Team Molly - United States 2008 Olympic Campaign

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9/8/2006 - 470 Worlds Day 2

470 World Championships- Day 2

Today was another long day on the water. It was a little more
frustrating and difficult than yesterday, but we managed to get
through it and have a little success near the end. All day, our boat
speed was off. We would have good starts and not be able to hang with
the fleet at all. The US Sailing Coach was on the men’s course today
so we were on our own to figure out how to make the boat go faster.
We made some adjustments throughout the day and we are continually
learning about how these adjustments affect the boat.

The day began with very little wind; however, by the time the first
race started there was 4-6 knots of wind. In the first race, we
managed to have a great start half way down the line with most of the
fleet at the boat. However, the wind shifted right and we did not
find a good opportunity to get across the course. We believe there was
also advantageous current to the right. We rounded the windward mark
ahead of only a few boats. We caught a boat here or there around the
course and finished in 23rd place.

It then began to rain and the wind increased to about 8-11 knots. We
made some adjustments to the boat to account for the changing
conditions. We were seeing more left angles before the start so we
decided to start near the pin. We had a great start! Our speed seemed
okay right off the line, but the boat was not accelerating well in the
puffs. Moreover, we did not choose a very good time to cross the
fleet. However, we were in the pack at the windward mark, probably in
the low 20’s. However, we lost a couple boats on the following
downwind. We managed to gain one or two back on the last reach and we
finished 25th.

The race committee then decided to do a third race. By this time the
current had switched directions it was now going upwind at an angle
and the wind had backed off to 4-7 knots. Once again we had a good
start, but our boat speed was off pace. We had a difficult time
understanding what was happening on the course. There were a lot of
wind shifts and the current varied across the course. Although we
were frustrated, we managed to keep our heads in the race and passed
about 8 boats on the last downwind. We finished up the day with a
17th place.

We are currently in 46th place. We have one more race in the
qualification series. For full results, please check:
http://470.rz.gov.cn:80/sfsjg/20060908183537.htm. We hope that
tomorrow we will get the boat going fast again and have some stronger
finishes.

Thank you for your continued support!

Team Molly

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Event: 470 World Championships

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4/21/2009 - Semaines Olympique Francaise- DayTwo and Three