| Slow Start to Rolex Keelboat Racing | | Print | |
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Shoreacres, Texas We began racing today in US Sailing’s Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship. Conditions were ideal and we finished third in the opening race. After that things went a little haywire. We were over early in the next two starts and after going back and restarting, we finished 18th and 21st in those races. So, with one day of racing behind us in this event hosted by the Houston Yacht Club we’re 13th overall. I’m a little disappointed with our position but most of the boats racing here have at least one poor result, so we’re still in the hunt. We’re happy with our boat speed, our tactics and our crew work and looking forward to a better day tomorrow. The weather today was gorgeous with a 14 knot breeze as we started the first race, that dropped off to a shifty eight to 12 knots as the day progressed. We had a really good start at the pin end and we were seventh at the top mark and kept gaining on boats to finish third. We had a great start in the second race too – perhaps a shade too great. We were called over early along with most of the top talent in this field of 39 J/22s and had to fight our way back to finish 18th. In the last start of the day it was another case of thinking we might be clear, only to learn a minute after the start that we’d been judged over early. By the time we got back and restarted the fleet was stretched out in front of us and we had to work hard to climb up to 21st. Cory Sertl, from Rochester, NY, who won this event in 2001, had a strong day’s performance and her 5-7-1 finishes put her in the lead with 13 points. Sally Barkow, who is the defending champion, had 2-16-3 finishes and is second overall with 21 points. You can find full Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Results here. As always, a big thanks to my sponsors Carmeuse and K-Swiss for their continued support. My website is at annatunnicliffe.com. Sail hard, |
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