Sail for Gold, Weymouth UK- Pre-Regatta Report

by Anna Tunnicliffe on 14 Sep 2009 We have been in Weymouth, the site for the 2012 Olympics, for three days now training for the Sail For Gold Regatta, the final leg of the ISAF World Cup. I am match racing this event instead of Laser Radial, even though the World Cup is not wrapped up. There are 24 teams competing here in the match racing, and we are racing in Elliot 6m's. Racing for the event starts tomorrow and runs through the 19th.

After the Detroit Cup, I went to Sheboygan, WI for a three-day training camp in the Elliot 6m's and met my team, of Molly Vandemoer and Alice Manard, up there. We started training on Monday morning at 9am, which was quite early after getting in very late the night before, but we wanted, and needed, the time on the water in the boats. The breeze during this camp was still on the lighter side, as it had been during the last camp with a max of around 8-9kts, but it was consistent for most of the days.

We did a lot of work on our boat handling. It was nice to have light air for this because it made us be that much more precise with our smoothness of maneuvers. We wrapped up the end of our camp doing some match racing with international teams that were there for the women's regatta starting the next day. The people at Sheboygan YC were fantastic to us again. Whenever we needed something, someone was there to help us out; it was awesome. So we could just focus on our training and get the most out of it.

We flew to England on Thursday. It was a bit of an exciting trip for all of our team. I was flying a different airline than Molly and Alice, and I was scheduled to depart first. I got on the plane and left the gate, only to be told by the captain that Newark had been put on a ground-hold for an hour, so we couldn't take off. I was a bit panicked because I didn't think I was going to make my next flight. But luckily I took off and had 25 minutes to run through Newark airport and catch my next plane.

Just after my flight was grounded in Milwaukee, I got a text from Molly saying that they were getting on a bus to go down to Chicago to make their flight because their original flight down there was delayed to the point that that they would miss their connection and there were no seats on the next flights. Again, luckily they made their flight and we all met up in London. We rented a car and drove with our team USSTAG coach, Dave Perry, into Weymouth. It was about a two and a half hour drive, but it was a pretty drive and very easy.

We have had two days sailing the boats here in Weymouth and now have had the chance to sail in some breeze. Although it hasn't been super windy, it was nice to be able to sail the boats whilst being overpowered and in waves. We are all looking forward to the start of racing tomorrow and seeing how these boats perform in a match race. It's going to be a lot of fun!

I would to thank Carmuese for their continued support of my campaign for the 2012 Olympics in London. I would also like to thank USSTAG for their support.