Anna Tunnicliffe- Alinghi - Day 0- Extreme Sailing Series, Sydney

by Anna Tunnicliffe on 10 Dec 2014 These days, twice Rolex Sailor of the Year and Olympic Gold medalist, Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) alternates between sailing aboard Alinghi in the Extreme Sailing Series, and chasing a serious ranking in the world of CrossFit.

She reports in from Sydney, Australia, before the first day of the Extreme Sailing Series, sailing as tactician aboard Alinghi.

December 9, 2014, Sydney, Australia

Practice finished just in time today as the rain slowly built up to where, as I write this, it is now raining quite hard and I am listening to it bounce off the roof of my hotel room. It was a perfect day for sailing on Sydney Harbour, the day before official racing begins for the final Act of the Extreme Sailing Series.

It has been a while since I have written a blog and I am truly sorry about that. I haven't been up to anything new, but have been doing a lot of coaching at the box (CrossFit Mt. Lebanon). I am pleased to say that I have been cleared on my foot to get going again with all movements, so Brad and I are testing out movements to see what hurts and doesn't, and so far, so good!

But back to sailing, which is the main focus this week. We are entering the final Act of the series. We entered this event with an eight point lead, but seeing as this event counts as double points, it's technically like having a four point lead in normal scoring. There are 10 boats sailing this event - Team Emirates, New Zealand, are not participating. But the rest of the fleet is here and raring to go.

A lot of the team arrived on Saturday evening from Europe to assemble the boat, and Morgan and I arrived on Tuesday. We met up this morning for a quick breakfast, then headed to the boat. I finally have got to meet Stu, the other member of the team that sails when I'm not sailing. Stu is from Sydney, so it was nice to finally put a face to the name and the stories.

Today was the practice day. The conditions were beautiful although the sun could have been out a little more. However, considering the weather at home, I'll take the warm temperatures however they come. The day was split into two sessions. The first one was to stretch our legs and dust off the cobwebs, and then the second one was official practice racing held by the race committee. The area in which we are sailing is right next to the Opera House and the bridge. I have never sailed in Sydney before so to have these to iconic structures right by the course is very cool! (A little video of this backdrop.)

The practice went well. Stu, having spent his whole life in Sydney, was given the nod for the event, and I will be coaching. But I did get my fix today getting to sail two races :)

Anyway, although I won't be on the boat, I will share my debrief of the day and keep everyone posted on the scores. It's going to be a close one as there are 5 boats that can still win the overall title.

You can follow along with the racing live at the event website with text commentary and live video commentary starting tomorrow. http://www.extremesailingseries.com

As always, I would like to say a huge thank you to my sponsors for providing me with the best products on the market:

Inov-8, Skins, NormaTec, SpiderTech, Theromega Sports, RxSmartGear and FitAid.

Sail Hard,

Anna


For final results, video replays and pictures, check out the event website at the event website: click here


As always, I would like to say a huge thank you to my sponsors for providing me with the best products on the market:

Inov-8, Skins, NormaTec, SpiderTech, Theromega Sports, RxSmartGear and FitAid.
My sponsors:Inov-8, Skins, NormaTec, SpiderTech, Theromega Sports, RxSmartGear and FitAid.

4D's: Dream;Desire;Dedication;Determination SM
3P's: Passion...Progression…Perfection SM

You can follow Anna on her blog www.annatunnicliffe.com