Tuesday 24 November 2009

US Match Racing Championships, Day 2: Light/No Winds Were The Order Of The Day


Waiting for the wind. Image copyright Chris Love/SailGroove.

by Anna Tunnicliffe

Today was a slow day here in St. Pete at the USMRC. Total for the day, we had two races, and team Tunnicliffe went 1-1 to finish the round with a 4-5 record and lying 6th overall.

The day started with heavy fog, but it quickly burnt off and we managed to get in one race against Meghan Rulhman this morning before the wind died and we were sent in.

After a long lunch, we went out to complete the final race of the round robin. As it turned out, we were not given very much time once we got out there, and were upwind warming up when we were told that the race committee were going to go into sequence soon. This meant that they were putting up the warning flag now. As a consequence, we were a little late getting back down to the start and just made entry before having to gybe around the pin to avoid the starboard boat. From that point on, we had to get our kite down and sort ourselves out for the start. We were in a tough position and got pinned out past the pin. We started behind our competitor, Rus Silvestri, and couldn't pass him in the light conditions. (Lesson learned.)

Tomorrow's schedule of racing depends on the weather forecast. But we are hoping for another round robin so that we have a shot at the semi-finals. The points are still close with the leaders at eight points, and two boats in front of us at 5 points.

Anna Tunnicliffe
US Match Racing Championships

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