Medemblik, Holland
May 24, 2008

I had great day in Gold Fleet racing in the Laser Radial Class at the Delta Lloyd Regatta 2008 today. We had three races in winds that were ten to 14 knots, with very choppy waves. I finished the day with a 1-1-3 record and locked myself into a Gold or Silver Medal finish to the regatta tomorrow.

© 2008 Thom Touw

Race three was the exciting race. Mathematically I was already locked into a podium spot tomorrow, but I had only a five point lead on Gintare Volungeviciute from Lithuania who was in second place. I worked out a plan with my coach Gary Bodie to try and guarantee six more points in my favor. The way this worked was with our drop races. My drop was a 13th and hers was a 19th. So the plan was to send her to the back of the fleet.

Gintare and I did a bit of match race play before start and started last and second to last on port at the pin end of the line. I covered her up the first beat out to the right side of the course where the only right-hand shift of the whole regatta came in and put us both in the top ten at the mark. It was hard to believe that this had happened. So much for the game plan!

At that point, I just had to race hard and see how many boats I could put between us. At the finish I was third and she was ninth so I managed to get the six-point separation I wanted. This gives me an 11-point cushion going into the Medal Race tomorrow. Our race is scheduled for 1:00 pm and the breeze is supposed to be up in the 20’s, so it should make things interesting.

Because I won the day in our fleet, I also have a chance to redeem myself in the "Champions Race" tonight. That’s something I’m looking forward to. I’ll let you know tomorrow how the race went.