Team Maclaren fifth at 2011 Kieler Woche

by Anna Tunnicliffe on 22 Jun 2011 Team Maclaren finished fifth in this year's Kieler Woche Regatta.

Anna Tunnicliffe:

We lost the quarterfinals 2-3 to Nicky Souter (AUS). We sailed the consolation round race-offs for five-eighth overall and won our two races to take fifth.

The conditions again proved challenging on the race course. We had great starts for every race and had the lead at the top mark. Unfortunately, we struggled a little with our tactics exiting the top mark and lost some distance. The puffs were hard to read and would appear only a few lengths before the mark, so it was more of an educated guess rather than a tactical decision as to which gybe to be on when exiting the top mark. For most of the downwind legs, we managed to hold onto the lead as we progressed down to the bottom mark but by the time we arrived there, had lost the lead that we had had at the top.

One race we earned a red flag penalty; we attempted to gybe behind Souter, and as she headed up to prevent us, our kite hit their boat. Unfortunately, after that, we couldn't quite close up the distance lost.

Our final race was the toughest, however. We held the lead into the bottom mark, but were a bit slower than her and she managed to sail to leeward of us and get her air free ahead of us. The boat positions eventually forced us to tack away, giving her the left side which was favoured for most of the regatta. We hung close, but again, couldn't quite get around at the finish and she went on to advance to the semi-finals.

The two consolation round matches were in very fluky conditions, but the girls did great. We won the first race by half a leg, and the second one by a few lengths. We were happy to come away with the best result we could have after getting eliminated from a shot at the finals.

So our regatta ended today, but tomorrow we will go out to cheer on our USSTAG teammates, Team Tulloch, as she races for the bronze medal.

Kieler Woche website
Team Maclaren website