Key West Race Week 2005

Today the race committee set off two races under clear skies with wind at about about 12 mph out of the north. Again Roger Elliot's Crosswave was first to the first mark and finished with a bullet. Avra continued with its excellent performance by being second over the finish line. The second race was started in lighter variable winds at about 8 mph. Avra and Carinthia were called over early but Avra managed to fight her way out of the hole by getting to the upwind mark first and continuing to lead the rest of the 5 leg race in light winds.

This is Avra’s first appearance at Key West and owner Petrides pulled out all the stops, bring America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race veteran Chris Larson aboard as tactician. “It’s a huge educational benefit to have quality coaching, a great return for the dollars spent,” Petrides said. “My first priority is that every member of the crew learns something and goes away with a higher level of skill.” Petrides already has a strong crew, having been able to hand-pick among acquaintances from the Long Island Sound region after 30 sailors applied for eight spots. “Everyone is good at their respective position and our teamwork has been spectacular,” said Petrides, adding that none of the crew had ever sailed on the same boat together before.
With today's standings with throwouts Avra leads the J120's and K2 and Carinthia are tied for second.

Here are the standings below:

Boat R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 PTS.

1 AVRA 1 1 1 3 3 5 2 1 12
2 Carinthia 3 3 3 2 1 2 4 7 18
3 K2 2 2 4 1 4 4 3 2 18
4 Crosswave 5 4 5 4 2 1 1 3 20
5 El Ocaso 4 5 2 5 3 3 5 6 29
6 Mad Max 6 6 8dns 6 7 6 6 4 41
7 Perigrine 8dns 7 6 7 6 8raf 8dnf 5 47