GBR Match Race Girls

Finals of the French Olympic Week today here in Hyeres and we won! We were once again up against Barkow’s team (USA) and this time it was a win to us, and quite a convincing one at 3-0.

Although we managed to win all three races by a good margin the racing was by no means easy today. We had a short delay for the wind to fill in a bit but then started before the easterly breeze had established so the course was very shifty and patchy. In the first race the wind was at it’s worst and we ended up with a very one sided course…luckily after a very tense first beat, we were ahead when it shifted big to the right so it made the win a touch easyier to close out. The second race was a much better course, we had quite an even start which soon after led to a dial down by Sally but it was a bit aggressive and left them with a penalty and us getting the right side of the course… from which we were able to extend to a good lead in the end but you never felt safe.

So we were 2–0 up and needed only one more win, and it came from probably our best race of the regatta. We thought the pin end of the line was favoured at start time and won it perfectly, however a big right shift came soon after and put Barkow a couple of lengths ahead on the first cross. Up the beat we were slightly stuck on the less favoured side but managed to make it work for us at the top and we were right on their heels round the first mark. Downwind was where it all came good, I think our speeds were fairly similar but we had some really good gybes and just managed to get them on starboard at the bottom before the two length zone to the mark. This meant we could hold them out at the bottom and take the lead around mark two. Annie and Kate then did a fantastic job up the next beat meaning that by the top mark we had extended our lead to eight lengths or so and had an easy run into the finish… Gold to us!

It’s been a great week for us, the areas we have been working on in training have transferred through to our racing and it feels really good on the boat. There is still plenty to improve on but to get this ISAF World Cup win is awesome especially as we were joined by so many other British girls winning medals in other classes and all the Team Volvo for Life girls medalled!

Of course we were slightly disappointed to be missing the Royal Wedding celebrations at home but don’t worry, Annie did some Blue Peter style arts and crafts and we joined in as you can see in the highlights below ;).

Now we are back home sweet home for a quick week off before heading back down to Weymouth to get some more work done!    

Lucy x

Well another long day for Annie, Kate and I, but this time we raced all day rather than sitting on the shore! Although the forecast was for max 5 knots, we actually had a fantastic days racing for our quarter and semi finals.

We had a great day, with some close matches, and came away from the morning session winning our quarter-final 3–1 against Genny Tulloch (USA). This progressed us to the semis, where we faced current and many time #1 in the world rankings, Claire Leroy (FRA). We have been sailing confidently all week, and again dispatched our opposition losing only one match, winning 3–1.

Tomorrow we’ll face Sally Barkow (USA) and her team in the first-to-three wins Finals. We’ve raced against and trained alongside Sally many times and know their team well, so tomorrow’s showdown will certainly be a close affair with a few scores to settle!

Keep track of all the action at the Semaine Olympique Française website. If you can tear yourself away from the Royal Wedding, there may even be live GPS tracking of the Match Racing tomorrow.

Wish us luck!

Lucy, Annie & Kate x

Well today was mostly a waiting game for us. There was a little bit of breeze this morning so the repechage group got out in good time and by 1pm we had finished our final two matches of the gold fleet, finishing with one win and one loss to win the group and go through to the quarter finals ranked 1st.

Next up on the race course was the Silver group and that was when the wind started to shift and die. The plan was for us to go back out on the water at 3.30pm to race two of our quarter final matches however after we had waited around for 5 hours the race committee final postponed for the day at 6pm. Apart from the poor forecast, tomorrow is now shaping up to potentially be a big big day with both quarter and semi finals.

In our quarters we are against Tulloch (USA) which we are quite pleased about as it has been quite a while since we raced her in the Elliotts so it will be interesting to see how we match up. In the other quarters, Skudina vs Leroy, Le Berre vs Barkow and Echegoyen vs Groeneveld.

Lucy

…but a good one!

We sailed three races in our gold fleet round robin today in a dying breeze at the Semaine Olympique Française. There was quite a lot of action one way or another, with penalties going both for and against us, and a very close finish in one match. However we were pleased to finish the day with a clean sheet, and therefore leading the gold fleet on 3–0 along with Sally Barkow (USA).

Tomorrow we will do our final two races of the gold fleet, which determines the seeding order for the Quarter Finals. If the wind holds out, we may begin the first quarter-final matches tomorrow afternoon as well.

Cheers,

Lucy.