Team Seven - First in Medal Race

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First in Medal Race – Silver Overall

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Blanes, Spain
April 5, 2008

We won the Medal Race today and finished one point out of first place to take the Silver Medal here at the Yngling Class 2008 European Championship. Our rivals, the British team skippered by Sarah Ayton, won the Gold Medal by finishing second in an action-filled, full-length medal race sailed in a 15-knot sea breeze that featured lots of lead changes.

Team 7 leads the Brits over the finish - - - Photo: Yngling.org

Medal Races have traditionally become short chaotic affairs with all ten boats scrambling for a place. Today, the committee set our ten top boats a full-length, twice-around, windward-leeward course that called for considered fleet racing tactics.

Team 7 USA 337 starts near the pin - - - Photo: Yngling.org

We started towards the pin end of the line and to leeward of our main competition but we weren’t able to gain enough ground to tack and cross ahead of the fleet. As we worked out to the port tack lay line we went for a tactical move to tack and duck a bunch of boats inside us. It proved to be a pretty good move and we were third around the weather mark, behind Sarah Ayton and the Dutch skipper Mandy Mulder.

On the run we gained on Sarah and Mandy and opened up a small margin on the rest of the fleet but on the second beat we left ourselves open to be covered by the leaders and that allowed the Russian boat sailed by Anna Basalkina to take over third place and push us down to fourth.

Prizegiving - Silver Medal

Once we got around the weather mark and sorted ourselves out, there were five boats abreast headed for the finish, with the lead changing, depending who surfed ahead. Debbie made a great call for a late jibe before the finish and we surfed over the line about one foot in front of Sarah.

You can find detailed final results from the Europeans at Blanes Results.

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Carrie Howe
for Team Seven Sailing -
- Sally Barkow, Debbie Capozzi, Carrie Howe