While some teams were defending a lead they had built throughout the week, for others the final day was crunch time. But the weather was a concern for all.

Dawn had revealed mirror like conditions across Palma Bay and while the forecast suggested that the breeze would increase to 7-8 knots, it looked like it would be a slow process - And it was.

As the fleet motored out to the start area the race committee announced a postponement to racing as the fleet milled around wandering about the prospects for the day.

Teams like ‘Guardian Angel’ in Class 1 had already built a decent points lead throughout the week. No racing would deliver overall success.

It was a similar situation in Class 2 where the Oyster 655 ‘Blow’ had won the last two races to hold the overall lead over the Oyster 675 ‘Amphora’.

Oyster NM 191004 16469
There was similar situation between Vasily Senatorov’s 56 Olanta and Mike Kearney’s 56 Sionna who were also separated by just 1.25 points.

But, as it turned out the breeze built steadily and allowed racing to get underway with just a 30 minute postponement as the 8 knots that were forecast arrived with a billiard table flat sea state.

As each class headed off on a similar figure of eight styled course there were shifts and breeze lines to keep the tacticians on their toes.

But by now, with a week of racing under their belts, all the boat handling was slicker and quicker throughout and in many cases the margins had shrunk.

In Class 1, Guardian Angel led the field but Lush was hot on her heels on corrected time. At the finish Lush was just 22 seconds behind on corrected time, but the overall win was secure for Guardian Angel.

In Class 2 Henrik Jansen’s Blow came second on the day but this was enough to secure the overall class win with Klavs Bruun Kristensen’s Amphora in second.

Oyster NM 191004 16815
The needle match in Class 3 was hotly contested.

Going into the final race it was Louis Goor’s Oyster 575 Irene III that held the overall lead, but only by 0.25 of a point with a total of 5.75 points. Behind her, the next three boats that included Janus, Lisanne and the 565 Panthalassa were all on 6.00 points. And even behind them, the gap was only a further 0.75 points for Pacifica and Mastegot.

In the end it was a win in the final race for Eric and Ann Alfredson’s Lisanne that pushed Irene III off the top spot.

Oyster NM 191004 16732
Meanwhile, Class 4 may have had the smallest and most mature boats in the fleet, but the racing was just as close, particularly between the leading pair of 56s, Vasily Senatorov’s Olanta and Mike Kearney’s Sionna.

For the final race, Sionna took an impressive win, hauling back into the frame during the race. This impressive performance put them on equal points with Olanata. But when it came to the tie break, both had two firsts, both had two seconds and the pair were only separated on the difference between their last remaining results, a fifth and a third delivering the final overall victory to Olanata.

It doesn’t get much closer than that.