The day kicked off with bright sunshine and light offshore winds, and that’s how it was almost all day. The forecasts called for turning winds till the late afternoon which made it impossible for the race committee to set a course, and also taking into consideration not to send the fleet out in fluky, shifty offshore conditions.
Around noon the wind started turning but also to completely die down, and it took another couple of hours until it came back up. Around 5 pm there were first signs of wind on the horizon, and suddenly at 5:30pm the wind switched on, turned to west and had 17-20 knots in strength.
The race committee set a windward leeward course with the start line close to the beach and headed out for a 18:30 start, and the fleet went off in water conditions that became more nasty from minute to minute. Breaking waves all over the course made it a mission to sail the course properly.
Johnny Heineken (USA, Mikes Lab, Ozone) proved to be the best one again, but this time the margin was way smaller to beat Julien Kerneur (FRA, RRD, Takoon) in second and Adam Koch (USA, Mikes Lab, Ozone) in third.
In the womens fleet it was Steph Bridge (GBR, North) winning this round ahead of Katja Roose (NED, Airush) and Nayara Licariao (BRA, Xtreme, North). The girls are getting tighter in points now and the upcoming days will show who will be the champ in the end.
Racing had to be postponed after this fifth race of the competition due to a technical problem of the committee boat but will commence tomorrow afternoon. First up in the morning will be the freestylers then for the single elimination of the Kite Tour Europe Sylt stop.
MENS RANKING AFTER 5 RACES
1. John Heineken (USA) 2.8 points
2. Adam Koch (USA) 7.7 points
3. Syk Solbach (USA) 12.0 points
4. Julien Kerneur (FRA) 15 points
5. Bryan Lake (USA) 16 points
WOMENS RANKING AFTER 5 RACES
1. Katja Roose (NED) 5.4 points
2. Steph Bridge (GBR) 6.1 points
3. Nayara Licariao (BRA) 10 points
4. Caroline Adrien (FRA) 13 points
5. Melissa Gil (USA) 19 points
Full results can be found at https://results.extremience.com/sylt2011course.htm