Our start was looking good until a slight misjudgement by me meant we had to tack and not take the full bias off the line. We gained all the way upwind and ended up giving Anna a penalty but not being in a particularly good position. With a really close downwind Anna was able to take her penalty and still come out ahead. Despite pushing hard the whole way round and after countless tacks and gybes we were unable to pass and finished half a length behind to lose 3–2 down and placing us into the 5th–8th play-off… gutted!

Having sailed so well today and come back when it was all against us it is a disappointing end to our regatta. In the two races to decide places 5th–8th we sailed well and finished both ahead by some margin, but unfortunately we were fighting for the wrong places by then!

The semi finals followed our quarters and tomorrow Leroy (FRA) will race Souter (AUS) in the final and the petite final will be Groeneveld (NED) against Tunnicliffe (USA).

Overall in terms of how we have been sailing we are very pleased, however unfortunately this time the result has not represented that and at the end of the day that’s what counts but there is plenty to take away from the regatta, reflect and improve on, so that in 2 years time we are fighting for the medals!

Thanks for the support, Lucy x

However after a session in the protest room this evening, the damage that our point deduction was given for was proven not to be as a result of our incident, and so the 3/4 point penalty has been reversed.

So we need three straight wins tomorrow to go through to the semis… bring it on!

Lucy

A little wait onshore then we were back out for the first three races of the gold fleet against Groeneveld (NED), Tunnicliffe (USA) and Barkow (USA). All very close races in really tricky conditions so we were pleased to finish with two wins against the Americans and one loss.

Tomorrow we’ll have two more races to finish the gold fleet then will start the quarter finals, so fingers crossed!

There’s pretty good coverage on the skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk website, serving a combination of twitter updates, on-line radio, GPS tracking and a live video stream, so there’s plenty to keep you entertained!

Lucy

At about 5pm we were sent out and have been racing this evening, however despite the race committee’s best efforts at  20.30 the breeze finally died (having had 0–30 knots throughout the day) and we were unable to complete the final race of our round robin. In the races we did manage to sail, against the Spanish, Russians and French, we won all three to secure our spot in the gold fleet along with Tunnicliffe who we will race tomorrow morning.

Great feeling for us to qualify for the quarter finals, we are sailing well and feel there is plenty left in the tank.

For now though, time for bed!

Lucy x

Unfortunately with the groups going on rankings all three GBR boats have ended up in the same group so despite it being an international competition, our first two races were against the teams of Wilson and Archer. A close race for us first off got us into the swing of things and we were pleased to finish with three straight wins when the first round is so important for us in progressing through to the later stages of the event.

Le Berre (FRA) and Tunnicliffe (USA) also won all three of their races in our group so it will all come down to tomorrows racing to see who gets through to gold fleet. We’re scheduled to have our final four races in this group tomorrow about midday.

Take a look at the event website www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk for full results .

Lucy

The entry list has now been finalised and all the top teams will be here so defending our top spot in the ISAF World Cup Series will not be easy but we’re certainly looking forward to it!

Lucy

Training again tomorrow then we have a three day Grade 2 event as a warm up to the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta, the final stop on the 2009/2010 ISAF Sailing World Cup tour.

Lucy

In the recent release of the Women’s Match Racing World Rankings we were thrilled to hold on to our no 1 spot and we are now really looking forward to racing on home waters again. Currently we are training alongside 500 optimists doing their National Championships and I don’t think WPNSA is going to get quieter any time soon!

Lucy

Peter Shrubb, Commodore of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, explains

“The men are really going to have their hands full with these two women who are really going to add some excitement to this event. I think we could see some major upsets this year!

Macgregor has established herself as a reckoning force in women’s match racing having captured national and European titles to rapidly rise through the ranks to the top of the women’s world rankings.

We have eight of the world’s top ten men’s match racing teams and with these two women’s teams I am really looking forward to see how this whole thing pans out.”

We’ll be racing in the International One Design (IOD) class, a beautiful classic yacht from the 1930′s, though a far cry from the modern light-weight racing yachts we’re used to sailing! With a heavy displacement, large rig, and long overhangs these boats will be a challenge to sail, both physically and in adapting to the differences in their handling, especially in pre-start manoeuvres.

Nevertheless we’re extremely excited to have the opportunity to sail against the best men’s teams in the world, including fellow Skandia Team GBR member and triple gold medallist Ben Ainsle who will be returning to defend his title after wining the event last year.

Bring on the sunshine, and the competition!

Lucy

Annie, Kate and I have had a really useful week of racing in a range of conditions and against a really good field.

Now we’re waiting to watch the Men’s final (if the wind fills in) and support Ben Ainslie‘s Team Origin.