Anna Tunnicliffe- Alinghi - Final Day - Extreme Sailing Series, Nice

by Anna Tunnicliffe on 7 Oct 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 Nice, France after the final day of the Extreme Sailing Series, sailing as tactician aboard Alinghi.

October 6, 2014, Nice, France

It all came down to the last race. We won the race and the event, Act 7 of the Extreme Sailing Series!! It was an incredibly tricky regatta, one of the more lower points-scored events in a while but we are more than happy to have come out on top in the end and to maintain the top spot on the overall leaderboard going into the finals in Sydney in December.

With what started out as a dismal forecast and a big lack of breeze with thunderstorms and rain, the day turned out to be absolutely beautiful for sailing, with the most breeze of the event by the last race. The direction was similar to that of the week when we first started racing, but with storms moving in over the mountains that were our backdrop all week, it started to pull the wind around to the left. At times the pin was super favored and you almost had to start on port, but if you weren't far enough down the line, you didn't get enough of the left shift. But then on the downwind leg, the other side of the course was working, so it meant that the crews on board were working hard to figure out the wind.

The day started with a bit of a struggle. We had great speed, but struggled to get off the line a couple times. With a not so great start we found ourselves tacking out to the right and often had to pick off boats around the course because we couldn't get the most out of the left shifts. But the team did a great job at this. One race, for example, we rounded the top mark last, gybed away from the fleet and came blasting in from the opposite side to round the bottom mark in the top 4.

As the day progressed, all the teams had up and down results. But it was RealTeam that had a great day and closed the ten point gap we had had on them overnight and took a 4 point lead going into the final race. On the other hand we had opened up an 14 point gap on the boat in third. The way the scores work for the final race is they count for double points. So if you win, instead of getting 10 points, you get 20, second gets 18, third 16, etc. As a developing side story, our series rivals, The Wave, Muscat, had not had a great regatta and were sitting in about 8th heading into the last race, but the points were close enough that with the perfect set up, they could climb up to 4th.

We had the numbers, knew that things maybe setting up one way so devised our plans accordingly for the race. We obviously wanted to win the event so that was plan A, but if things weren't shaping up for that and we were in a good position to not hurt ourselves but could possibly hurt The Wave, Muscat then we would consider that plan too (plan B).

We went into the race knowing we had to out with one boat between us and RealTeam to take the Act and we set out to go after the Act title and not worry about The Wave. At the start of the race, there was quite a big left shift. There were two boats on starboard for the start, us and Gazprom, Team Russia. Immediately after the start we were able to tack to port in front of a few boats and were just about on layline for the first mark. RealTeam had had a great port tack start in the middle of the line and were blasting up the course.

At the top mark it looked like it was going to be close but with the boats tacking onto the knocked tack, we were able to cross and rounded the top mark in first with RealTeam in fourth. From there we just focused on racing the race and staying in first. It was the windiest race of the event and was a fun way to finish the regatta, blasting around and actually having to hike. At the first leeward mark there was a bit of a pile up behind us and I think RealTeam got stuck in it because next time I looked they had fallen back down the fleet and we knew then that all we had to do was cross the finish line and the Act would be ours. We did, and took the win for the week. RealTeam, after sailing exceptionally all week, took second and JP Morgan BAR wrapped up the final podium spot.

The Wave, Muscat again had a difficult race and ended the event in 8th overall. This finish opened the series lead up to 8 points for us heading into the final event in Sydney. Just as the last race in the Acts count as double points, the last Act in the series counts for double points. This means that it's still all to race for and when we hit the water in Sydney, we are going for the Act win!

The evening wrapped up with the awards ceremony and a nice team dinner before it was off to bed for three hours of sleep before heading to the airport.

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

Now I'm off to Tennessee for a week of training at the PowerMonkey Camp 2.0! A big thank you to RX Smartgear for getting me there! I cannot wait to see and meet my teammates, other CrossFitters from around the world and get some serious hard training in for the week!

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