Hello,
Today was the last day of racing here in Turkey. It was a great all around regatta. The competition was
great and so was the weather. We had 6 days of racing with two races a day. We had one day of lighter
breeze, 4 days of medium breeze and one day of big breeze. The conditions provided great practice
against stiff competition. I learned a lot at this event and improved my boat speed a lot.
Anyway, on to the regatta. Throughout the whole event I was battling for first place with the Polish girl. We
were both frequently in the top three which made putting points on each other very hard. Going into the last
day we had locked into the Gold and Silver positions overall and with a one point advantage to her it was
going to be a battle right down to the last race...which it was. The first race of the day turned into being
both of our drop races which left the conditions for me to beat her the same as they were going into that
race...one point down and a lot of complicated ifs and ands. The last race started and I had a not so good
start and had to play catch up the whole race. I caught up to 4th place and she was in third so all I had to
do was pass her. I was gaining on the last downwind leg, but we ran out of room and she managed to
pass the first two boats for the win leaving me in 4th in the race. I was a little disappointed at first, but after I
got to land and started to put my boat away it started to sink in that I had won the Silver medal for the USA.
Overall I am very happy with how I sailed on this whole trip...I have made huge improvements and am really
excited to see how I will do in Brazil with three more months of training ahead of me.
When I get home I am going to Canada to do a week long training camp with the Canadian team and then
its back to the USA for more practice.
That’s all for now.
Sail hard,
Anna
August 13th
Hello everyone,
Croatia is so pretty!! I would recommend anyone coming here for a vacation. Anyway, the regatta here was
awesome. I finished 8th overall out of 83 boats. The weather was beautiful, but only provided wind three of
the 6 days, but the days we had breeze it was great breeze and the sailing was amazing. The fleet was
very tough, tougher than Kiel where I finished 22nd so it was a great confidence builder. I still have a lot of
work to do however, a couple areas where I am slightly off the pace, but with a little work, it'll be sorted out
and worlds should be great!!!
The regatta had 5 qualifying races for the Gold fleet. The first two were a 3, 7 which were great. The next
day we sailed it was slightly more windy and I had a 10, 8, 16. The 10 I was in 3rd, but got a yellow flag
penalty and lost some boats. A Yellow flag means that I was breaking a rule and illegally making my boat
go faster and two circles are required to exonerate myself...but the judges were giving the flags out like
candy through the whole regatta, so it wasn't just me. The next two races were better and then a couple of
boats passed me on the reaches and I lost some places. The last three races were sailed in the Gold
Fleet. I had a 4, 21, 5. Again, if these races were finished at the first mark they would have been a 1, 4, 5...
not too bad, but i lost some boats on the reaches. The 21 was a disaster race...I got stuck under some
boats and the capsized downwind. As disappointing as this race was, I learned a lot from them and to still
finish 8th overall is very impressive. My coach said that all we have to do is work on the reaches and I
could have won this regatta easily...that's exciting!!! As a side note, the USA was one of only two countries
that had two sailors in the top 10!!!
So I'm off to Turkey tomorrow morning to sail the University Games. There are about 10 girls that I know
about going to Turkey from the Europeans so we will have a tough little fleet to sail in...it will be great
training. I am hoping to sail well again and bring home a medal from this next event.
Keep track of the event through the website and I'll email again after the event.
Until then,
Anna
August 1st
Hi All,
I'm off to Croatia today. It was a little bit of a rough start in that we almost missed our first flight because of
lack of staff at Norfolk Airport, but luckily we made it. We (being Gary Bodie and I) flew to Washington D.C.
where I went through processing for the University Games. I am sailing the European Championships first
and then the University Games immediately after wards. I did not have a chance to put the event websites
on my web page, but they are below so you can follow my progress.
Europeans:
http://www.euroradial2005.com/
Universiade:
http://www.universiadeizmir.org/en/
Well i have to go to the airport again now, so wish me luck and I'll make the USA proud.
Anna