Liz Baylis

The last day of the USWMRC dawned with some passing light showers and not too much breeze.  Anna Tunnicliffe won the right to choose her opponent for the semi-finals and she chose Katy Lovell, so we were paired with Deb Capozzi (the defending champion).  We got a penalty on Deb in the first pre-start and won the first match.  We got a penalty on Deb in the second pre-start but she was able to sail clear and clear her penalty and win the second race so we were 1-1 after 2. In the third race we were leading slightly and Deb got a penalty at the second windward mark ad we were able to sail clear to the finish and win the semis 2-1 to advance to the finals.  In the meanwhile, Katy Lovell had upset Anna Tunnicliffe 2-0 in their semis, so it set up a finals of SFWMRT v. Lovell.

We had the starboard advantage in the first race and used it to win the first match wire to wire.  The second race went the other way.  So after 2, we were tied 1-1.  With the time limit approaching we knew that the third race was the final ace, so it was a winner take all race for the championship.  Katy had the best of us at the start, but Suzy found us the better side of the course and we were able to round the first two marks ahead.  Did I mention that it was really shifty and difficult???  We then lost the lead on the next beat.  But as we approached the windward mark for the last time (behind by 10 lengths). Suzy said “It’s not over ‘til it’s over”.  She was right!  We rounded behind, but in a nice private puff on the right.  Our only hope was to get some leverage and use the breeze and current to our advantage.  Two gybes later, we were on lay line to the RC boat and we were right back in it looking like we had a chance..  About a length from the finish, we knew we had won and they put up our flag and we had won the 2007 USWMRC!

A nice win for the SFWMRT to win the USWMRC for the 2^nd time.

Cory and Suzy were AWESOME keeping the boat rocking and keeping Liz focused through a difficult day.  Great job!

Thanks for all of the notes of encouragement!

Cheers,

Liz, Cory, and Suzy

The San Francisco Women’s Match Racing Team

This entry was posted on Monday, September 10th, 2007 at 9:27 am and is filed under SFWMRT. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.