Dear Friends,

Three weeks after our 11th place finish at the 2010 World Championships, we are back on the racecourse at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth, England, at the site of the 2012 Summer Olympics!  This is our first time on the water  in Weymouth, and we are excited to be getting our bearings at the Olympic venue.  Racing started today and goes through Friday, August 13th, with a medal race among the top ten teams on Saturday, August 14th.  All 48 of the women’s 470′s are racing in one fleet, and after two races in puffy, shifty medium winds in which we placed 14th and 5th, we are in 5th place out of 48 teams.  For complete scores, please visit the regatta website:  http://www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk/2010  For details from today’s racing, please read on!

Both races today were sailed in a puffy, shift southwesterly winds (8-10 knots).  Both races were trapezoid courses with inner loops.  In the first race we started towards the boat, right, end of the line.  Our start left a little bit to be desired, but we were able to play some good shifts on the bottom right of the course.  Even with the shifts, we realized quickly that the left side of the racecourse was ahead of us, so we went left.  We approached the windward mark near port layline, hoping to make some gains late in the leg as many boats had stacked up on the starboard layline.  We had a great windward mark rounding and were in the top 20.  We sailed down the downwind left (upwind right) side of the course, but, again, the other side of the course paid.  After this downwind leg we decided to sail on the upwind left (downwind right) side of the racecourse until it stopped paying off.  We held even on the second upwind leg and lost a couple of boats on the top reach when we sailed in the low lane.  On the last downwind we went really fast and passed about 7 boats to cross the line in 15th.  One of the boats ahead of us was over early, so we kept a 14th.

In the second race we started towards the pin, left, end of the line, determined to go left.  We had a terrible start and got bounced around, but managed to keep going left.  We rounded the windward mark in approximately the top 15.  We again had a great downwind, and rounded the leeward mark in approximately 8th.  We were going fast upwind, and passed the three boats immediately in front of us to cross the finish line in 5th place.

Thank you to our larger team!  To the many individuals who give generously to support our olympic sailing campaign, and to our sponsors who support our effort.  The US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics sponsors: AlphaGraphics, Rolex, Atlantis, Sperry Topsiders, and Harken.  And, our personal sponsors: Kaenon and Sampson Ropes.

All donations to our campaign are greatly appreciated, and check donations are tax deductible.  Please mail checks to: Sailing Foundation of New York, c/o Isabelle Farrar, 326 East 82nd Street, Apartment 5C, New York, NY 10028.  Or, donate directly through our website:www.470TeamUSA.com

Stay tuned for more racing!

Erin and Isabelle

US Sailing Team Alphagraphics

Campaign for 2012 Olympic Games
www.470TeamUSA.com