Friday, September 19

Oklahoma City, OK (September 19^th 2008) – Life only got harder for the teams on day two of the US Women’s Sailing Championships. Wind alleys, holes and big shifts kept the fleet scrambling all over the lake looking for an advantage. Charleston Ocean Racing started the day as the regatta leader but was quickly handed a last place finish in the first race. Edgewater Yacht Club, who had finished day one in tenth place, roared back with a second in the first race. And the comeback kids were Letty Eby and her Oklahoma City Boat club team who started the day in last place but let everyone know they were not ready quit by taking back to back first place finishes in the last two races of the day.

While every team at the regatta showed moments of brilliance, it was two time women’s national champion Vicki Sodaro and her San Francisco Yacht Club crew of Stephanie Wondolleck, Emily French and Katie Maxim who fought their way to the top of the regatta board. “It took us a while to make the adjustment to light air sailing,” said Sodaro.  “I grew up sailing in light air but the last few years we’ve been sailing in the high winds of San Francisco Bay and we’ve had trouble shifting gears.” It was not all clear sailing for team San Francisco who never led an entire race and had to constantly fight their way to the front.

The first race of the day opened with winds of four to five knots blowing in narrow wind alleys. The fleet split three ways as teams were forced to pick an alley. Wendy Roach, who crewed on the 2004 US Women’s Championship team opted to go right and came out on top at the first mark. The San Francisco Yacht Club team went left and managed to round in second followed closely by the Milwaukee and Edgewater teams. Racers who tried to go up the middle found themselves in the back half of the fleet. On the down wind leg, the teams again split and Sodaro and her San Francisco Yacht Club team managed to find a good pressure line that moved them into first. “We had two people looking out of the boat to find the wind,” said Sodaro. “My crew is very talented and I trust them to find the wind while I focus on sailing the boat fast.” Letting her crew find the wind continued to pay off as San Francisco advanced to the lead at the second weather mark.  Susan McDowell and the Edgewater Yacht Club team also managed to do an excellent job of finding wind lines as they climbed from forth to second place. “We just tried to go where we felt pressure and then just keep the boat moving in the light air,” said McDowell. Fort Worth found themselves trapped in a dying wind line and had to settle for third.

The San Francisco team started day two in fourth place and that’s where they found themselves at the first windward mark of the second race. Undeterred, they managed to move up by passing the third place boat on the next down wind leg and the second place boat on the next upwind leg. Things got tougher as they struggled to find a way around regatta leader Jennifer Gervais and the Charleston Ocean Racing Association team. The Charleston team managed to consistently keep Sodaro underneath them until half way up the last leg when Sodaro suddenly tacked away Gervais opted not to follow. “The winds were much better where we were so we decided not to follow them,” said Gervais. Unfortunately for Gervais, the consistently inconsistent winds of Lake Hefner shifted once again lifting San Francisco over the Charleston team for the win.

Letty Eby and Oklahoma City Boat Club team started the day in last place but finally found their mojo in the seventh race. Rounding the first weather mark in third they split with the fleet to go after an incoming wind line, which promptly put them into the fast lane to first place.  Not satisfied with a small lead, they went to the opposite side on the next leg and did a complete horizon job on the whole fleet to finish five minutes and forty seconds over the second place boat. Sodaro and the San Francisco team continued to show consistency with a second place followed by the MIT Nautical Association team helmed by Gretchen Curtis. Alix Hahn and the American Yacht Club team picked up their second fourth of the regatta.

The eighth and final race of day two brought the most consistent winds of the regatta. The entire fleet crossed the line together and ran a dead heat to the windward mark. Letty Eby and Oklahoma Boat Club team again found themselves in the lead with San Francisco, Milwaukee, Ft. Worth and Charleston hard on their heels. On the down wind leg Sodaro made a bid to pass on the high side but Eby held her off by staying inside at the mark. The pair then proceeded to put on a match-racing clinic as Sodaro continued to challenge Eby at every opportunity. At the second windward mark Sodaro tried an early lay line to get the mark first. Eby countered by tacking on top and gassing Sodaro all the way to the rounding. Sodaro was forced to throw in a short tack to make the mark, which gave Oklahoma City a three-length lead.  On the downwind leg, as the leaders battled it out, the Duluth Yacht Club helmed by Susan Mattis Turnham showed their down wind skills by advancing from eighth to third place. “We were glad to finally see a steady, consistent air,” said Turnham. “That’s what we’re used to sailing in." On the last windward leg, San Francisco tried to find clear air but Letty Eby continued to deny them with covering tacks, allowing the Oklahoma team to pick up back-to-back first place finishes. “We just went after pressure when we saw it,” said Eby. “We focused on keeping the boat moving fast and while we kept an eye on the rest of the fleet.”

While the San Francisco and Oklahoma City fleet were taking all the first place bullets several other teams continued to solidify slots on the top half of the leader board. Jennifer Gervais and the Charleston team managed to hold onto a tie for second with Wendy Roach and the Fort Worth Club. MIT Nautical helmed by Gretchen Curtis seems to always be in the hunt. Duluth, Milwaukee, and Newport also have shown that they have the skills and the desire to fight their way to finish line. With only three races remaining, day three of the US Women’s Championships should offer up more exciting sailing.