There was a lot of excitement during the final blustery day of the Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik, Holland.   Spectators wearing every layer of clothing that they had huddled at the waterside of the Regatta Center and around the video screens to watch what was going on out on the race course. However, there was a lot going on right at the mouth of the harbor. While the first Laser Radial without a mast was escorted in, a Star was heading out for the consolation round. The Star had some difficulties getting through the rollers at the mouth of the breakwater and narrowly avoided ending up on the rocks. No sooner had the Star been cleared away when the Finns surfed within view. 200 yards from the finish line with the Gold Medal nearly in his pocket, Ed Wright (GBR) capsized. He recovered for a podium finish, albeit a Bronze, alongside Rafael Trujilo (ESP) who scooped the Gold and Gasper Vincec (SLO) won the Silver.

 

Lisa Ross (CAN), the first to get an OCS for the day. She returned to the ramp from the consolation round with a smile on her face despite the disappointing start. “It was nice out there! I really wanted to win that race. I rounded the weather mark in second and knew that I could pass the other boat. Just beautiful conditions.” Lisa, like a lot of these sailors, loves heavy air and that’s what they got. Overcast skies, winds in the high teens with gusts up to 25 knots and big waves.

 

As more boats started to haul out, the Tornados flew off the beach, this time with skippers and crews fully out on the trapeze. The 470 Women’s medal fleet returned and trophies were presented to Marcelien de Koning, Lobke Berkhout (NED), Fernanda Oliveira and Isabel Swan (BRA) and Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol (ITA) who were 3^rd, 2^nd and 1^st respectively and still dressed in their dry suits and wet suits. 

 

The 470 Women’s stage was cleared and the next act was the finish of the Tornado Medal Round. The Canadian spinnaker crossed first with Oskar Johansson and Kevin Stittle still on the boat. Mitch Booth and Pim Nieuwenhuis (NED) nearly pitchpoled within yards of the finish line but kept it together and finished second in the race and second in the regatta. Leigh Mcmillan and Will Howden (GBR) thought that they had crossed the finish line just after the Dutch, but they went to the wrong side.   To top it off, they capsized while retracting their spinnaker. The event Gold Medalists came to the rescue. Glenn Ashby (AUS) dove in to help keep his friends’ mast from getting stuck in the mud, after the Australians crossed the line.

 

Anna Tunnacliffe (USA) went into the day knowing that she had a Gold or Silver secured.   To win the regatta, she needed to be no further than five places behind Gintare Volungeviciute (LTU). As Tunnicliffe sailed to the left with most of the fleet, her main competition, Volungeviciute, sailed to the far right along with Larissa Nevierov (ITA). Sophie de Turckheim (FRA) rounded first with Volungeviciute rounding in the back of the fleet just ahead of Sarah Blanck (AUS), and Tunnicliffe. Tunnicliffe called Volungeviciute on hitting the mark and Volungeviciute did her circle. Once she finished, she was well behind the rest of the fleet, including Tunnicliffe who was in ninth place. As the fleet rounded the first bottom mark, the women who had been leading the regatta were holding the last three places in the race. 

 

de Turckheim held the lead up the second beat and around the third lap as the women struggled to keep their boats upright. Only one, Sarah Blanck (AUS) capsized at the first leeward mark and had difficulties clearing her main sheet from the rudder and the dagger board once she had righted the boat. 

 

Tunnicliffe fought hard on the third beat and the run and caught up to the leaders to finish fourth in the race and win the regatta. The victory marked team USA’s only podium finish in the Delta Lloyd Regatta. Tunnicliffe was pleased to have won the regatta, stating that “it feels good to win a Grade 1 regatta. It’s one thing to win the OCR on your home turf, but it’s a real confidence builder to win a European event so close to the Olympics.”

 

The 49ers struggled to stay upright in the heavy winds. Only one Medal Round team played it extra conservatively and did not pop the kite on the runs. Stephen Morrison and Ben Rhodes (GBR) stayed upright, unlike some of their compatriots in other classes, and cemented their lead as many of their competitors capsized during the race. Iker Martinez de Lizard and Xabier Fernandez (ESP) limped across the line ahead of the rest of the fleet to win the Medal Race and take fourth place overall in the regatta.

 

The Stars were the final fleet to take to the water and the wind continued to howl and the waves continued to roll in for the 3:00 pm start of their Medal Round of the Delta Lloyd Regatta. Flavio Marazzi and Enrico de Maria (SUI) went into the Medal Round 5 points ahead of World Champions Mateusz Kusnierewicz and Dominik Zycki (POL). Freddy Loof and Anders Ekstrom (SWE), Iain Murray and Andrew Palfrey (AUS) and Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) were more than a dozen points behind the Poles, so most of the fleet was racing for the bronze.

 

The fleet separated off the starting line and Scheidt/Prada and Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson (GBR) went for the left corner. When the fleet came back together at the top of the leg, Percy/Simpson leebowed Marazzi/DeMaria who where trying to pinch off Loof/Ekstrom to lay the mark. Scheidt/Prada were close on the lead group’s tail. Percy/Simpson rounded first. Marazzi/DeMaria were the first to gybe and in no time the two boats were well out in the lead with Kusznierewicz/Zycki in third.

 

Percy/Simpson broke left and Marazzi/DeMaria broke right early in the next beat. Behind them, Kusznierewicz/Zycki went right and Loof/Ekstrom went left. Percy/Simpson crossed ahead of the fleet and hit the starboard layline about 100 yards ahead of Scheidt/Prada. Loof/Ekstrom and Marazzi/DeMaria approached the weather mark from the middle and Marazzi/De Maria got room on Loof/Ekstrom with Kusznierewicz/Zycki and Scheidt/Prada following. Scheidt/Prada did circles on the run and lost a few places in the process. 

 

Percy continued to hold the lead and rounded the righthand gate at the bottom of the second run. They played the mid-right and kept an eye on Kusznierewicz/Zycki and Marazzi/DeMaria while Loof/Ekstrom went left.

 

Percy/Simpson had a 100-yard lead on Loof/Ekstrom down the final run and Marazzi/DeMaria and Kusznierewicz/Zycki trailed the Swedes by the same distance.  The race ended with Percy/Simpson winning, Loof/Ekstrom finishing second, Mateusz/Kusznierewicz finished third and Marazzi/DeMaria crossed the line in fourth.

 

1. Rafael Trujillo (ESP) – 29

2. Gasper Vincec ( SLO) – 29

3. Edward Wright (GBR) - 34

 

1. Guilia Conti/ Giovanna Micol (ITA) – 50

2. Fernanda Oliviera/ Isabel Swna – (BRA) – 60

3. Marcelien de Koning/ Lobke Berkout ( NED) – 64

 

470 Men for the Delta Lloyd Regatta

1. Nathan Wilmot/Malcolm Page (AUS) – 64

2. Gabrio Zandona/ Andrea Trani (ITA) – 71

3. Nicolas Charbonnier/ Olivier Bausset (FRA) – 82

 

 

1.                  Darren Bundock/Glenn Ashby (AUS) – 44

2.                  Mitch Booth/Pim Nieuwenhuis (NED) – 57

3.                  Xavier Revil/Christophe Espagnon (FRA) – 59

 

1. Renee Groeneveld/Brechtjevd Werf / Marji Kampen(NED) – 64

2. Ulrike Schuemann/Julia Bleck/Ute Hoepfner – 65

3. Sarah Ayton/Sahra Webb/Pippa Wilson (GBR) – 77