserole very good even if the kitchen looks like a bomb site 

Tim and Mimi, Jemima Murray and Dan went for a sail and the others did a quick orientation in the RIB ..
conditions on the water today were challenging, very light and patchy to begin with. Then, when the wind did build (to around 7kts) there was quite a chop with it. Something very typical of the Ijslmeer (and Tavira) but not something we've had much practice in! However, the sailors learnt to adapt to it quickly and techniques and speed developed quickly! Bring on the racing tomorrow! From what we can see, the competition will be tough too... top sailors from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Singapore, Austria, France, Switzerland, Kenya, Hungary and Greece have all been seen around the dinghy park, as have some "old" oppie sailors including Carlos Robles in a 29er and Serbian Lukka (last years African Champion) in a Laser.

Note the size of the chop approaching Murray's boat, despite him not even sitting on the side yet!

Opening ceremony is at 11am tomorrow and first race at 1pm. Some sailors have made their sandwiches tonight and there is a game of badminton going on before bed..

Retrieving boats

PS we know the spelling is not grate but its a dutch spellchecker