Anna sails to great start

Frank Cassidy 1538 - 1538 • Published 13 Apr 2007 12:32

Two weeks ago, she travelled to Spain for Barcelona Olympic Classes Week, an ISAF Grade 2 regatta, to compete in the Women's Single Person Dinghy event, in her Laser Radial.

While Helensburgh basked in beautiful spring weather, a driech grey drizzle and cold light with very shifty offshore breezes afflicted the Mediterranean coast, with Anna chalking up a third and a sixth and having to count a 17th because of an OCS.

However, this was sufficient to qualify for her first ever final medal race, a nerve-racking experience in which every competitor had an allocated jury boat following closely, with instant on-water judging.

By then, the wind had piped up to 20 knots and sailing in cobbled together equipment after her sailing bag was stolen 40 minutes before her start, she held her nerve and scored fifth, taking her to ninth overall.

Last week, she moved up to the coastal town of Andora, in northern Italy, to compete in a Laser Europa Cup, another ISAF Grade 2 event for more than 300 boats.

All eight scheduled races were held in superb conditions and Anna - now re-equipped by courtesy of perfect service by Duncan Hepplewhite and Steve Cockerill - clocked in a steady series of top 15 scores to finish 10th overall and strike gold as first lady.

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This article appeared in Helensburgh Advertiser 13 Apr 07

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