Last Minute Prep for 2nd Nacional Open Snipe Regatta 2011
March 3, 2011
Vilagarcia, Spain
Today was the practice day at the 2nd Nacional Open Snipe Regatta 2011 here in Vilagarcia, Spain. It was a chilly morning when we got to the boat park this morning around 9:30am to collect our boat and start putting the boat together in time to make the practice race held this afternoon.
Vilagarcia, Spain
Today was the practice day at the 2nd Nacional Open Snipe Regatta 2011 here in Vilagarcia, Spain. It was a chilly morning when we got to the boat park this morning around 9:30am to collect our boat and start putting the boat together in time to make the practice race held this afternoon.
Anna and Molly (farthest left) On Their Way To Winning 2010 Women's World Snipe Championships
Photo: (c) Fried Elliott 2010
Molly and I qualified for this event after winning the Women's World Championships last November. The organizers invited sailors to come to this event and they have provided us with fantastic housing and a great boat. All we had to bring was ourselves and sails.
Molly and I arrived yesterday in Spain. We met up in Madrid airport, had our obligatory cup of coffee, and then got on our next flight to Vigo. As we landed, they told us the air temperature was in the single digits (in Celcius - low 40sF), cold relative to what we are used to. We were met at the airport by the event organizers, and with five Brazilian sailors, we all jammed into the van with our kit and headed to the sailing center here in Vilagarcia. Since our boat hadn't yet arrived, we headed to our hotel and promised each other that we wouldn't take a nap. So, after unpacking and resisting the urge to lie down, we chatted for a little while and then headed out for (another) coffee and a walk around town. At the end of our walk, we went to the grocery store and bought food for dinner. Molly whipped up a quick meal, and then we crashed for the night.
We forced ourselves out of bed at 7:30 this morning to eat breakfast and to start adjusting to the local time zone (we are 6 hrs ahead of US ET). At the sailing center we rigged our boat and eventually hit the water. As we were launching, the wind picked up a little more taking it into the high teens and we were really put to the test on the race course. We missed the start, but joined in the practice race just before the top mark. We were fast on the reaches, but then got a little out of control at the bottom mark and capsized. To put it mildly, the water was very cold; a great incentive to get the boat upright quickly, which we did, and continued racing. We skipped part of the race, so we could test our speed with the top teams. We sparred with them for a while and felt good about everything in the end. Since it was very windy, we decided it would not be a good idea to break in our sails too much too soon, so we headed in and continued to work on the boat. By 6:30pm we managed to get everything sorted, so that tomorrow morning we just have to attach the sail numbers and we will be ready to go.
We are looking forward to the opportunity to fleet race again. There are around 80 boats registered from 5 different countries, so we will definitely get some good learning experiences. We are off to dinner now; yes it's 9pm, but we are in Spain, and it's their culture to eat late, so we are diving into it wholeheartedly. Racing starts tomorrow at 1pm. There are no more than three races scheduled per day so hopefully the wind will be great and the sun will be out and we will have some exciting stories to report back.
You can check out the results on the regatta website.
We forced ourselves out of bed at 7:30 this morning to eat breakfast and to start adjusting to the local time zone (we are 6 hrs ahead of US ET). At the sailing center we rigged our boat and eventually hit the water. As we were launching, the wind picked up a little more taking it into the high teens and we were really put to the test on the race course. We missed the start, but joined in the practice race just before the top mark. We were fast on the reaches, but then got a little out of control at the bottom mark and capsized. To put it mildly, the water was very cold; a great incentive to get the boat upright quickly, which we did, and continued racing. We skipped part of the race, so we could test our speed with the top teams. We sparred with them for a while and felt good about everything in the end. Since it was very windy, we decided it would not be a good idea to break in our sails too much too soon, so we headed in and continued to work on the boat. By 6:30pm we managed to get everything sorted, so that tomorrow morning we just have to attach the sail numbers and we will be ready to go.
We are looking forward to the opportunity to fleet race again. There are around 80 boats registered from 5 different countries, so we will definitely get some good learning experiences. We are off to dinner now; yes it's 9pm, but we are in Spain, and it's their culture to eat late, so we are diving into it wholeheartedly. Racing starts tomorrow at 1pm. There are no more than three races scheduled per day so hopefully the wind will be great and the sun will be out and we will have some exciting stories to report back.
You can check out the results on the regatta website.
We would like to thank Carmeuse, Trinity Yachts, and 11th Hour Racing for their continued support of our women's match racing campaign for the 2012 Olympics in London. We would also like to thank US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) and its sponsors for their support. Also, thank you to our private donors. Please remember that any and all donations/contributions to our campaign should be made payable directly to either The Sailing Foundation of New York (tax deductible) memo'd Anna Tunnicliffe, or to Anna Tunnicliffe.
Sail Hard
Anna
Team Tunnicliffe
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