The weather was a write-off yesterday in Barcelona. The forecasted rain pelted down for the entire race period. And then the lightning arrived⏤as forecasted. Fast, furious and all too close.
Before the lightning, the Orient Express vs. Alinghi race started and finished. But the second race, ETNZ vs. Luna Rossa, was impacted by the weather (although, to be fair, Luna Rossa deserved their win).
During the ETNZ / Luna Rossa race a big lightning strike was clearly visible and audible, resulting in the immediate starboard turn from the Kiwis who made a bee-line for as far away from the lightning as they could get (and in the 14 knot winds yesterday, the AC75’s were doing at up to 50 knots, an impressive sight!)
Peter Burling, ETNZ’s skipper, said it most succinctly (I paraphrase, this is a family show) “Holy *@#!, this is not worth it!” You need to watch the short video below.
Tonight the weather is forecasted to rain, and yes, lightning is also forecast again!
Temperatures will be a bit lower today, around 22°C. The winds are about the same, so we will see some more fast, exciting action; yesterday the Kiwis nose planted, costing them dearly against Luna Rossa, but the latter also had a case of wind impact where they almost, but not quite, took off like a plane!
The sea state will have a small swell, but very short intervals which may have the effect of feeling and acting choppy.
Tomorrow and the day after are non-racing days, I don’t know what happens if tonight’s racing is put off due to course dangers (lightning), but those two upcoming days may be very useful!
