Fort Lauderdale, FloridaFebruary 1, 2007I returned to racing today, this time in the Laser Radial Women’s North American Championships at the Lauderdale Yacht Club in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I ended the day in fourth place after three races. This is a four-day event, ending on February 4. With an entry of 43 boats, this is a smaller fleet than the OCR. The racing was more demanding too. We raced in the ocean off Fort Lauderdale and it was a big breeze, big wave day. The south-east breeze was averaging 14 knots but hitting 20 at times in the gusts and, with the waves, it made for some lively downwind sailing. There were some really, really big waves which made the downwind fun and made the hike upwind all worth it.I used this regatta to work on my boat handling in heavy conditions and came away happy with the way I was sailing. I got good starts in all three races we sailed and finished fourth in the first and fourth in the last but dropped to ninth in the second race after a capsize on the second upwind leg.The forecast for tomorrow is for slightly lighter conditions and I’m looking forward to another three races after we tow out to the course.Paige Railey, my team mate from the US Sailing Team holds the lead after Day One with a 1-1-3 record. Katarzyna Szotynska from Poland is second on 3-3-2. Sari Multala, from Finland, who won the OCR, is third, with a 2-10-1.Be sure to visit my new website at www.annatunnicliffe.com. Results of this event are online at http://www.lyc.org/files/Laser2007.html. My sponsor, Carmeuse, is at www.carmeusena.com.Until next time,Sail hard,Anna
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