-Still Leading at the European Championships!

Dear Supporters,

This is our second update from the European Championships in Riva del Garda, Italy. We have now completed 8 of 12 races in the championship series (allowing one discard) and we remain on top of the leader board! Team Japan is close on our heels, just one point behind, with the Austrians 8 points back.

Over the past two days the fleet scores have been very up and down. The steep cliffs of Lake Garda are famous for many reasons including funneling wind down the right side of the course. We’ve been exercising starting on port to allow ourselves to be one of the earliest boats heading right. This seems to be a good ticket as we’ve rounded the windward mark in the top 4 boats 5 races out of 8. Similarly, a gybe set down wind allows you to get back into the wind running down the right side of the course (left hand side of the run looking downwind).

The trickiest part of the day is late afternoon when the thermal generated southerly wind begins to die for the evening. There are massive and unpredictable shifts occurring all over the race area. Staying consistent during these periods is difficult but rewarding. We have 4 races over two days of fleet racing remaining with the medal race scheduled for Saturday. The forecast over the next two days looks questionable with lots of rain, possible thunderstorms and unsteady wind. It could be a very exciting ending!

The regatta website is: www.fragliavelariva.it/public_new/RegataDetail.asp?RegataID=169

Stay Tuned,

Sarah Mergenthaler Amanda Clark

Dear Supporters,

This is a quick update from Lake Garda, Italy, site of the 2008 470 European Championships.  After two days of racing, we are leading the regatta with a 4, 1, 1!  Conditions so far have been fairly light (5-12 knots), flat water and scattered rain showers everyday.  However, these factors have not detracted from the beauty of Lake Garda nor the host club in Riva del Garda.  It is one of the most beautiful places on the planet to sail!  We will send more updates as the week of racing goes on.  For details on the racing so far, please read on.

Day #1

The morning Northerly breeze died early in the day, giving way to a light Southerly.  We had a small postponement on the water as the wind settled in, but race 1 got underway close to schedule.  Because the lake is so deep, and the wind usually so consistent, there are permanent fixed marks the race committee uses.  The women's fleet started first on the outer trapezoid course.  There was a large left shift up the first beat to a course already skewed to the right.  This made the upwind more of a fetch.  The most important factor was staying in the pressure.  We rounded the windward mark in 4th place but caught a boat by the leeward mark.  Upwind on the outer, which is farther out in the middle of the lake, we thought we saw pressure towards the left.  This proved to be a costly gamble as boats in the top pack were able to work right of us.  We simply had less pressure than they did and we dropped back to 6th place at one point.  At the top of the cone we played a few shifts and worked back to 4th.  We held our place until the finish to open the regatta with a solid 4th.  An approaching rain squall killed the rest of the wind and the lake went to glass- end day 1.

Day #2

The RC wisely decided to race the fleet on a windward/leeward course today to avoid any problems with a skewed course.  We had plenty of time to test the course before the start of the first race and we were confident the right hand side had the best pressure.  Sometimes the angle coming off the left looked good as it was very close to the shore, but never as much pressure.  We won the boat at the start and quickly tacked to port in order to get to the right pressure.  We sailed almost to the layline, keeping a constant eye on the fleet to judge our pressure vs. theirs.  We rounded the windward mark in first but the competition was right on our heels.  We opted for a gybe set in order to get back into the right pressure (left side of the run looking downwind).  This paid and we increased our lead by the bottom mark.  We repeated our strategy on the second lap and stayed ahead of the fleet to record our first bullet.  Race #2 was practically a carbon copy of the first race.  We again won the boat and were first to break away to port tack.  We were loving the right!   We rounded the top mark in first again and increased our lead even further downwind.  Bullet #2 

We are now leading the regatta by 11 points.  It was definitely one of those magic days on the race course.  We were confident in our game plan and strategy and were able to execute.  Our speed was top notch.  In fact, not one single boat crossed our bow all day!  This is a long regatta and there is plenty of racing left. Stay Tuned!

Very Best,

Sarah Mergenthaler

Amanda Clark