Hello from Barcelona one last time. We we're able to get out a report on the third day, so this e-mail will cover Days #3 and #4 of the Barcelona Olympic Sailing Week.

After a very long shore-delay on Monday, the fleet was sent out for three races. After a black flag that caught many Greeks and Italians, the first race proved to be a good one. We rounded the top mark in 4th, made some good decisions downwind, and took the leeward mark in 1st. We maintained the lead, give or take some distance with the Greeks.

Race #2 was also a keeper. We reached the first mark in the top 6 and held on for a 4th. Nothing too flash happened as the wind trend turned the course into an obvious side choice. Some decent downwind work helped us pick up some boats.

Race #3 was certainly not a keeper. A tough start mixed with some not-so-great speed meant we took a 9th. That became our second drop. We realized soon after the race completed that neither of us had much in the tank for the long day. We put the boat away around 8pm that evening, so it was indeed a long day of waiting and racing. We rounded out the day two points out of second and tied for 3rd place overall, but loosing the tiebreaker. A good spot to be in, but we needed a good last race.

The final day of racing was almost a no-go as the wind was zero to light. The RC was determined to race, however, and the fleet was sent out for one final race. It was crew-in-the-boat conditions; very spotty. We started poorly, which led to many tacks in the first 1/3rd of the beat. Things went well, though, and we were in some left pressure with the Spanish team we had to beat (for 3rd) and the Greek team we had to beat (for 2nd) behind us. We crossed their line to consolidate, but then found ourselves battling a team-race with the rest of the Greek team! That sent us the wrong direction in a hurry and we lost our lead on the other Spanish and Greeks. Downwind we made some gains, as we did at the leeward mark. It was a solid race -- a 5th -- but not enough to put us in 2nd or 3rd for the regatta. We took 4th overall by one point. Ironically, the Spanish team we had the mark-room issue with two days prior was the team that beat us for the bronze. Congratulations to the Israelis, Greeks, and Spanish who finished 1-2-3. Here are the top 5:

1-ISR-Gideon Kliger/Udi Gal
2-GRE-Mileos Michalis/kagialis Pavlos
3-ESP-Francisco Sánchez Ferrer/Alejandro Ramos López
4-USA-Mikee Anderson-Mitterling/Dave Hughes
5-ESP-Gustavo Martínez Doreste/Dimas Wood Valdivielso

The BOSW was a fantastic tune-up regatta for the rest of the European tour, which is exactly what we meant it to be. We're getting in the mode of racing in Europe, dusting out some of the cobwebs, and are looking forward to Palma and the Princess Sofia Trophy which begins next week.

The boat's loaded and we're boarding the 4pm ferry this afternoon for Mallorca.

Until next week...

Mikee Anderson-Mitterling
David Hughes
Team USA 1734