Breitling Day 5 Report

 

Today, we woke up to the rustle in the trees and the dripping rain on the roof, the tension was a little different as there was breeze and the top ten weren’t sailing.

 

There was a chance for a really good result for us. We had a really good beat out to the start line, fully powered up and feeling ready for the race.

 

We had a good start, just below the pack, in clear air and going fast.  We lost the committee boat with about 10 seconds to go and assumed there would be a general, but as there were only 17 boats on the line, the race officer was confident that he had all the bow numbers of the boats over the line, and so the race went on.

 

Before the race, Penny had said that the right looked better, and with more pressure.

 

We made some gains by being in clear air and on the left, but we didn’t take the opportunity when we had it to get back to the right, leaving us coming into the top mark in less breeze and on a knock.

 

There was a list of 7 boats that were OCS, good for us as the AUS team was one of them.

 

The run was good, we caught back up to the fleet again and in good position to keep gaining.

 

As we began the second beat, the wind just got lighter and lighter until it eventually disappeared completely, at one stage we thought we were going backwards.

 

The race still continued and finally we reached the top mark for the run/reach home.

 

We thought we were close on the race time limit, but everyone managed to finish with a few minutes to spare.

 

So, another regatta is over, and we ended in 17th overall, and as the 13th Nation.

 

Overall Results:
1st – Sarah Ayton/Sarah Webb/Pippa Wilson (GBR)
2nd – Mandy Mulder/Brechtje vd Werf/Marije Kampen (NED)
3rd – Renee Groeneveld/Marije Faber/Floortje Hendriksen (NED)

We will spend the next few days training here in Medemblik, as we are expecting some more breeze to come through, which will give us a heads-up for Cascais.
We will have some time off before heading to Portugal on the 13th June.

All the best
Dom, Pen and Kim
Sailing Team Isigungu
Yngling Olympic Campaign – Beijing 2008