Final results, closing ceremonies and more pics!

Well we were unable to beat the Mexicans in the medal race which left us in 4th overall. Yesterday we packed our boats and gear in the container during the day and walked in closing ceremonies that night. Fortunately our shuttle bus took us home from the sailing venue via the coast which gave us a chance to see some of the beautiful Rio coast! Today we are packing our bags and off to the airport! This experience has been incredible, however I can honestly say I am ready to get home! 15 days of the same food every night and sleeping in a dormitory gets old!
Here are some pictures!

Really tall men's USA Basketball player...



Starting to pack the container 8:30 AM


Container packing almost done 11:30 AM


closing ceremonies




And..apparently mullets are back in style in Argentina...









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Medal race today!!

Another front passed through yesterday forcing officials to cancel all races due to lack of wind. Today's race will determine all three medal positions.
Total points going into today are:
1st: Brazil - 12 points
2nd: Uruguay - 14 points
3rd: Mexico - 18 points
4th: USA - 19 points
5th: Argentina - 25 points

What makes today's race different?
1) points count twice
2) medal race finish breaks any tie breakers in total scores
3) jury resolves all penalties on the water

Here are the strategic challenges for today's race:
1) We can win the gold if we win the race today, Uruguay finishes 4th and Brazil 5th
2) We win bronze by simply beating Mexico
3) We can win silver if we beat Mexico and put 3 boats between us and Uruguay
4) We can not let Argentina put 3 boats between us; meaning finishes can not go Argentina 1 -USA 4 nor Argentina 2 - USA 5

Today's race will be a battle. We are expecting a mix of match racing along with fleet racing.

I will be posting lots of additional picture between today and Monday.
What's left?
-medal ceremony tonight
-closing ceremonies tomorrow night
-pack the container before Monday
-Leave Rio Monday night

Day 5 started really well...

Breeze was finally on today! We had 3 races. We won the first race and then made crucial mistakes in the 2nd and 3rd. We were wining all three races, but we took too many risks in the 2nd and 3rd causing us to drop places during the races. Our finishes today were 1, 5, 7. We are in 4th place, 1 point out 3rd, 4 points out of 2nd and 6 points out of 1st. Tomorrow could be another 3 day race if the breeze is on again. So, the GOLD is still in reach! Also, the medal race on Saturday counts twice.

Race day 4

Frontal breeze fought the sea breeze again today! There was only 1 race in which we finished third. We are still in second place overall. At this point all top 4 boats are in medal contention. Every point counts! Racing continues until Friday. with solid breeze, the race officials can get up to 6 more races in. The medal race is on Saturday. Only the top 5 boats race in the medal race. The finish in this race counts double!

Here are some pics!

Augie and I going upwind

Pre race morning sessions with our physical therapist Shawn Hunt

The boat park in the morning

My living quarters


I forgot to post this earlier...here is a picture of us unloading the boats from the container when we arrived last Wed!

Day 3 racing

We got a 1st yesterday which launched us into a tie for 2nd! There was no wind in the morning so the first race didn't start until 3:45. A massive front is sitting over Rio right now which is causing lots of rain and light winds. It looks like the front is clearing a bit today so we are hoping for a solid sea breeze day. I PROMISE to take some pictures today and will post them tonight!

Race day 2

We finished 5 and 4 in race 1 and 2 respectively today. The race committee wanted to get 3 races off today to make up for yesterday's cancellations, but the dying breeze left little time for a 3rd race at the end of the day.
We are siting in 4th place right now. There are 6 more races to go plus a final medal race on Sat that counts double. This is a long event with lots of racing so staying consistent is key.

I didn't take any photos today (due to first race day jitters...). So here are some pictures from random experiences:

me at the Pan Am Games sailing venue


picture of other competitors on the Pan Am Games bus riding from the athletes village to the sailing venue

The USA Sailing team during team processing in DC:

Race day 1

Unfortunately, there were no races today. The northerly fought the sea breeze all day. Forecast is for 20 knots tomorrow! Should be a good day.
What I learned today:
1) South American male sailors take off too much clothing on hot, no wind days...tiny speedo bikinis were everywhere....
2) Beach volleyball, water polo and basket ball players are VERY tall in person
3) I am presently getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and can't think of anymore things I learned today...

Bye,
Tracy