In Sheboygan, WI, USA... training in Sonars for the Worlds later this month. We were promised sunshine.. more... http://fb.me/F2yXQTuW
Credit: Wander Roberto
Credit: Wander Roberto
Credit: Matias Capizzano
Credit: Kim Wolf
Credit: Kim Wolf
Credit: Richard Langdon
Credit: Sander van der Borch
Credit: Richard Langdon
Overall win at Busan Cup
Wednesday 4th November, 2009
News just in from Korea is that the girls have won the overall title :)
Having lost the first match in the finals against Sally Barkow, Team Lucy Macgregor then went on to win the next three in a row to take the title 3–1. Congratulations for not only a great result against top international competition, but also in achieving this with the quite remarkable consistency of conceding defeat in only one match throughout the entire event.
More to follow I’m sure…
Through to finals in Korea
Tuesday 3rd November, 2009
After some more shifty racing today we finished the round robin in 1st place after winning all of our races. The highlight was winning against world number 1 ranked Claire Leroy after ripping our spinnaker in two at the first windward mark. We held our nerve and extended enough to defend downwind.
Following the completion of the round robin the race committee went on to complete the semi-finals which we won 3-0 against Anne-Claire Le Berre and her French team. Tomorrow sees us racing the first-to-3-point final against American Sally Barkow and her all British crew, including Lucy’s usual crew member Annie Lush.
The whole team are delighted with our progress so far, with more left in the tank for tomorrow.
An early night now ready for some competitive racing tomorrow!
Nicky and the Team. xxx
Korea Match Cup
Monday 2nd November, 2009
Hello from Korea! We’re here again for the Busan Women’s Match, where having won the inaugural event last year crewing for Sally Barkow, we’re here this year for a crack at the title in our own right :)
With top international teams competing from 8 different nations, including the more local Korean and Japanese teams, the Busan Women’s Match is a great event to come to and something of a different experience from the European events! Joining me this time is Ally Martin, Jody Slater and both my sisters, Nicky and Kate, on the 30ft asymmetric K30 boats, designed specifically for this event.
Unfortunately we’ve been struggling to find internet connection here, but online now so here’s a quick recap so far…
The round-robin stages started on Saturday, however the wind failed to materialise in the morning when our group was scheduled to be out, so no racing for us. As a result we were first out yesterday, confidently winning 5 out of 5 matches. Today has been another successful day, though with racing taking place as close into the beach as possible for all the spectators it is a tricky race area, with the wind disrupted by hi-rise buildings on the shore. This was especially noticable today when we had anywhere from 10-20 knots combined with frequent, random, 40 degree shifts hitting us with very little warning! However we were pleased to win another 3 matches today against the Dutch, Finnish and Japanese teams, so after the third day of racing we’re looking strong with straight wins so far in the first round robin stage. We have only 3 more races to complete in the round robin tomorrow morning, against 3 of the higher ranked teams.
Forecast is for a little less wind tomorrow, so hopefully we will all finish the round robin stages. Due to the uncooperative weather on Saturday it is likely the organisers will go straight to a semi-final knock out stage then the finals on Wednesday, the final day of the event, so we’re aiming to continue our good form and secure a top 4 position in the round robin tomorrow to go through to the semis.
We’ll try and keep you posted!
Lucy x
Clean sweep of 12/12 wins at National Ranker
Tuesday 20th October, 2009
The final Women’s National Match Racing Ranker took place the weekend just gone. With three other teams competing, helmed by Katie Archer, Charlotte Lawrence and Sarah Ayton, I had a bit of a change for the weekend and teamed up with Bird Watson and my younger sister Kate.
Saturday saw the breeze drop from 8 to 5 knots throughout the day but it was plenty to get in the double round robin which we were pleased to sail through without loosing a single race. With the other three teams close on points, we ended up racing Charlotte Lawrence in the first to 3 point semi finals. With strong starts and good pace particularly up wind we held the advantage for the afternoon finishing the day 2-0 ahead in the series but close racing in the other semi lead to them finish drawn at 1a piece overnight.
The forecast for Sunday was not particularly good with what little wind there was forecast to drop to nothing and swing 180 degrees so the race committee were keen to get out early. In our first race, despite have a strong position with 15 seconds to go, we spent the next 10 going sideways and started on the back foot against Charlotte but a slip up by her gave us a clear lane of breeze up the first beat and put us in a strong position to overtake downwind…3-0 and through to the finals! In the other semi final racing remained close with Archer just taking the win to put her 2-1 ahead. Although another start took place for them the harbour soon turned glassy and it was back to shore to wait for wind. At 1.15 the other Olympic Classes were cancelled for the day but our Race Officers were determined and sent us back out to try again by 1.30. Because they were running out of time they decided to abort the semi final between Archer and Ayton where it was, putting Archer through to the finals with us. With very fickle shifty breeze we were able to start racing and we were pleased to sail well to comfortably win three races on the trot and win the weekend having not lost a single race! In the petite final although Ayton’s team looked strong at 2-0 ahead, Lawrence came back strong and won the next three races to claim the third spot overall.
Thanks to Bird and Kate for sailing with me for the weekend, they were fantastic and I find it really useful to sail with different people on occasions because I never know what I might learn!
Having had the last two days off from sailing (just doing all the paperwork that goes with the sailing!), it is back to Weymouth tomorrow to train for the rest of the week through to Tuesday next week. Next we will then be heading off to Korea for their second ever Women’s Grade 1 Match Racing event, the Busan Women’s Match.
After Korea I’m going straight to Nice, where I’m excited to say I’ll be an on-board observer as part of the Umpire team at the Louis Vuitton Series (in other words hanging on to the back of the America’s Cup Yachts for dear life!). This will be an fantastic experience and a great opportunity to see many of the world’s best sailors at this pinnacle of professional Match Racing.
Thanks again to all our supporters including Jenkins Marine, Quay Sails, Morris Lane and Spinnaker Yachts.
Yes it’s getting cold, but… keep sailing!
Lucy x
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