Defiant defiant

After final day of Toronto-based Farr 40 match racing for Canada's Cup

Day 6 of the Canada’s Cup proved to be the last day of racing. Defiant entered the day with a 6-4 advantage over Team Heartbreaker. Although three wins in a row had been scored already by each team in this regatta, it would prove more difficult this late in the series.

The first race was sailed in 17-18 knots of breeze and 1-2.5ft waves. Conditions looked good for Heartbreaker. Defiant won the start and led for the first two legs of the race. Heartbreaker had to do something to extend the regatta and on the second upwind they were able to get right and passed Defiant at the third mark.

The 11th race eventually turned into a drag race, which Heartbreaker held on to win by 47 seconds leaving the score at 6-5 in Defiant’s favor. Defiant now realised the Heartbreaker team wasn’t going to go home without a fight.

Race twelve took a while to get going as the wind lightened and shifted around. The Race Committee moved out into the lake to get better breeze. By the start of the race the wind was back up to 9-10 knots, which seemed to favour Defiant.

The start of Race 12 was a costly one for Heartbreaker as Defiant forced them to tack back to the line right before the start, giving Defiant a 2-3 boat-length lead. Heartbreaker started a tacking dual immediately after the start but Defiant still led the first mark by 12 seconds.

Defiant covered closely making sure Heartbreaker didn’t get by like they had in Race 11. They managed to extend their lead by 29 seconds at the third mark before Heartbreaker was able to fight back. At the last mark Defiant held a 20 second lead. Heartbreaker pushed hard trying to get on Defiant’s wind but could only get to within 10 seconds at the finish.

Defiant win the Canada’s Cup with a 7-5 score- the same score as they won last time against Heartbreaker. A tough fought battle between two great teams.