Team Molly - United States 2008 Olympic Campaign

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4/2/2007 - Princess Sofia- Day Two

Team Molly traveled back to Europe a few days ago. We are currently
competing in the Princess Sofia Trophy, which is a grade two
International event in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. There are close to
two hundred 470s competing in this event, with 68 women’s team and 116
men’s teams. This makes for a very busy racecourse and launching, but
some great racing. The women’s fleet is split into two relatively
equal groups for a qualification series and after three days of racing
will be split into a gold and silver fleet.

The conditions over the past two days have been very unpredictable and
unstable. The wind has been shifting to all different directions and
changing in velocity constantly. Thus, the race committee has a very
difficult job to set good race courses. It also means a lot of waiting
to race, especially because there are six fleets of boats on our
course. Yesterday, we were on the water for over five hours and
finished zero races. Today was better; we finished two races.

The first race was quite light, shifty and lumpy. We had a good start
and worked our way to the left side of the course. We were doing okay
with the boats on our side of the course, but our side caved in. We
rounded the windward mark in around 30th place. After a good second
beat and run we were able to climb back to 21st.

By the second race (about 3 hours later), the wind had picked up some.
We had another good start but could not hold our lane as long as we
wanted to. We did a couple tacks, got a clear lane and rounded the
windward mark in the 20’s. During the second beat the wind began to
die significantly, and by the last run there was very little wind. We
remained patient and were able to pass two boats at the end of the
run. We ended up finishing the race in 17th place.

We are still working on our boat speed in close quarters; however, we
have made some gains in our downwind speed. The disturbed water due to
the 200 boats, plus motorboats makes consistent speed very difficult.
Our coach, Elizabeth Kratzig, has been very helpful with our setup and
technique. Our decision-making and communication are continuing to
improve.

We are currently in 37th place and only one point away from 34th. The
top 34 teams after tomorrow will be placed in the gold fleet. Two
races are scheduled for tomorrow, but they could run up to three
races. The forecast is for more wind tomorrow, but anything could
happen. For full results visit:
http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/dinghy/index.html

Thank you for your continued support.

Team Molly

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Event: Princess Sofia Trophy

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7/7/2009 - Team Molly

6/12/2009 - 470 European Championships- Day 5

6/6/2009 - 2009 470 European Championships

5/30/2009 - Delta Lloyd Regatta- Days 2 and 3

5/28/2009 - Delta Lloyd Regatta

5/25/2009 - Team Molly wins NYYC Match Race

4/28/2009 - New Team Molly Gear!

4/24/2009 - Semaines Olympique Francaise- Final

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