Sailing Elliot 6 metres. Supplied image.
by Anna Tunnicliffe
I woke up to a brisk 50 degrees for my morning run today in Sheboygan, WI. The chilly wind was blowing in the mid to high teens, but nowhere near the 30-40kts we had yesterday when we arrived for this year's Buddy Melges Challenge, a women's grade 1 match race sailed in the Elliot 6m's. Despite the chilly temperatures, the sailing for the week looks great, with a good forecast and some great competition. There are 15 teams from eight countries competing over the four day event, including defending champion, Samantha Osborne from New Zealand. The racing starts tomorrow, but we do get a chance to sail this afternoon for a practice.
As a team, we have been pretty busy since our last event at the end of August. Debbie has been working hard at Tina's Italian Ice's, her ice-cream store, Molly moved house and has been coaching out in San Francisco, and I have done a lot of coaching. I have been coaching my husband, Brad, and his team in match racing as they get ready for their national championships, and I also did a clinic over Labor Day weekend for Laser and Laser Radial sailors up in Norfolk, VA. The clinic was organized by my brother's company, Sail Virginia Beach/Tunnicliffe Consulting, and had 35 Radials and Laser full rigs in attendance, which was great.
As well as competing in the Buddy Melges Challenge, we are training hard now for our Women's Match Racing World Championships which are in two week's time.
This week we are here in Sheboygan, then next week we are heading to Noroton, CT for some Sonar training, before we head to Newport on the 19th. We will be taking a detour on the 18th, as we are head back to the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in CT, a camp for sick kids to attend and get away from their everyday lives. I'm very much looking forward to returning again this year.
As for this regatta, they are hoping to have live video streaming from the regatta website, where you will also be able to check out the results. Racing begins tomorrow morning at 9am.
We would like to thank Carmeuse and Trinity Yachts for their continued support of our campaign for the 2012 Olympics in London. We would also like to thank US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) and its sponsors for their support.
Team Tunnicliffe
Buddy Melges Challenge
