 
Dear Friends,
Well, today went about as well as it could have gone! We won the medal race, and moved up into third place overall, putting us on the podium for the regatta!
We are pleased with our performance at this regatta. We are always happy to be racing, and happy to know that we still have (part of) what it takes! Tomorrow, Monday, Erin goes back to work, and Isabelle starts her summer internship with a federal judge in New York. We will be training in Stonington, CT, this summer. Our next international regatta will our title defense at the 2009 World Championships in Denmark in August.
Many thanks to our corporate sponsors: the US Sailing Team Alphagraphics, Harken, Kaenon, and Samson Ropes. Thanks also to Mark Ivey, our US Sailing Team Alphagraphics coach for this regatta.
For details from today's medal race, please read on!
We went into the medal race in 6th place: 8 points behind the 2nd place French and 3rd place Italian teams (who were tied for 2nd), tied for 5th place with the Spanish, and only 2 points ahead of the other French team in 7th place. The Japanese in 1st were essentially untouchable. Between us, the Spanish, and the 7th place French, our places in the regatta would be determined purely by who beat whom in the medal race. The Italians and the 2nd place French team would be match-racing for 2nd, so we knew they would not be paying attention to us. We figured that if we won the race, and the right boats finished in the right places, we would have a chance at being on the podium.
The breeze was light and the water was choppy for the medal race. We had a conservative start at the pin, left, end of the line. At the start the race-committee signaled that at least one boat had been over the starting line early. Three boats went back, but we did not as we were confident that we had started cleanly. We worked the left side of the upwind, at one point putting a tight "lee-bow" tack on the Spanish team to send them back into the pack of boats on the right side of the racecourse. We rounded the first windward mark in 4th place behind the 2nd place French, the Italians, and another team. The Spanish and the 7th place French team were far behind us.
On the first downwind, the Italians passed the French, and we gained distance on the leaders. At the leeward mark gate we rounded in 3rd behind the Italians and the French. The Italians continued to cover the French, enabling us to play the shifts freely, and we moved into 2nd place behind the Italians on the 2nd upwind leg. We split from the Italians downwind, and passed them, to round the 2nd leeward mark in 1st place.
From the vantage of 1st place, our goal was to cover the fleet. As the Italians and the French moved back in the fleet, the Japanese and the Dutch teams took flyers out to the left side of the course, and got a big left shift. The gained a lot of distance, putting them behind us at the 3rd windward mark, and moved the Italians and the French way back in the fleet. We extended from the boats behind us, and crossed the finish line in 1st by about 100 feet. We turned around to watch the rest of the fleet finish the race. Behind us the chips fell into place for us to end up on the podium! The Dutch and Japanese finished in 2nd and 3rd. The Kiwis and the 2nd place French were neck and neck coming into the finish, but the French beat the Kiwis by approximately 6 inches -- had the finish gone the other way, we would have been second! Unbeknownst to us, the Italians had been over early and were scored OCS.
We're looking forward to the World Championships in August!
Best Wishes,
Erin and Isabelle
470 Team USA
www.470TeamUSA.com
erin@470TeamUSA.com
isabelle@470TeamUSA.com
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