NO BALLOONS, NO LIES, NO TRICKS - Izmir Winter Trophy Final Leg

The 5th and final leg of the İzmir Winter Trophy was held on Saturday, April 18th on the Çeşme course. İzmir clubs, Teos Marina and Çeşme Marina organized the trophy, which concluded with a fiercely contested race. The final race day, planned as two races, had weather conditions insisting on settling for a single race.

When the briefing started at 10:30 am, the wind was blowing from southerly directions between 22-27 knots, while the whistling sounds of the masts completed the atmosphere.

Chief Race Officer Hakan KÜTÜK emphasized that as a committee, their goal was to make the race happen. He reminded the racers once again of the race instructions, and addressed wind limits, race starting and continuation conditions. The racers and race committee discussed the course, mark angles with constructive criticism. There were neither those who resisted, nor those who said "My stubbornness is stubbornness or the stick is in my hand, I know best, what I do is right".The Committee announced they would go out to sea, requesting racers to wait at the marina to be called to the course and to keep their radios on.

The race planned to start at 12:30 continued to be postponed due to deteriorating weather conditions. Intermittent announcements indicated conditions remained the same. Those with the "The Race Won't Happen" prediction were losing their concentration when the race committee called yachts to the course at 15:15.

Of the 20 boats registered, 17 were heading out to the course where Lodos wind was dominant.

As the start approached, wind was blowing from 180 degrees at 21-24 knots.

IRC class boats would sail one sausage, one triangle, followed by two sausages. Support class would sail the last sausage only. Wave height wasn't bothersome but the sea had donned its dark attire.

The committee, stubbornly waiting for conditions to run the race on the course, was delighted to finally capture the conditions to safely conduct the race, giving the start signal at 15:50. The race began with a flawless start across all classes. Yankee flag penalty ; harsh conditions.

I'm following the race from Akif SEZER's SYGNUS. 10 boats in the IRC class and 7 boats in the Support class are starting their relentless battle. At times, the squalls exceed 30 knots. A true racing, competitive environment. The harsh conditions are also bringing some technical malfunctions on the boats. Due to a boom issue, BLUE MILES, sailed by Ankara Yelken Kulübü, retires from the race. In the IRC-2 group that I'm closely following, fierce competition continues. UNDINE, who broke her rudder on the Sığacık course and broke her rudder again on the Çeşme course, is forced out of the race and returns safely to Çeşme Marina. Apart from ARCHER, no one is flying spinnaker or attempting to. The wind seems to have settled but short squalls can still create difficult moments.

Towards the end of the race, ARCHER, continuing her relentless battle, first experiences problems in tough conditions with a failure in the spinnaker halyard, followed by the spinnaker wrapping around the genoa. Meanwhile, the winch handles break. While struggling with these problems, when crew member Teoman YILDIRIM 's arm dislocates, the final straw is drawn and ARCHER retires from the race. There are no more spinnakers visible in the fleet now, and jokes are flying: " Race Without Spinnaker, Without Lies, Without Dolan ".

On the course where the wind hasn't dropped its strength, the final finishes are recorded at 17:19 and with the sadness of reaching the end of another winter trophy, the fleet heads towards Çeşme Marina.

At the end of the day, in IRC-1 TÜPRAŞ-LEMON, in IRC-2 MARE, in IRC-3 AYK-LADY FAST and in Support Class BLUE SKY are the boats that leave their competitors behind.

During the evening prize ceremony held inside the marina, as the awards for the final leg and the trophy are distributed, we witness that Ankara sailors love the İzmir region, making this clear through their participation and rankings.

At the end of the Trophy, in IRC-1 LEMON SAILING, in IRC-2 CYGNUS, in IRC-3 FARMER and in Support Class SAYGILI are the boats that win the first place cups.

OVERALL;

1 - LEMON SAILING,

2 - CYGNUS,

3 - LADIES FIRST

What can we say, here's to many more İzmir Winter Trophies...