Day of Champions
Last night the welcome dinner for the Great Grand Masters, Grand Masters, Women and Youth competitors was held by the pool in the Manwan Harmona Resort. Today competitors in the series will register and are looking forward to having their first look at the worlds sailing venue.
The morning of the first day, that a champion will be crowned in Dapeng, China, in the 21st Hobie®16 World Championships has finally arrived. After 11 races in the series so far and another day on the water today the Masters series has given all competitors the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in a variety of conditions and in a fair set of races.
Rod and Kerry Waterhouse of Australia are in the lead, William and Lucinda Edwards from South Africa hold second and Australians Mick and Patrick Butler are in third. None of the three are definites to hold their positions if they do not perform extremely well today, which is going to make for a superb day of racing.
Once again the sky is clear overhead with a cloudbank on the northeastern horizon. We have had light to medium winds so far in the series that have ranged between 6 to 14knots, with the best conditions yesterday afternoon. Today Dapeng Bay is expected to have a similar breeze puffing in from SSW at 8 to 13 knots through the gap in the mountains that dominate the surrounding coastline.
The weather today should be a mirror image of yesterday. It is currently 280C (82.50F) with an expected maximum of 330C (91.50F), it will be hot and humid and feel more like 440C (111.20F). There is a 24% chance of thunderstorms and an extreme UV warning.
There is going to be an exciting contest on the water in China today, Blue Peter will go down for the last time in the series and the 2016 Hobie Masters International Cup winners will be presented with their trophies at a special dinner this evening.
Good luck to every sailor who has competed in the Masters series and tight forestays today.