Weymouth and Portland International Regatta Day 1

by Dana Paxton on 3 Aug 2011 The Weymouth and Portland International Regatta is a London 2012 Olympic test event and is being held from the 31st July to the 13th August 2011. The first day of action in Match Racing has now been completed .

The first day began today at the London 2012 Olympic Test Event, in Weymouth, U.K., with the Elliott 6m Women’s Match Racing event. U.S. Team representatives Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.), Alana O’Reilly (Charleston, S.C.) and Elizabeth Kratzig Burnham (Miami Beach, Fla.) sailed three matches of the first round robin today in light and shifty wind on Portland Harbour. They won two matches against the Portuguese and Australian teams, but lost by one second to the German team.

Women’s Match Racing continues the round robins tomorrow, with Men’s and Women’s RS:X scheduled to begin their series on Thursday, Aug. 4. The Men’s and Women’s 470, Laser and Laser Radial events begin on Friday, August 5, and the Finn, Star and 49er classes get underway on Saturday, August 6. The medal races will run August 11-13.

Sally Barkow quotes: 'We had a delayed start as the first group was postponed. We stayed at our apartment in Portland and watched Top Gun. It was really nice to be out there and get racing. It felt like a training day even though we were racing and everyone else was training. Definitely a different mood than the days before.'

On the match against Germany: 'We made a big mistake at the start and gave them the lead off the line. We gave her the control when we had it. The breeze was dying and there weren’t many passing lanes. W were able to grind her down, but there wasn’t enough time. She did a great job defending.

For tomorrow: 'Hopefully there will be a little more wind and hopefully we get four solid races in.'

The Team: The U.S. Team is comprised of 16 athletes – nine men, seven women. Full team roster available on US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics website.

The Regatta: Designed to test the Olympic sailing venue and its operations in advance of the 2012 Games, the 2011 Weymouth and Portland International Regatta (an official London 2012 Olympic Test Event) takes place August 2-13 and will welcome 460 sailors competing in 10 Olympic classes.

Event website