Perfect conditions…but we’re not sailing in them!

Friday 22nd January, 2010

We have just had two beautiful days in Miami, however unfortunately we’ve not been sailing! The boats have been unavailable while they are prepared for the Rolex Miami OCR, so it has ‘forced’ us to have two days off to go shopping, visit the cinema and enjoy the sun… it’s a hard life!

Our training over the last week in the American boats and in this venue has been really useful, and we have gained a lot from it even though we had very light conditions towards the end. After a couple of days rest and relaxation we can’t wait to get racing, which starts on Monday, however before that each team has two official practice sessions, along with registration, weigh-in, etc to completed over the course of the weekend.

Lucy

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Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta

Wednesday 20th January, 2010

We’ve now been in Miami preparing for the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta for a few days, and have had some great practice sessions. Having spent the last few months since Sail for Gold training in our new Elliott 6m boats we’re looking forward to competing again and finally testing how our training has been going! The regatta will be the first for us in the 2010 racing calendar, and the start of this year’s ISAF World Cup Series which we’re keen to defend having taken top spot last year!

Currently we’re chartering a boat for practice here, getting used to the conditions (and the climate, slightly improved from the UK!). We’re training against the other GBR team of Katie Archer, Nicky Muller and Lauren Martel, and have three more days of practice until racing starts on Monday.

There will be 24 teams from 16 nations competing from the 25th through to the 30th. With 206 matches scheduled in total it is going to be a busy week for all, in the first stage the fleet will be split into three round-robin groups of 8 boats. We’ll keep you posted!

Lucy

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Happy New Year!

Sunday 3rd January, 2010

Annie, Ally and I would just like to take the opportunity to wish everyone a very happy and successful 2010 and to thank all our supporters and sponsors for their continued support.

2010 will be busy year for us starting with a weeks training in Palma and then straight off to Miami to prepare for the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta, the first event in the 2010 ISAF World Cup Series. Following Miami we’ll be back to Palma for training until the European season begins with Princess Sofia Regatta at the end of March. There are a total of 6 World Cup events which we will compete in, the series finale being in the 2012 Olympic venue at Weymouth for the Sail for Gold Regatta in August. As well as the World Cup events our other focus for the year will be the ISAF Women’s World Match Racing Championships to be held at Rhode Island, New York in September.

Having finished 2009 ranked #2 in the World and winning the ISAF World Cup Series, Annie, Ally and I had a fantastic year and intend to keep that momentum through to 2010 with aim of topping the World rankings and winning the World Cup Series again. With the support of Skandia Team GBR, The City Livery Yacht Club, Jenkins Marine, Morris Lane and Spinnaker Yachts we can’t wait to get back on the water and continue our campaign to winning Gold at the Olympics in 2012 – Just 936 days to go!

Happy sailing, Lucy x

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Rolex Miami OCR — Finals

Sunday 1st February, 2009

Friday saw the end of a great week of racing for us match racers at the Rolex Miami OCR. One hundred and thirty something races run by the committee, twenty-seven of which we raced and twenty-one of which we won… all resulting in a bronze medal for Annie, Ally and myself.

Friday began with light winds for our semi final races against Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen (DEN) and her team. After two close starts in the first two races Lotte won an initial advantage that we were unable come back from in the light and choppy conditions. Going into the third ‘must win’ race we controlled the last part of the start but were given a red flag penalty for infringing Lotte at start time. Luckily we completed our penalty gybe and ducked Lotte to win the right hand, favoured side of the race course. Unfortunately though, having gained a strong position with the girls calling our gains and losses against the other team it became very clear we were beginning the loose… quickly! It turns out that we had managed to get a forest of weed stuck on our keel, I’m fairly sure I’ve never been so slow in an SB3 in my life!

So unfortunately we missed out on a place in the finals but did go on to win our petite-finals 2–0 against Genevieve Tulloch (USA). As the front came through, bringing much more wind, Lotte went on to win the event against Giulia Conti’s team in a 5 match final, winning the final deciding race by less than half a meter!

Overall it’s been a great couple of weeks. It has been the first time just Annie, Ally and I have sailed together, the first time I’ve had any match racing coaching and the first Women’s Match Racing event in an Olympic Classes Regatta. The event was a real success, the race committee and club were fantastic, and there seems to be a very strong desire by the sailors to make match racing in the Olympics one of the best sailing disciplines.

Finally, but by no means least, thanks to Jenkins Marine for their support for this event and especially to Hortensia and Bob for putting up with us staying in their home with them in Key Biscayne this week!

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