Day three at the Sailing Grand Slam in Almere delivered the kind of conditions that separate tactical thinkers from the rest, with squalls sweeping across a course set in the shadow of the historic fortress island of Pampus.
The island carries its own place in sailing history. Heavily laden Dutch East India Company ships were once forced to anchor before Pampus for weeks, waiting to pass through the shallows into Amsterdam harbour. There was no such waiting around for today's Olympic fleet. Controlling a skiff in those conditions demanded full commitment from start to finish.
Wybrand de Vos, for one, was in his element. "The location is great, being so close to the shore," he said. "The real game of sailing comes to the forefront because of it, as it can go any direction."
Austrian duo Jakob Flachberger and Keanu Prettner, who lead the overall standings, turned the brutal conditions into a masterclass with a first and two second-place finishes across the day. Their edge came down to reading the sky. "This weather suits us well," Flachberger explained. "It is precisely from that heavy cloud cover that you can see the wind shifts coming."
In the first race, the pair spotted a cloud building to the right and split from the fleet entirely. "The wind shifted perfectly in our favour, putting us straight into the top five," Flachberger said. "From that position, you can manage the race controlled from the front."
Not everyone needed convincing the conditions were worth celebrating. On the beach at Almere, ILCA 6 sailor Feline van Ede was being rigged in driving rain, smiling broadly. "Ontzettend lekker! (Absolutely wonderful!) We have some rain now, but we always say: most of it falls wide anyway. And you get wet on the water regardless, so it doesn't matter. The wind is nice, and I think it will get quite shifty too, so we'll see. Top day!"
