News / Results 12th in Survival Conditions 
| 12th in Survival Conditions | | Print | |
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Miami, Florida Our 12th place finish today dropped us to eighth place overall with one day of fleet racing remaining. With a forecast tomorrow for moderate 12-15 knot northerly breezes, it’s possible the race committee will send us out for three races to complete the series before the ten top boats sail the double-point Medal Race on Friday. We got a taste of today’s conditions overnight as the blustery southerly strengthened and most of the coaches and crews spent some time checking on the security of their boats. In Fort Lauderdale, not far from here, a small tornado trashed several yards and damaged some houses. There was a lull in the morning with light air and sunshine, but by the time we lined up for our first start the wind had built to a solid 20 knots, the waves were increasing and the skies were darkening again. That start was abandoned after a big wind shift but the second attempt at starting was successful. We made a conservative start towards the middle of the line. It was obvious there was pressure towards the top right part of the course but we struggled to get there as the wind continued to build and the name of the game became survival. The first downwind was lively but not too hairy and we were in ninth or tenth place. At the leeward gates we lost some ground when we had to round outside another boat but we held on to round the top mark in 11th. We made a good spinnaker set and rocketed away downwind in control but it started getting crazy as big blasts of wind came through. People started wiping out and it became obvious that it would be sensible to drop the spinnaker. All the other boats but one did the same thing and we finished a shortened course at the bottom of the run.
The full results for this regatta are at Yngling Worlds ’08. Carrie Howe for Team Seven Sailing - |
