Day 1 of the Bacardi Moth World Championship in Bermuda was postponed today due to gale force winds.
A low pressure to the southwest of the island intensified overnight and brought heavy rains in the early morning hours and northwesterly winds steadily in the mid-20s with gusts of 40 knots.
“I’ve had a number of people ask what the course is, which is disturbing,” said Principal Race Officer David Campbell-James said at the 1000 competitors' briefing. “But we’ve decided the chance of racing today is nil so we’ve abandoned for the day.”
James has also issued an amendment to the sailing instructions that allow him to run up to four races per day.
“Since we’ve lost three races today we’ll try and do one extra race per day over the next three days to get back on schedule. That will allow us to keep the reserve day on Friday, Good Friday, which is a big holiday in Bermuda.”
The postponement affords competitors an extra day of tinkering with their boat and equipment. Mothists are renowned for constantly modifying their equipment and the world championship is the time to put those developments on display.
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