Tunnicliffe Continues to Dominate After Day Two of 2009 U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship

From caribbeanracing.com

USVI
Tunnicliffe Continues to Dominate After Day Two of 2009 U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship
By
Nov 14, 2009, 10:15 PST
Photography by Dean Barnes

The USVI's entry to the U.S. Sailing Women's Match Racing Championship, L to R: Sophia Newbold, Andi Baily, Emily Newbold, Kelly O'Brien.

Perfect sailing conditions prevailed for the eight elite teams competing on the second day of racing in US SAILING's 2009 U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship (USWMRC), hosted by the St. Thomas Yacht Club and sailed in Cowpet Bay. Winds blew a steady 10 to 12 knots, with shifts less than 10 degrees all day, under sunny skies. This allowed the completion of seven races (one round robin), including one race that had to be abandoned after a collision and re-sailed.

US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) member, Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), the 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist in the Laser Radial, maintained her lead and went undefeated for a second day in a row. Clean sailing and good tactical decisions allowed Tunnicliffe to pin her opponents consistently. Tunnicliffe is joined by teammates Molly O'Bryan Vandemoer (Redwood City, Calif.), Liz Bower (Rochester, N.Y.), and Alice Manard (Charleston, S.C.). Manard and Vandemoer are both members of USSTAG.

USSTAG member Genny Tulloch (San Francisco, Calif.) continues to chase Tunnicliffe for the lead, winning all matches for the day except for her match with Tunnicliffe. Annie Gardner-Nelson (San Diego, Calif.) finished the day in third. She lost three matches, to Tunnicliffe, Tulloch and Katie Pilley-Lovell (New Orleans, La.).

Pilley-Lovell, also a member of USSTAG, finished the day in fourth. She took a half point penalty for a mid-afternoon collision in a match with Gardner-Nelson that knocked the rudder off the IC (Inter-Club) 24, causing the match to be re-sailed. The four-day championship resumes Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, the sailing portion of the 4th Annual St. Thomas Radiology Women’s Regatta & Tennis Tournament kicks off tomorrow. Twenty-eight sailors will put their skills to the test aboard Club 420 dinghies.

The 2009 U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship for the Allegra Knapp Mertz Trophy, is sponsored locally by St. Thomas Radiology Associates, which is also sponsoring the 4th Annual St. Thomas Radiology Women's Regatta & Tennis Tournament which takes place at the same time, and by Rolex Watch U.S.A., Dry Creek Vineyard, Predict Wind and Sail Proud. This event is part of US SAILING's National Championship series.

For complete results, daily recaps, and photos please visit the event website at http://championships.ussailing.org/Adult/USWMRC.htm.

For more on the US SAILING National Championships, please visit http://championships.ussailing.org/.