Daily Reports
Day 2 –
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Day Two of the U. S. Women’s Sailing Championship started
with a postponement “AP” flag at 0830. Just like the day before, the Race
Committee and competitors waited for the wind to build. One of the Race
Committee boats went out on the bay to monitor the conditions, while the
competitors leisurely rigged their J-24s.
AP was dropped at 1012 with the conditions 5k at 335’. The
competitors eagerly headed out to the course. The pre-start for the first
race of the day (race 4 of the series) was like a match race, with each
boat paired with her closest competitor. At the start, Joni Palmer
(Deep Creek Yacht Club) and Vicki Sodaro (San Francisco Yacht Club) held
to the left side of the course, while the rest of the fleet went up the
middle. Those on the right side of the course actually fared best. Meg
Dempsey (Stamford Yacht Club) led through the first windward –leeward lap,
but was passed by Vicki Sodaro at the leeward mark. The rest of the fleet
had few place changes on the first lap. Sodaro lengthened her lead over
the fleet to 1 and ˝ minutes after two windward-leeward laps but Kathy Irwin (Rush Creek Yacht Club) traded places
with her on the last
beat. Sodaro beat
Dempsey by only ˝ boat length at the finish.
After a lunch break, the second race of the day was
started. The conditions were similar to the first race. In a very close
start, Vicki Sodaro was forced over the line, and had to restart. The
fleet again went to the right side of the course, which had paid off in
the previous race. Whitney Besse (Vineyard Haven Yacht Club) rounded the
first weather mark with a 5 boat-length lead, and stretched it to about 25
boat-lengths by the leeward mark. The Race Committee changed the course
after the first windward-leeward lap. The fleet split, and those who went
left were caught in the calm before the oncoming rain, while those on the
right side of the course kept moving. Besse continued to increase her
lead to half a leg, and could not be caught. The fleet enjoyed increasing
breeze on the last beat of the race, giving the ladies some wind to work
with as they fought for their final positions in that race.
After the daily rain shower, the wind died to less than 3
k. After waiting for conditions to improve, it was decided to postpone
the 6th race until Thursday, and the fleet headed for the yacht
club
Select Report by Day
Day 1,
2, 3,
4
