Strong winds halt the 2017 Laser Europa Cup season opener

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266 laser sailors reluctantly got a day off today in Koper as strong winds whipped up treacherous waves.

All three scheduled races were called off after a three-hour delay and will be staged instead on Saturday and Sunday.

“We had a forecast last night indicating that wind speeds would gust over 30 knots up to and including 3pm this afternoon. We had a look this morning and that has sadly been reinforced,” race official Bojan Gale said.

While sailors love wind, too much can make it hard for the race committee to set a fair course. It can also be dangerous, especially for the less experienced competitors. For that reason the organizing committee decided to reset the start clock to Saturday when conditions are supposed to get a little lighter. The forecast for the remaining two days is much calmer and the races abandoned will be run on Saturday and Sunday, with a first race time of 11:00 am.

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