GBR Match Race Girls

The breeze arrived yesterday creating two exciting matches for us on day 2 of Stena Match Cup Sweden. In our first race against Le Berre (FRA) we were given a penalty in the dial up pre start, not an easy thing to shake off in 18knots! The first beat was very close with us just behind most of the way up until the crucial last quarter where we won enough from the right to lead by a length round the windward mark. With the waves downwind it was a strong position being the boat behind but we were able to defend and keep the lead round the leeward mark too. On the next beat it was all about trying to extend enough to do our penalty and still be ahead and after covering them for the first half of the beat, two-thirds of the way up we found our opportunity. We finished our penalty still ahead but they were going to be very close for the downwind so we dialled down at them on the port layline and had a bow to bow collision course going for quite a few seconds until finally we both head up and had a small collosion with our port and thier starbourd sides of te hull. The tables had now turned and it was us leading round the windward mark with them having a penalty to get rid of in the final run. Although they caught up a bit we were able to hold them off and actually give them another penalty down the final run to finish ahead.

Our second race against Hahlbrock (GER) was just as action packed but without the penalties! After choosing the wrong start we crossed behind on the first meeting but our tacks were really strong and by half way up we were to windward of them on starboard and in control. They were not easy to shake off downwind but by the leeward rounding we were still ahead – just. On the second beat however we seemed quicker and were able to gain to be slightly more comfortable on the second run and finished the day with 2 wins from 2 races and confirming our spot in the quarter finals.

Today we are on the afternoon slot again and will go out to finish the final 3 races of our round robin, after which the winners choose their opponents for the quarterfinals…big decisions to come!

Lucy

55 sponsors and 13,000 sponsor hospitality visits throughout the week, Stena Match Cup Sweden has started!

It was a glorious morning of racing for us yesterday in our first 4 races of the round robin. Two of our races were very close with several penalties, winning one of them against the Dutch and losing the other against the Russian team, the other two races however were slightly easier wins for us where we clearly won the start and extended our lead from there.

Only having 10 women’s teams here makes it quite a different event from the World Cup events for us especially with the format of racing. Today we will be out this afternoon after the men have finished racing to continue with the round robin, after which we will go into quarter finals.

We’ll let you know how it goes….

Today Annie, Kate and I arrived in beautiful Marstrand ready for the start of Stena Match Cup Sweden tomorrow. The event has been running very successfully for several years alongside the men’s pro tour event, however it is the first time the women’s competition will be contested in the Elliott 6m class. With only 10 teams and 8 boats the event will be very different compared to the ISAF World Cup events, but we’re looking forward to the more ‘traditional’ match race regatta. We’ll keep you posted throughout the week.

Lucy x