Thunderstorms, Rain and 30 Knots

The all-girl 3-member Yngling Sailing Team Isigungu, pictured here third from left, is battling it out against top international competition, some of whom are trying to qualify for the Beijing Olympics during the current Yngling Women’s Worlds, in Key Biscayne, Florida, the USA.

gsport has received two blogs overnight from all-girl Sailing Team Isigungu’s Skipper, Dominique Provoyeur, who relates high drama from Key Biscane, off Miami, Florida, in the USA.

Miami, Florida – US Sailing Centre, S. Bayshore Drive, 12 February 2008

Hello All,

Good breeze was predicted again for the day, averaging about 16 knots from the South-East. At 40 seconds to go before the start, we could see a pile-up right where we were, so we decided to tack off and take a start a few seconds late on the committee boat, and we headed right towards some new pressure, and then tacked back to stay with the fleet.

We rounded the top mark about mid-fleet, and with the fleet so close, a few good or bad moves can put you back in the top or bottom, but we hung in to take ninth place on the finish line. We changed some rig and trim settings, and the boat was feeling a bit more alive for the breeze.

Race two also got off to a shoddy start, with the pin-end so bias that it was hard to make the line. Before the start it looked like the pin end boats could be over. The call was to hold, which was a mistake, as we lost our position and suffered after the gun.

We tried to take one tack up but couldn’t get far as the fleet was very closely packed. Staying on starboard was a better option. Sail low and fast. We rounded about 20th, and fought back to 15th, which puts us up to 18th overall.

13 February 2008

Hello All,

After a night of high winds, thunder, lightning and pouring rain, we awoke to a still morning. The wind was gone, and only puddles of muddy water remained on the streets.

The forecast was supposed to be 20 knots from the South-West, and more thunder and lightning squalls. As we were heading out to the start, the wind was picking up above 20 knots, very overcast with dark clouds over the land.

The first start was postponed 4 seconds before the gun, in a gust of 30knots. The committee moved the top mark to the right, and got the race underway in what seemed like crazy weather.

We were pinned out on the left, while most of the fleet headed right, but the wind held steady enough to get us back to the fleet in a good position. We rounded the top mark in the top-ten, and held that for the next round.

On the second downwind, a huge black cloud came down the right side of the course and the boats up there all fell over one by one with their kites up. As the squall hit us, we decided it would be the best thing to drop our kite as well, and just hang on to what we already had in the bag – a 7th!

The second race was canned and racing for the day was over, we are in 15th spot now (tie 13th), with 3 races to go tomorrow. Still lots to happen.

For more information and full results, have a look at the official US Sailing website.

Happy Valentine’s Day for tomorrow, and may you all spend a wonderful day with your family and loved ones.