Saturday 24 October 2009

2009 Rolex Osprey Cup, Day 2: Racing with Hammerheads


Holding position in the pre-start (Anna Tunnicliffe, Hull #7). Image copyright Renee Athey.

by Anna Tunnicliffe

We have just finished racing on day two of the Rolex Osprey Cup in St. Pete, FL. We had eight races today (Thursday) and won them all. To add to our record from yesterday, we are now 15-0, and leading the event half way through the second round robin.

This morning we wrapped up the first round robin with two good races against Anne-Claire Le Berre from France and Karin Hagstrom from Sweden. Once we finished that round, we completed two more races before we came in for lunch. After lunch, we had a great race with Gulia Conti from Italy. We had a close first beat after being about even off the line. We were on the left and she was on the right. We were slightly ahead up the beat, managing to leebow her the whole way and lead her into the mark. On a close downwind leg, we managed to retain the lead. On the second upwind leg, we again had some close tacks, but extended our lead by another boat length to hold on for the win. It was our closest race of the day, and a great way to re-establish the flow after lunch.

The next three races were held in changing winds. The wind was increasing for some of the time and decreasing at other times, which made for challenging and choppy conditions. It was a fun day, that kept everyone on their toes. We also saw some sea life between races today, including a couple of hammerhead sharks.

Friday we will finish the last three races of the second round robin before we advance on to the next round.

Results to the end of the first day (i.e. the day before this report) were:

Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) 7-0
Karin Hagström (SWE) 6-1
Samantha Osborne (NZL) 5-2
Giulia Conti (ITA) 5-2
Anne-Claire Le Berre (FRA) 5-2
Katy Lovell (USA) 3-4
Jo Ann Fisher (USA) 2-5
Jen Provan (CAN) 2-5
Lisa Ross (CAN) 0-7
Rachael Silverstein (USA) 0-7

Anna Tunnicliffe
2009 Rolex Osprey Cup

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