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US Women’s Match Racing Championships 12\07\02 This week, Team Challenge US traveled to New Orleans for the US Women’s Match Racing Championships. Thinking that they were escaping the clutches of the major winter storm that swept the East Coast, Betsy, Lee, Suzy and Dini hopped aboard a couple of jets heading south only to be greeted by frigid temperatures and wild windy conditions in the Big Easy. The cold front dished up 20 to 30 knot breeze and steep square chop on Lake Ponchartrain for the practice session. Coupled with temps in the low 40’s, those conditions made practice times brief and very chilly! The Race Committee postponed all racing on Thursday afternoon due to inclement weather, giving teams a chance to explore downtown and the infamous French Quarter. Friday dawned clear and cold. Winds had subsided into the 15-22 knot range, so it was “Game On” for race day! The call was for no spinnakers in the first flight of matches while the puffs gusted into the low 20’s. Team Challenge US had a bye in Flight #1 due to the odd number of teams in the rotation, so we sat in a change boat to watch the proceedings. The winds were not that daunting, but the chop that kicked up off the shallow bottom of the Lake made sailing rough. The J-22’s bucked like rodeo bulls on the steep waves that seemed to have no back side. As the day wore on, both the breeze and waves settled down allowing for lots of matches and the use of spinnakers. Our team dominated the first day of racing. Due to last minute cancellations, there are only 5 teams in attendance. Regardless, the racing has been good and Southern YC is doing a fine job getting the flights off. We are only one flight short of completing a double round robin! Team Challenge US did a very nice job on Friday of controlling the pre-start action. We led from the start in all but one match, and in that one against Sally Barkow, we were just a little early on our approach back and had to take her transom off the line on port. Oops! The Team refocused, took the lead by the top mark, and never looked back. At the end of the day, Team Challenge US stood alone at the top of the leader board with a 7-0 record. As mentioned in a previous report, we are using the match racing events to cross train for our Yngling Olympic Campaign. We are finding that match racing definitely has accelerated the process of bonding as a team for us. Our communication on board is greatly improved, and information flow is excellent. Lee is coming into her own on the tactical side of things and Suzy is outstanding as our primary information center. Dini Hall has been joining our Team at these match racing events as our jib trimmer. She is one of the best trimmers on the women’s MR circuit and we feel fortunate to have her with us. Saturday looks to be sunny and cool with much lighter winds as the high settles in over Louisiana. The goal of the Regatta Organizers is to finish Round Robin 2, and complete two more before the Final/Petit Final series on Sunday. Stay tuned for more reports on the progress of Team Challenge US!
Under clear blue skies, racing resumed at the 2002 US Women’s Match Racing Nationals on Lake Ponchartrain. Betsy, Lee, Suzy and Dini resumed their winning ways and marched into the Finals with an 11-1 record. The only loss for the Team came in the second to last race against Sally Barkow where a pre-start error resulted in a penalty from which the ladies were unable to recover. With 3 Round Robins now complete, the Regatta Officials decided to end that portion of the event and move directly into the Finals/Petit Finals on Sunday. In the best of 5 Finals, Team Challenge US (11-1) will take on Sally Barkow and crew (8-4). Sandy Hayes (7-5) will meet Charlie Arms (6-6) in the Petit Finals. The forecast is for light winds as a high pressure ridge settles in over the New Orleans area, so racing should be tight. We look forward to another great day of racing here in the Big Easy and hope that our experience on the match racing circuit will prove to be an advantage for Team Challenge US on the last day of racing. Fading breeze on the course Saturday led to the decision to terminate the racing in the mid afternoon. A lively debrief with the Umpires post racing gave the competitors a chance to rehash calls made out on the water. In the debrief session, the sailors raise questions about how the Umpires saw (and called) certain situations on the water. The Umpires will then revisit the altercation, describe how they saw it and then talk about which rules applied to the situation when they made the call. This interaction gives the competitors a clear picture of how “instant justice” is applied in match racing – because as opposed to fleet racing, Umpires make an immediate decision on the water at the time of an incident as to whether or not to assess a penalty for an infringement of a rule. In this game, even if a penalty is handed out, racing continues so it is difficult for the sailors to ponder over the call when the decision is rendered. A "free evening" gave us a chance to really get a taste of what New Orleans has to offer. Dini, Lee, Suzy and Betsy headed downtown for the evening with Sandy Hayes and company for a wonderful Cajun meal at K Paul’s Kitchen (one of Paul Prudhomme’s restaurants) followed by a trip down Bourbon Street. Craziness abounds in this city that never seems to sleep. The sights and sounds of New Orleans at night are incredible with music of every kind (jazz, zydeco, rock and roll, blues...) pouring out of establishments, people milling in streets dressed in all kinds of attire, and no end to the variety of entertainment available. But, we came to go racing, so stay with us for the final showdown!
In a Finals that went to 4 matches, Team Challenge US won the inaugural US Women’s National Match Racing Championship hosted by Southern YC on Lake Ponchartrain. Betsy Alison, Lee Icyda, Suzy Leech and Dini Hall dominated pre-start action against Sally Barkow and her crew. Experience was a key factor in the victories posted by the National Champions, especially in the light easterly conditions that marked the last day of racing. Good boat handling and concise communication on board Team Challenge US were key elements to their success. “We are proud of what we accomplished here in New Orleans. This is a fantastic team with incredible abilities and talent. Becoming National Champions brings us one step closer towards realizing our Olympic dream,” said Alison. Sandy Hayes and teammates sailed a strong Petit Finals to capture the bronze 3-1. They turned in their best performance to date on the women’s match racing circuit, as they steadily move up the ranking system. Persistence, consistency and good team work were apparent in the way they attacked their opponent Charlie Arms in their last series of matches. What’s next for Team Challenge US? Lee, Suzy and Betsy head to Miami for an intensive week of training in the Yngling before the Christmas holidays. The boat is now located at the US Olympic Sailing Center in Coconut Grove where the Team will train and compete during the winter season. We have a lot of work to do both on and off the water to perfect our techniques and experiment with some aspects of tuning. Next racing for the Team will be the triple crown series of ranking events beginning with the Palm Beach Ocean Regatta in mid-January, followed by Miami Olympic Classes Regatta at the end of the month. The Pre-Trials is the last event in the series at the beginning of February. Thank you for your continued interest and support – we need and appreciate all of it! 12/12/2002 |
