Team Tunnicliffe in Palma, SpainPhoto: Deb Capozzi, March 2010
After a week of training, and the official practice day today, we are ready to start racing tomorrow morning. There are 24 teams here for the event from 11 nations. To give you an idea of the calibre of the event, all 10 of the top 10 in the ISAF World Rankings are competing, so it will be a fantastic event. The 24 teams have been divided up into three groups. We are in group B. The intended plan for the first round robin is that each group will race each day, doing half of the round. Tomorrow, we are scheduled to race after group A, and will be doing our first four races.
During our week of training, we were coached by USSTAG Luther Carpenter. It was great to spend time with him again. He worked with us on our boat handling, and our boat speed. We learned plenty and are much more excited about our speed now going into tomorrow.
Besides training, we didn't get to do too much. We have been putting in long hours on the water, and been rather tired at the end of the day. We did take a bike ride down to the other side of the bay yesterday to debrief with Luther, since it was our day off. We didn't want to pay for a cab ride down there and we figured that since the sun was out, we should take advantage of the weather and of doing some different exercise. We got our bikes and headed out.
On The Way To DebriefPhoto: Deb Capozzi, March 2010
The ride down was very pleasant. We found a group of three bikers who were all kitted out in the gear on fast bikes. We tucked in behind them and they dragged us the second half of the ride. It also helped that the wind was from behind, pushing us. The wind didn't seem as though it was blowing too much, but was probably a nice 12kts when we rode down. Two hours later though, when we finished our debrief, it had doubled in strength and now it was in our faces on the way back. Molly and Deb had to go to a chiropractor appointment just after the debrief, so they headed back with their bikes in a cab, but I chose to ride home. What took me just over 35 mins on the way out, took me about an hour to get home. It turned from a nice leisurely ride into an intense workout. And it didn't help that my bike didn't really change gears, so I was pretty much stuck with what I had. It was good, though, to get out and get some fresh air that wasn't mixed with salt water and sailing.
Tomorrow is an early morning, so it's off to dinner and bed. You can follow the regatta on the regatta website here. We will also post nightly updates.
We would like to thank Carmeuse for their continued support of our campaign for the 2012 Olympics in London. We would also to thank USSTAG for their support.
Sail Hard, Anna Team Tunnicliffe
