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August 9, 2011
Amidst the throngs of paparazzi trying to get a photo of the Prince of Spain returning to the dock aboard the TP 52 “Bribon” after they claimed the title in the big boat division, the Melges 32 team on Argo was also celebrating their hard fought victory after fending off a serious charge from the boys on Samba. Argo’s lead had been reduced to 3 pts after they lost a photo finish in the previous race, and after starting below Samba in the final race, getting in front and camping on them the entire first upwind, Argo was able to hang onto their lead and claim their 3rd straight regatta victory while making them the favorites headed into the World Championships at the same venue in just over a month.
For our team on Shakedown, we entered the final day with a mathematical shot at winning, and after squeezing Argo on the line in the first race, we had a glimmer of hope, but it did not take long for both Argo and Samba to finish ahead of us and squash our chances of taking home the title. Behind us in the standings by 6 pts headed into the day, the Italian team on Torpyone went from getting shut out at the pin and being dfl, to making a huge comeback and winning the race to sit only 1 pt behind us in 4th place. After a less than stellar start on the wrong side of the line in the final race, we were battling hard to just stay out of last while the Italians were mid-fleet and well on their way to taking over our 3rd place. We did reel them in at the finish, but after finishing just behind them, we were tied on points overall and ended up losing the tie-breaker as we had only won 1 race, compared to their 2.
After having expectations to treat this event like a practice regatta, get acclimated as a team, and try to sail our best, we did a good job of meeting those goals, and we were all a little bummed we fell off the podium in the last race. We were all very pleased with how we sailed, but it never easy dropping a spot on the last day.
On-board video from our team on Shakedown from the first race of the final day.
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