September 29, 2011
Annapolis, MD

We feel much more alive today after racing in spite of sailing seven races in very fickle winds. The weather today was pleasant with much less humidity, a refreshing breeze and partial cloud cover keeping the temperature down a little. However, it did present tricky conditions which made for very difficult racing if you dropped behind. We had a good day again though and ended up with a 12-2 record after the two qualifying round robins. We finished on equal points with Julie Bossard (France) and team, but lost on a tie with them after dropping a race to them today. This seeded us second going into the quarterfinals, up against Martina Silva  (Argentina) and team. After the one race of the quarterfinals' series, we are up 1-0.

Photo: (copyright) Walter Cooper 2011

We started the day quite well winning our first four races, but then fell victim to getting behind off the line. Our competitors did a great job of keeping us behind despite small charges by us to almost make it around their bows. Unfortunately we couldn't quite get passed.   

Pre-start, we pushed them down to the pin end of the line thinking that it would be hard for them to start at the pin from where they were. We made the safe call to turn up to windward of them when they luffed.  As we went off the line, however, they were able to just squeak past the pin; we were mid line thus giving them a three length lead.

Team Maclaren did a great job of picking the small shifts to bring us back close to them for the top mark. We rounded a length and a half behind and were able to hit their wind so we caught right up to them by the leeward mark. At the leeward mark, Silva had a slower rounding and we were able to force them to tack off right at the mark, giving us the left and favoured side of the course. At our next intersection, we were able to just get the cross and from there, we took control of the race. They kept it close right up to the top mark, but had to double tack to round the mark giving us the chance to extend our lead to the finish and to start the series 1-0.

Racing continues tomorrow morning starting at 9am provided there is wind. You can check out the results and follow 'live' updates at the regatta website: http://www.santamariacup.org/index.asp  Tonight, we have a dinner with all of the regatta's sponsors at the Eastport YC.

As always, Team Maclaren would very much like to thank our Title Sponsor, Maclaren, Gold Level Sponsors 11th Hour Racing and Laser Performance, and Bronze Level Sponsors Carmeuse, Trinity Yachts, Chicago Match Race Center and Sperry Top-Sider for their continued support of the team's campaign for the 2012 Olympic Games. Thank you also to US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) and its sponsors for their continued support. And a special big thank you to Boatyard Bar and Grill for their support of the team during this event. Also, thank you to all private donors. Please remember that any and all donations/contributions to their 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.