GBR Match Race Girls

Over the last few weeks we’ve been keeping ourselves busy in Weymouth, Poole, Weymouth, France, London, Weymouth and Spain!

Two weekends ago the South West Shingles YC, a select invitation-only group of esteemed yachtsmen and seafarers who have all experienced notable calamities afloat, kindly organised their annual regatta and end of season dinner in the form of a fund-raising event to support our Olympic Campaign. After a busy afternoon of seven short sharp races in a fleet of J24s from Parkstone YC the members and their guests enjoyed an entertaining dinner at the Royal Motor YC during which a raffle and auction was held. We’re hugely grateful to SWSYC Commodore David Latchford for not only organising the event, but encouraging so many local businesses, individuals and organisations to so generously donate a wide variety of items for the raffle and auction, ranging from fine wines and restaurant vouchers to sailing, rugby, flying and shooting days, and a number of artistic works including the star lot an original oil painting by Duncan Macgregor (no relation!). Much fun was had by all, and the level of support was really quite overwhelming. Many many thanks to all who came and contributed to raising a significant sum, which will go a long way to help cover some of our costs in the run up to the Games.

Last week we were in France at a grade 1 event in Saint Quay Portrieux, on the North Brittany coast. Fourteen top women’s teams took part in a pretty packed schedule, starting with a single full round robin over the first three days. Conditions were fairly light, and we put in some pretty long days on the water, however our efforts were rewarded by finishing second in the round robin on 9 wins and 4 losses. Proceeding directly to the quarter finals, we dispatched Rita Gonçalves (POR) 3–0, before facing Anne-Claire Le Berre (FRA) in the semi-finals which we again convincingly won 3–0. In the finals we were up against our long-term rivals, the French team of Claire Leroy who have been one of the most dominant competitors over the years. Racing was nip and tuck throughout, we had a strong start going 2–0 up, before they clawed it back to 2–2. In the deciding final match we came away with the all important win to take the overall title :)

This week we’ve not been on the water, but catching up with the never-ending admin and gym work. On Tuesday Lucy and Kate joined fellow Team Volvo for Life sailors Ben Ainslie, Paul Goodison and Nick Dempsey at Apple’s London store on Regent Street for the launch of the new Volvo Sailing App. Available on iTunes for the iPhone and iPad, the new app combines the latest news and events, a basic guide to Olympic Sailing for non-sailors, and top tips from the experts for those looking to improve their sailing techniques.

Meanwhile Annie has been putting our brand new V70 to good use, towing a RIB down to Barcelona where we’ll be training against the Russian team for ten days. Check out our facebook page for photos of Annie’s trip including crossing the Millau Viaduct. Many thanks to Volvo Cars UK for their continued support, they’ve also just re-launched the VolvoCarsSailing.co.uk website which is well worth a visit.

Next week we’ll all be in Weymouth again, for a detailed review of our performance in the last quarter with all the coaching, technical and support staff. Fitness tests here we come! Then off to catch some sun in Barcelona… :)

We’ll leave you with this little promo tape of the TVfL sailors selected for the 2012 Games.

Cheers,

Lucy, Annie and Kate x