Good Dutch Finish for Isigungu

 

It’s the final Day in the Yngling Open World Championships at Medemblik, the Netherlands, and Team Isigungu makes great progress to improve their overall standing, as team Skipper Dominique Provoyeur reports in their latest newsletter:
 

Three races were scheduled for the last day of racing starting from 10am, and after two general recalls and a postponement, we eventually got going close to 11am.

 

For the first two races we struggled to find the first wind shift, and as much as we tried looking for the signs (in the clouds, windmills, pressure on the water), Medemblik will forever be tricky.

 

In both these races we had to fight back from what felt like somewhere in the 40’s. The breeze was steadily building though the morning, and we were getting more confident and relaxed about sailing in windy conditions.

 

We ended these two races in similar positions, 17th and 20th, but were gaining on the back the whole way round the track. We generally improved our position on the last reach to the bottom mark, by getting on the inside of the boats around us. It was easy to see the benefit of a clear rounding as opposed to giving room and water to others!

 

The final race of the regatta was our favourite, after a reasonable start we saw something on the right side of the course, and decided to stay on the right of the fleet and play the shifts.

 

There weren’t too many boats on our side and we were a little worried, but the right wind did come through, and we rounded the top mark in about 4th position.

 

The call was a gibe set (right shift) and we came down in good pressure and at a better angle to the bottom mark. We chose to round the right mark looking downwind, while the leader took the left mark only a few seconds ahead of us.

 

We played the middle most of the way up the beat to round the top mark in first position. The breeze was up to 20/25 knots, so there was a bit on, going downwind.

 

We kept up the speed all the way down and pulled out about 80meters on the second boat. Just and easy reach and 300m beat to go. We stayed between the fleet and the finish and made it look easy! Mission complete.

 

We were really hoping for a top 10 finish overall but only managed 14th. With the points as they were, if we were able to keep our 4th instead of the DSQ, we would have been in 8th overall. That’s life!

 

The top 15 teams each received a lovely vase as a prize, which will be a good reminder to all of us of a great championships, and many lessons learnt.

 

On Sunday we drove the boat to Langweer (in the North near Sneek), where it will stay until September to be repaired, and dropped Penny off in Belgium.

 

Penny will be staying for a few days before heading to another regatta in Sneek to sail with a Men’s German Team, thereafter heading back to Cape Town for a few weeks.

 

Kim and Dom are heading to Isle of Wight to sail in Cowes Week on SB3’s, which should be great fun!

 

Thanks again to all for your encouragement and support. We will be on ‘holiday’ until the 10th of September but we will keep in touch!
 
Best regards,
Dom, Penny and Kim

Dominique Provoyeur – Team Manager/Skipper
Sailing Team Isigungu
Yngling Olympic Campaign – Beijing 2008
The Challenge Ahead of Us is nothing compared to the Power Within Us