2002 DM: race 7

Carina Madsen (9067) and Jon Kjartansson (8278) rush to complete their gybes
as Søren and Lise Jonasen get ready for theirs.
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Now this is a photo that Uncle Al will always treasure: approaching the leeward mark in fine form with the whole fleet behind Whistle. I imagine Jesper Friis likes this photo, too! Judging by apparent mast heights, you can tell that Anders Friis (light blue spi) whose masthead fly is just visible below Al's top batten is already a clear 2nd while it is very close among Søren Jonasen (4123), Joel Bøgh (8278) and Steen Madsen (9067) for 3rd. Poul Ammentorp (239) is lying 6th but ahead of all his closest Silver Medal competition.

Note how Uncle Al in 9355 is standing in Whistle so that he can heel the boat to windward just enough to remove any weather helm - the faster the boat goes, the more important this becomes. At the far right, we can see an apparently frustrated Søren Jensen getting into a luffing match.

Note how the leaders are all going just high enough to keep their air clear ...
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... but no higher since higher + extra distance = more time to get to the mark.
This close to the mark, Uncle Al is also starting to protect the inside for the mark rounding.
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I remember this moment: We hit a dead spot but I was able to re-assure Anders that the boats behind us had even less wind. Judging from the way Al is leaning a bit to windward to see the mark, he is a bit high of it.
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Anders and Sune look very relaxed as they continue ...
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... to pull away from the rest of the fleet and chase Whistle in what has become a two-boat fight.
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As Whistle rounds onto the second beat about 50 m. ahead of Wassail (222), our plan is basic: protect the left side and stay between Anders and the windward mark as much as possible. Note how Anders continues to fly the spi as Sune takes the time to stow the pole properly. This can be easily done to good advantage as long as the wind is mostly from astern.

The light-weights, Steen and Carina Madsen. Steen is looking back anxiously ...
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... to make sure that Joel Bøgh isn't coming up to take Steen's wind and get that last-minute inside overlap.
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So - who has right of way here? Yep - it's Christian Bovet (5128) who has done a nice gybe to starboard and it looks like Gunnar Petersen (red and white spi) is about to follow suit while Stephan Nandrup-Bus (red spi) will hold port, go behind Christian and Gunnar, and then try to get inside at the mark. Since about 10 boats - including these three - are nearly even in 6th place and will arrive at the leeward mark in a big clump, having the inside position will be a big help!

Three more of the boats fighting over 6th place: Søren Jensen (far right) and Per Larsen (9733) have gained
a lot on this run and are right back in the hunt along with Mogens Just (left).
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Looks like Per has gone high and out of camera range across Mogens' transom (foreground) but another 6th-place challenger appears: Steen Schubert in 10249. Meanwhile, Søren - ripped spinnaker and all - has the inside track for buoy room.
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Bo Christensen (2042) is another one of the 10 boats headed for the Meeting at the Mark. Per Larsen on the right.
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While crew, Thomas Anderson, concentrates admirably on the spinny, Bo Christensen keeps a very good lookout
as the tricky manoeuvering begins - first he'll need to avoid running into Mogens Just off his bow.
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John Friis and Mary Jakobsen (light blue deck) are right in the hunt but will have to give room at the mark to Per Larsen (gray deck) who has Christian Bovet inside him.
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Getting pretty close to the mark now. Looks like Per (white spi) has done a quick gybe to port while John (3264) appears content to go around on the outside - it wouldn't hurt 3264's speed if Mary were to sit a bit further forward. The wooden boat is Mogens. Don't know what happened to Christian - maybe the aliens got him!