The tight-knit action ended there, however, as the fleet split left and right. There was an obvious disparity in speed, but to win in an I-14, you must first finish the race. By the end of the race, the 14s were spread over the entire leg. And Mitchell had won his third straight. The fleets were much smaller than the Etchells, and from the photographers' standpoint- the action, well, it just wasn't the same.
Photographers usually like to have more than one boat in their frame and big fleets allow that.
But for me, the small-fleet stuff was equally exciting. As our good Doctor Stuart Walker says, winning boils down to making fewer mistakes than your competitors, and in big fleets, the number of mistakes made can be larger, which means that you have a better chance of others making a mistake. Logic, therefore, tells me that to win in a smaller fleet, fewer mistakes must be made. It's just a theory, but the one sure thing when it comes to the bigger is better argument, is that a bigger powerboat is infinitely better, so tomorrow we better have a bigger ride. For the scores, and press release information, see Cynthia Goss's latest release.