Day 3
The wind was extremely unstable for this last racing day. We had between 12 to 20knts, with 20m/min of current and more than 30° shifts..that was a very interesting tactical day. The left part payed for this both races. After a 1st bad start and a bad strategy, I sailed too much to the right, and couldn't touch the guests coming from the left. For the last race, I did a perfect start at the pin end and could do a good tactic on the left. I passed the 1st mark on the first position..it was hard to keep the girls behind, especially on the downwind. They were all coming back full speed with some strong gusts. But I could keep the first place until the end and could win my first race in this championship...with the bottle of champagne which goes together. Nice!
Overall, I keep my 4th place, behind Anna USA (who took Marit in match racing on the last race), Marit NED and Alicia ESP. My coach and I did a great training during this windy week...I'm happy.
You can find allt he results here http://www.lyc.org/files/radial10.html
Day 2:
Today, the wind was coming from the shore, very shifty with some gusts up to 25knts. 3 races in this conditions...it was physically a hard day.
I'm happy with my tactic. Twice, I passed the first mark 2nd and 3rd but I still have sometimes difficulties to keep the same speed downwind. I did a bad start at the 3rd race, but i could quickly find some fresh wind and sail on port for a long time... but the wind shift 30° on the left and I could never come back. I passed the first mark 12th. I had to fight very hard to come back with the best girls. At the end of the day, I m happy with my 3 races of 4th, 4th and 6th.
Day 1:
What an amazing day!!!!! 25 girls from 8 countries has been fighting in 18-23knts with huge waves 2 to 3 meters high...it was fun to surf the waves and hiking so hard upwind. I haven't been sailing in this conditions for such a long time...and it's nice to see that I'm still here in comparison with the girls who have been sailing the whole year. At this regatta, my technical goals are pretty simple; I'm working on my hiking upwind and the starts in the middle of all the boats.
With the races 4, 4, 5, I'm happy with this first day. Marit NED has won the 3 races of the day, followed be Anna Tunnicliff USA, gold medalist at the olympics in Beijing. Here you can find the results after 3 races: http://www.lyc.org/files/radial10.html
Tomorow, the wind conditions look still strong, but with less waves.
Training:
I'm in Fort Lauderdale, in Florida, for the North American Championship. The sailing conditions are magnifical; 25 degrees, sun, wind 12-17knts and waves.. quite different as in Miami. With my coach Didier, we are trying differents hiking positions and working on the waves downwind. I could train today with the GBR team, with Marit NED and the Spanish girl. A nice group, which is hikinbg 200% all the time!!!
The championship is starting on friday. All news will be posted on my website.
