Liz, Debbie, Molly and Anna at Noroton YC, CT. Image copyright Dave Dellenbaugh, Sept 2010.
by Anna Tunnicliffe
We have just finished a training camp at Noroton YC in Connecticut preparing for our World Championships which are in Newport, RI beginning on Monday. We had four days of great wind and fabulous training that allowed us to work on all areas of our game, particularly those that needed most improvement. We were training with our coach, Dave Dellenbaugh, and Clay Bishcoff along with a variety of crews. All four days provided winds from 10-20 kts, off-shore and on-shore, along with current; exactly the conditions we wanted leading into the the upcoming event.
On Monday we all arrived in Connecticut from Wisconsin and had a briefing as to our plan for the week. We broke down our game into a different areas on which to work each day, and then reassessed the plan for the next day every night after a long debrief. We planned on working on all areas of the course, but especially our weaker points. It was an intense week of practice, but we also had a lot of fun together and are very excited for worlds.
We have the weekend off from training and we have split up to do different things. Debbie headed back home to Long Island to check in with her ice cream store. Molly and Liz are heading out to Cape Cod to see Molly's parent-in-laws, and I'm heading to The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp tomorrow (Saturday) for the day. The team will all get together again on Sunday evening in Newport for practice on Monday.
The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp is a camp for children who are sick and spend the majority of their time in hospital. The camp holds week-long camps year round and provides an opportunity for children to get away from the hospital environment and do activities at a camp that they wouldn't normally have the opportunity to do at the hospital. It is a fantastic camp and I am very excited to go back and visit again this year. There is a small group of us going up tomorrow and we will be taking some of the older campers sailing on the small lake up there in boats donated by Laser Performance. The forecast is supposed to be beautiful so I can't wait!
And then on Sunday, we will get together again in Newport and prepare for the beginning of the regatta. I will write again on Monday after our practice and give you the websites for the event through which you will be able to follow along.
We would like to say a big thank you to Bill Crane for helping us orgainze boats at Noroton YC and loaning us his boat for practice. We would also like to thank the YC for allowing us to use their facilities, and Steve Sheptstone for allowing us to use his boat as a second boat. Again, we say a huge thank you to Clay, Dan, Becca, David, Rob, Brenda, Ralfe, D, Tom, and Mark for coming out and crewing for us. We greatly appreciate everyone's help and support!
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
