Team Tunnicliffe obviously! Before They Hit The Water. Image copyright 2011 Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia MAPFRE/Women's International Match Racing Association (WIMRA).
by Anna Tunnicliffe
It was a breezy day on the water today for everyone, more so for some than others at 42 Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofia Mapfre. There were times when the breeze got up towards 30kts, but by the time we sailed, it dropped back into the high teens for our four races. We had a great day, coming away with a 4-0 record for the first day. Also on a 4-0 record in our group is France's Anne-Claire Le Berre. Tomorrow we will finish the round; we have three more races scheduled.
We hitched a ride out to the race course from Team GBR since Dave (US team coach) was out coaching Sally's team who are in group B. We knew it was windy when we arrived at the club around noon since the Star class had been sent back in. But the match racers were still racing, so we headed out on schedule to do our racing. As we turned the corner and left the shelter of the port, it was confirmed - windy! and we watched group B race in around 25kts of breeze. By the time we rotated into our boats, the wind had begun to die down which was good, but also started to get slightly more shifty which was not so good. We set our boat up the way we wanted, and then had a couple of minutes to get our timing sorted for our race (approach to the starting area etc).
We had a great pre-start, but made an error in the last 30 seconds which left us struggling to make the pin end of the line on starboard. Luckily we just managed to get around it, but had to work hard to pass our opponent up the first beat. We managed to take control of the beat half way up and went on to get our first win against Team Peru. In race two, we had a great start over Team Canada and led them around the course to take the second win. By now, we were feeling a little more comfortable with the conditions and were very ready for our next two races.
In race three, we again didn't have a great start, and were pinned for the first half of the leg by Team Sweden but eventually got to a point where we could start challenging her in tacking. We double-tacked and got them to separate from us. From there on, Deb and Molly lined us up nicely for the shifts and we took the lead and held on until the finish. The fourth race again was very shifty, and Deb and Molly did a great job of connecting the puffs and shifts up the first beat to give us a lead that we could hold onto for the rest of the race taking our record to 4-0 going into tomorrow.
Tomorrow's three races wrap up the first round robin. The conditions for tomorrow are forecasted to be a little more calm with the wind starting around 10kts and then dying throughout the day, but we can hope that the 10kts hang around for a while. You can follow the regatta at the regatta website. There is live feed on the website and through Twitter. Results can also be found there. All in the left hand column.
We would like to thank our gold level sponsor 11th Hour Racing, and our bronze level sponsors Carmeuse, Trinity Yachts, and Chicago Match Race Center for their continued support of our campaign for the 2012 Olympic Games. We would also like to thank US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) and its sponsors for their continued support. Also, thank you to our private donors. Please remember that any and all donations/contributions to our campaign should be made payable directly to either The Sailing Foundation of New York (tax deductible) memo'd Anna Tunnicliffe, or to Anna Tunnicliffe.
Team Tunnicliffe
Trofeo Princesa Sofia MAPFRE
