Kiel finished up today in fine form with 8-12 knots of northerly breeze under clear blue sunny skies. We had a medal race scheduled for 12:20 this afternoon only 150 yards off the Kiel harbor entrance. The conditions were choppy from spectator traffic and quite shifty as the course was in the lee of the local town of Strande. Of all the medal races this year, this one had the most spectators with two large ferries, a helicopter, and more than 50 small spectator craft in addition to all the race boats getting ready for the second half of Kieler Woche.
Andrew and I could conceivably move from our 9th position at the beginning of the day to as high as 5th if everything went perfectly but we had to depend on too many scenarios to play out so our goal was to break out and win the race. We won the start about two thirds of the way down toward the pin. When the fleet on our hip eventually tacked we consolidated and lifted off the group in a nice lefty while pinching off the boats still to the left of us. Mark Mendelblatt and Mark Strube, the other American team in the medal race, crossed behind us to the left and in the last 300 yards of the leg were able to snag a nice lift into the top. We rounded close behind in second. In an attempt to pass those guys, we gybed away and split from the group, but that turned out to be a loss of about three boats and we spent the rest of the race clawing back to a 3rd in the race. We were happy to find out that the 3rd sent us two spots up the scoreboard to take 7th in the regatta.
What a funny series we’ve had here: Only three days of racing two of which were one-race-days. Andrew and I are happy with the finish after so many teens to start the regatta. We have one more World Cup event on the schedule: Sail for Gold in September in Weymouth. We are currently fifth overall in the standings, but only three points out of the lead. It will all come down to a good finish in the World Cup Finals!
You can find daily video highlights at http://www.world-of-sailing.info/olympic-classes/star/ including areal coverage of the medal race. There should be GPS tracks of our medal race online at the Kieler Woche website but we have not been able to find the link yet.
As always, thank you to our sponsors – USSTAG, Sperry, Kaenon, North Sails, McLube, and all of our supporters who sent good wishes all week.
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