I hope you all have a Happy Holiday and Happy New Year!!!!
Anna
December 10
Hello,
Sorry I didn't send this out yesterday, but there was cause for celebration, so I'm sure you all understand.
As you may have seen I finished 3rd overall. The day was the windiest day we had seen. Sophie, the
French girl, sailed a very strong day...she likes the breeze. The first race yesterday I was right with Sophie
coming into the leeward mark, but I hit a wave wrong and lost balance and capsized. I had a quick recovery
but not quick enough...she went on to a good result and I finished with a 14th. Going into the next race, I
was 7 points down on Sophie, but only 4 points ahead of the German girl, so now I had to pay attention to
more than just Sophie. I new it would be tough to get Sophie out of the top 10 in those conditions, so I
decided to focus on sailing a good race, keeping the German and Aussi behind me and hope that Sophie
made a mistake.
As it turned out, she didn't make a mistake and won the race. I sailed to a 7th place with the German and
Aussi girls way behind, so I had locked up 3rd place. I was very excited to be on the podium for my first
World Championships. This regatta was the first of many more!!!
Next...its time for a break, a rest period, for about two weeks anyway, and then start training for our team
qualifying regattas.
Thank you for all of your support through the event.
Until next time,
Anna
December 8
Hello,
Today was the windiest day of the regatta yet. I had a good first race and finished 6th. The second race
was a little rougher for me. I had a great start to the race, but he shifts filled in around me and I ended up
12th at the first mark. The downwinds were not my strong point today and I lost some boats, but climbed
back to 14th in that race...which ends up being my second drop race. I am still in second overall in the
regatta, three points ahead of 3rd...so there will be some good racing going on tomorrow.
Hopefully tomorrow will be great news....
Until then,
Anna
December 7
Hello
I had another good day today. I was in second the second half of the first race until right at the end where I
got passed by one girl on a small shift, but a 3rd a keeper score. The second race was good too...I
finished with a 9th. We had more breeze today which was nice...it inverted the fleet a little. Anyway, overall
I'm laying in 2nd right now, 9 points out of 1st with 4 races left. The racing is really tight and very hard, but
with a couple more good results, I'll finish very well.
The forecast for the next two days is windier still...yeay!!! Wish me luck!
I'll update again tomorrow,
Until then,
Anna
December 6
Hello,
Today was a good day again. I finished the first race 3rd and the second race with 8th. There was "much
more" breeze today. The breeze was around 10-12 kts, but still with big shifts which made it fun. I moved
up to 5th overall, at least thats what I was told. Tomorrow we go into the finals. There were some upsets
in the results with some people not making the Gold fleet that should have. Anyway, the fleet will be tough
and there will be some great racing. The wind is forecasted to get windier throughout the rest of the week.
I'll write again tomorrow with tomorrows news...
Until then,
Anna
December 5
Hello,
Today was another light air day with big waves. The first race I had a rough beginning to the race, but
fought back to a 10th place finish. The next race, again was rough in the beginning, but came back well at
the end of the first beat and rounded the first mark in 6th. On the second upwind leg, the wind started to get
dicy and I lost 15 boats by going to the left side of the course...the side that had paid the first upwind and
the first downwind legs. Anyway, I managed to catch a couple of boats on the last upwind leg and finished
18th. Overall I'm in 11th place, which isn't bad, but I know it could be better.
We have one more day of qualifying races left and then three days of finals.
You can check out the results at:
http://www.laserinternational.org/wrad2005/Results/1-results.HTM
I'll write again tomorrow,
Anna
December 4
Hello,
Today was the first day of racing and luckily for me it wasn't windy. Unfortunately I got pretty sick two nights
ago and so I spent all day yesterday trying to get better, rest and get my energy back...which worked a little,
but I would not have been ready for the 20 kts we had three days ago...also good because I lost 3kg(about
6 pounds) too. Today's breeze was about 7-10kts...very light for Brazil. I had two very good starts and
overall good finishes. The first race I rounded the first mark in about 7/8th ish and caught up to 4th by the
second windward mark and past one more boat to finish the race in 3rd. The next race I was leading off
the line, but couldn't tack out to the right when I wanted to...which lead to me rounding the first windward
mark with about 7 boats behind me. I caught up a lot downwind and again on the next upwind leg and
rounded the second windward mark in 12th. I was able to pass one more boat downwind and then one
more on the last upwind leg to finish 10th...at least thats what Luther told me, I haven't seen any results yet.
Anyway overall I'm pretty happy with how I sailed. Tomorrow's forecast is for similar breeze so I'm excited
about that too. Hopefully I'll have more good news to report tomorrow.
Until then,
Anna