Anna Tunnicliffe- Alinghi - Day 1 at the Extreme Sailing Series, Nice

by Anna Tunnicliffe on 3 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 Day 1 of the Extreme Sailing Series, sailing as tactician aboard Alinghi.

October 2, 2014, Nice, France

Thursday, October 2, 2014
Nice, France

On a joyous note! Happy Birthday to our teammate Yves! Hope you had a great day!

Not that sailing was a bad note, but it wasn't not as happy as Yves birthday; the sailing today was difficult! Today was the first day of racing at Act 7 of the Extreme Sailing Series here in Nice, France. We, Alinghi, had some moments of brilliance, and then some not so brilliant moments. We are currently sitting 7th overall, but the fleet is exceptionally tight and with the winds forecasted the same all weekend long, the points are going to stay close and moves are going to be frequent and huge.

The forecast today was for winds starting around 4kts at racing time building to around 6-7kts before dying out again. And that is just about what it did. There was also a bit of a sea swell that made feeling the boat a bit difficult. We struggled with our speed for the first couple of races and couldn't get the starts we wanted which put us behind a little. We also ended up making a few mistakes like a penalty and a few mark taps which cost us valuable points.

You could tell that we were all getting a little frustrated at times, but then I think most people on the water were; nothing was easy and the smallest mistake could take you from top three to bottom three in the blink of an eye. But the team held strong and put each race behind them and moved onto the next race.

Then came races 6 and 7!! 2 bullets back to back! It felt so much better being back at the front of the fleet and being able to do what we wanted. We had the speed again, and everything and everyone was much more comfortable.

But unfortunately, that's where it ended. In the last race of the day, we had a great start off the line, and hitching across looking like we were going to be in about 5th position at the top mark. We tacked just a little shy of layline and then got tacked on. And it all went pear shaped from there. We ended up hitting the mark and the fleet passed us as we slowly rolled around it and went into our penalty turn. We caught back up to be nipping at the heels of the fleet again, but just didn't quite have enough runway to get us through anyone.

The points are close, and with the conditions this light and tricky, the leaderboard is going to be constantly shifting around all weekend. Tomorrow we have to go out being confident and execute our game plans (and stay off the marks :/ )

Tomorrow is an exciting day for me because, although I'm not going to be there in person, my Uncle Richard, who has lived with cerebral palsy his entire life, and who started CrossFitting about 7 months ago is doing his challenge to raise money for the Percy Hedley Foundation. He will be doing 4 x 15 min WOD's in about an hour and a half at Reebok CrossFit Tyneside and all of the proceeds will go to the Splash Drive they are doing to raise money to build a therapeutic pool for kids and adults with disabilities. Richard found a lot of therapy benefit through this foundation and truly believes in it. I am more than proud of him for what he is doing and wish him the best of luck and can't wait to hear all about it! Go get 'em Richard and leave it all on the floor!

We begin sailing again tomorrow at 2pm and you can follow along live on the regatta website: http://www.extremesailingseries.com

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

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