Today is make or break day for the six Irish sailors that form the Ireland 2 squad at the Indigo World Team Racing Championship at Dun Laoghaire. Having had a poor start to the elimination round-robin series on Tuesday, their fortunes reversed yesterday and the team, led by the Ballyhome Sailing Club, now stand poised to make the Gold fleet cut just before lunchtime.
Jamie Boag and his team of five, including four women, would readily admit that they could and should have won their first day races. However while not lacking in talent, time practising as a team is a major factor for them and their improvement yesterday, when they won six out of eight races as opposed to two wins from seven outings on the first day, reflected that.
Their future in the championship now hangs in the balance. Along with France, the Netherlands and Australia 2, a tie-break situation is on the cards. Based on previous performances, the Ireland 2 team would fare worst of the four so a win against Britain 2 in their 17th and final race of this round-robin is a must. This is not impossible, although their opponent has only conceded two races out of 15 so far; one to the unbeaten USA1 squad, the second to their own second team.
Meanwhile, just 12 races remain in the first round elimination series that has already seen a massive 141 races sailed in 18 hours on Tuesday and yesterday. The United States' first team has won everything outright so far and leads the main group of teams certain to qualify for the next round in the Gold fleet.
Also qualifying today will be GBR1, USA2, GBR2, NZL (New Zealand) Canada and Ireland 1, who are maintaining steady form.
The elimination round will see the top 10 teams move into a gold fleet while a silver fleet will mostly comprise of the emerging team racing nations. Both fleets will once again race a round robin series - nine races per team for the gold and seven for the silver between today and Friday. After this, a further two teams are eliminated from the elite line-up who then begin quarter-finals.
Crucially for the finalists, nations with two teams must race against each other in the quarterfinals and be eliminated as just one team per nation can proceed. While both Britain and America appear to be shaping up for a final that mirrors ancient sailing rivalries, this is by no means certain. "There are still five or six teams that could win," according to Zach Leonard of USA1. "It depends on conditions, if it gets windier you will probably see a turnaround."
Comparing team racing to fleet racing presents plenty of contrasts, especially when it comes down to winning margins. On the short courses in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, there is enough margin in boat-handling technique to decide between two well-matched team, especially from different sides of the Atlantic.
