GBR Match Race Girls

Another long day for us today but it feels like the week has flown by! It’s the final day of the 2010 ISAF Match Race World Championships tomorrow and we are 1–1 in the first to 3 point semi finals against the French team of Claire Leroy.

After the repechage round was completed this morning it was decided the Dutch team of Rene Groeneveld would be our opponents in the quarter finals. So with the fog making the windward mark hard to spot, around 12 knots and tide under us upwind, some exciting racing got underway. Our first race was somewhat disappointing as some action at the leeward mark which saw us round ahead of the Dutch while inflicting a penalty against them meant we failed to see or hear the change of course signal and so ultimately lost the race…no good! In the next three races however we sailed well getting two more penalties against Renee and winning all three by a comfortable margin.

Into the semi finals along with Barkow (USA), Souter (AUS) and our opponents Leroy (FRA). Our first start with Claire was looking a bit risky for a while but resulted in us getting an early cross from the left and then extending the whole way round to win by a good margin. The next  race was tight at the start but a couple of tacks in, the French got a cross on us and although we threatened them we were not able to regain the lead on the first lap. By the top of the second beat we were right on their tail again but were given a red flag (immediate) penalty at the top mark for our rounding in which we thought we had room. We had great crew work and despite having to drop, spin and rehoist we were on their breeze again and making big gains, perhaps even ahead at one point but unfortunately lost by 2ft at the finish!

All to play for tomorrow, fingers crossed!

Lucy

A long but successful day for us today at the ISAF Women’s World Match Racing Championships. Despite only having 5 races today we had a bye between each one which extended the day somewhat! At the end of the gold group four of us were tied on 3 wins and 2 losses, but the tie fell our way meaning we go into the quarter finals tomorrow ranked on top. There are still play-offs tomorrow morning to decide who our opponent will be, but everyone is sailing well so it won’t be easy!

Lucy x

Another sun lit day with a strong southerly breeze gave spectacular conditions on day 2 at the ISAF Women’s Match Race World Championship. 17 knots of breeze and three-foot waves paved the way for a day of intense competition in the closing stages of the first round-robin, with boats surfing down wind and many photo finishes.

The GBR Match Race Girls put in another excellent performance today, beating the teams of Le Berre (FRA), Spithill (AUS), Bossard (FRA), Tulloch (USA) and Meldgaard (DEN) to win the red group round robin undefeated 9–0 and to take the overall lead. In the other half of the competition, Barkow (USA) and Leroy (FRA) tied at the top of the blue group round robin each on 8–1, with USA taking the tie break.

Tomorrow the top 3 teams from the two round robin groups sail as the gold fleet, a seeding round for the quarter finals. Meanwhile the remaining competitors will be divided into two repechage round robins, before a knock out to decide the last two quarter finalists.

You can watch live matches on the Race Trax system, or play back the matches that have already been sailed. Keep an eye on the event blog for match-by-match updates, they should be getting underway around 1430 BST (5hrs behind).

A solid start for us on day 1 of the ISAF World Championships hosted by the New York Yacht Club in Newport, Rhode Island. After getting one race in the northerly breeze and lots of tide this morning, we had to wait onshore until around 12 before the sea breeze started coming in. When it came, it came quickly building to 15 knots giving some great racing. After racing the Finnish team this morning we had the Spanish, Greek and Kiwi teams this afternoon and were pretty pleased to win all four. Still plenty of room for improvement  so we’ll be watching the other group race tomorrow morning before we go out again in the afternoon. We’ll keep you posted!

Keep an eye on the event website, or for updates throughout the day check out the blog.

Lucy

Some video of racing today, mostly Tulloch -vs- LeBerre, but it gives you an idea!