Skandia Sail for Gold - Weymouth and Portland, Great Britain
The weather forecast for the second half of Skandia Sail for Gold has been a hot topic of conversation for a while, and today it started to happen.
The wind pick-up in the morning, and by the afternoon it was a challenging 20 knots and change for most race courses. Once again, the stamina of the athletes was tested to the limit - and its just going to get windier.
The Womens Match Racing completed their initial round robin, and the top six went through to the Gold Group, skippers; Lucy MacGregor (GBR), Claire Leroy (FRA), Olivia Price (AUS), Ekaterina Skudina (RUS), Silja Lehtinen (FIN) and finally, Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) pulling it out of the bag to take the last place. The Repechage Round got underway with first blood going to Renee Groeneveld, Stephanie Hazard and Tamara Echegoyen - all with three wins each. They will complete the round in the morning. The Gold Group also started racing and Ekaterina Skudina put her nose in front with three early wins - again, the Group will complete their racing in the morning.
The Womens Match Racing continues tomorrow at 10:00 local time at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy before the Medal Races bring the regatta to a close on Saturday 9 June.
Teams competing:
Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly Vandemoer, Debbie Capozzi - USA [ISAF Ranking = 1]
Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush, Kate Macgregor - GBR [2]
Claire Leroy, Elodie Bertrand, Marie Riou - FRA [3]
Ekaterina Skudina, Elena Siuzeva, Elena Oblova - RUS [4]
Silja Lehtinen, Silja Kanerva, Mikaela Wulff - FIN [5]
Tamara Echegoyen, Angela Pumariega, Sofía Toro - ESP [7]
Renee Groeneveld, Annemiek Bes, Marcelien Bos-De Koning - NED [11]
Olivia Price, Nina Curtis, Lucinda Whitty - AUS [13]
Silke Hahlbrock, Vera Dubina, Irina Lotsmanova - GER [17]
Rita Gonçalves, Mariana Lobato, Diana Neves - POR [20]
Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen, Susannah Pyatt - NZL [21]
Lotte Meldgaard, Susanne Boidin, Tina Gramkov - DEN [23]
Anna Kjellberg, Malin Källström, Lotta Harrysson - SWE [25]
ISAF Sailing World Cup Website : www.sailing.org/worldcup/home.php
Skandia Sail for Gold Website : www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk