An autumnal nip in the air this morning here in Trapani. However, the gloomy early-morning clouds and a brief rainshower have already given way to the warmer, mostly sunny conditions predicted by Chris B and expected for the rest of the day. Indeed, a nice day shaping up for Day 2 including good breeze.

Nice to be at the top of the leaderboard, but today will no doubt be another thrash. Luna Rossa's stumble in the first race yesterday aside (and it could happen to anyone), the "big four" as the media like to call us are still just that, and clearly there is very little in it among Alinghi, BMWOR, LR and ETNZ. As always in fleet racing, consistency is key, not necessarily wins.

Is increasingly clear that most of the other eight teams can and will be in the hunt as the 32nd AC progresses. The Swedes looked strong yesterday on the first leg, and Shosholoza and UITG made took big steps forward. After their stellar performance in Act 8 K-Challenge suffered a setback yesterday. They were OCS (over early at the start) in the first race but nonetheless recovered nicely to finish 7th. Then, while changing their mainsail between races, a crewman up the mast was injured from being tossed around in the very rough conditions -- a stark reminder of the UITG injury at Malmo. K-Challenge started the second race some minutes late, but almost immediately retired. The crewman was rushed to the hospital, but was only badly bruised; he turned up at the UITG BBQ last evening none the worse for wear. Thank goodness.


Will the the great weather, and the weekend, bring out an even larger
spectator fleet than the 400 boats we saw yesterday?


Team Meteorologist Chris "Sunshine" Bedford (USA) briefs the sailing
team before dockout.