Dear Friends,

Well, we did it! We placed 1st and 9th in the two races today, and moved into 10th! We can only move up in the medal race tomorrow: we are only nine points out of 8th place (8th and 9th are currently tied), 10 points out of 7th, and fifteen points out of 5th (5th and 6th are currently tied). With points counting double, all of those places are possible at the end of the day tomorrow! The medal race is scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon, so think fast thoughts for us!

For complete scores, photos, and live GPS tracking of the races, please visit the regatta website:
http://worlds470.kdy.dk

Thank you to all of our sponsors who make our effort possible. The US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics sponsors: AlphaGraphics, Rolex, Atlantis, Sperry Topsiders, and Harken. And, our personal sponsors: Stonington Harbor Yacht Club, Kaenon, and Sampson Ropes.

For details from today’s racing, please read on.

The forecast was for a southerly again, 8 knots building to about 14 knots, with rain showers followed by a big right shift and big breeze at some point in the afternoon. On our racecourse in a southerly breeze, the right side of the course has been consistently very favored because of relief from the current (that flows downwind south to north), stronger breeze, and a right shift. Both races today were trapezoid outer loops.

Our plan for the first race was to start at the boat–right–end of the line, and go right. Because of the strong current and short line, starting at the boat end of the line has been difficult. While we got a second row start, we were the first boat to tack onto port and go right. We went all the way right, tacked onto starboard, and were not crossed by another boat for the rest of the race. The bulk of the fleet had played the middle of the course, and we were in first place by six boatlengths at the first windward mark. We were able to go fast on the tight reach while the pack of boats behind us fought high and went slowly. We raced to the finish, only looking back to check to make sure the boats were following us. We won the first race by the entire finish reach. We were crossing the finish line as the second and third place boats were rounding the reach mark.

We did the math in between races, and knew that we were in 11th place, four points behind the 7th place New Zealand team, three points behind the 9th place Japanese #4151 and 10th place Spanish #133, and two points ahead of the 12th place Argentines. We needed to stay within a boat of the Argentines, and beat one of those other teams handily.

Going into the second race, the breeze was building and we de-powered. We had a start that left a little something to be desired, and were deep going towards the right, in about 20th place, half way up the first windward beat. We had decent speed and picked some great lanes upwind. Unfortunately many of the teams that we needed to beat were doing well: the NZL team was winning, Japan #4151 was doing well, and the Argentines weren’t that far behind. We rounded the windward mark in about 13th place, and lost three boats on the reach, including the Argentines that passed many boats going low. We caught distance downwind, but rounded the leeward mark, with one lap to go, in a position that did not have us qualifying for the medal race. Most of the leaders went right upwind, but we picked a right shift to go towards the left. Unlike the first upwind, where you can find current relief on the right, there is no advantage on the right on the second upwind on the outer loop–it is back to playing shifts. We got a left shift near the top of the beat, passed two boats, and rounded the windward mark in 10th place, just behind a British team #842, and just ahead of the Olympic Gold Aussies #357. We went fast downwind, staying ahead of the Aussies, and rounding the leeward mark just on the heals of the British team. Their spinnaker luffed on the finish reach, we were going fast, and we managed to roll them on our way to the finish. Attached is a photo of us crossing the finish line in 9th, just behind the Argentines, and just qualifying for the medal race!

While we are disappointed with our races in the middle of the regatta, we are thrilled that me managed to pull it together at the end, and rise from 17th to 10th in just four races.

Stay tuned for the results from tomorrow’s medal race!

Best,

Erin and Isabelle

US Sailing Team Alphagraphics

Campaign for 2012 Olympic Games
www.470TeamUSA.com

erin@470TeamUSA.com
isabelle@470TeamUSA.com

Erin and Isabell