| A Tactical Day At The 2011 Buddy Melges Challenge | | Print | |
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August 24, 2011 
Photo: (c) Dave Bronson, Sail Sheboygan 2011
We started the day similar to yesterday with sitting out four races before hitting the water. We had some good races, two of which were very close. We ended up winning one, and losing the other.
Our
first close race was against our USSTAG teammates Team Tulloch. The
race started about even, and up the first beat Genny got the lead with
us right behind her at the top mark. Downwind, we got the pass and
rounded the bottom mark ahead with her picking up a penalty on the
downwind leg. Upwind, the race stayed close and with a small mistake by
us, she was able to take back the lead. Downwind, it was a long slow
leg to the finish as neither boat set their kites and kept their sails
in tight (a tactical move) as we slowly drifted down the course in
10-15kts of breeze. We were able to hold behind her all the way to the
finish without her being able to pull off her penalty and we took the
win.
The second race was just as exciting. We had a great start against Olivia Price and team from Australia and extended out to a 8 length lead up the first beat. Downwind they pulled back about four lengths as they brought the first big puff down the course. Upwind, we defended the right but as it turns out, the left was a bit more favoured and they were able to catch up to us. We rounded the top mark with a length or so lead. Downwind she played hard and we ended up in a complicated situation that resulted in us earning one penalty and then another which meant we had to spin immediately and so we lost the race. It was a bit of a downer way to finish the day, but we sailed well all day long and picked the wrong side on one leg that cost us. We are sitting in a good position with four more races left tomorrow morning before we head to the quarterfinals which they plan to start tomorrow afternoon. You can follow the racing live and check the scores on the regatta website: http://www.sailsheboygan.org/BMC_2011.php. We would very much like to thank our Title Sponsor, Maclaren, our Gold Level Sponsors 11th Hour Racing and Laser Performance, and our Bronze Level Sponsors Carmeuse, Trinity Yachts, and Chicago Match Race Center for their continued support of our campaign for the 2012 Olympic Games. We would also like to thank US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) and its sponsors for their continued support. Also, thank you to our private donors. Please remember that any and all donations/contributions to our campaign should be made payable directly to either The Sailing Foundation of New York (tax deductible) memo'd Anna Tunnicliffe, or to Anna Tunnicliffe. Sail Hard, And as usual, don't forget, email us your questions and comments. We love getting them and sharing our love of sailing and women's match racing.
Anna: 4D's: "Dream,Desire,Dedication,Discipline"TM
Team Maclaren: 3P's: Passion...Performance...Perfection...TM
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Team Member
.jpg "Team Maclaren")
Representing the USA, Anna Tunnicliffe won the Gold Medal in the Women's Laser Radial dinghy at the 2008 Olympic Games in Qingdao, China. Anna was the ISAF world's Number One-ranked women's Radial sailor from April 9, 2008 to May 2010. She was voted 2009 & 2011 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year. Now Anna, skipper of Team Maclaren, has teamed up with Molly O'Bryan Vandemoer and Debbie Capozzi to take on the world and go for Gold in 2012 London Olympic Games in Women's Match Racing and the team is currently ranked #1 in the ISAF WMR rankings.
