Olympic Silver for NED!

First of all my congratulations to the Dutch Yngling Team of Mandy Mulder, Annemieke Bes and Merel Witteveen, winners of the Silver Medal! Well done!

(picture from the ISAF website)

It was a stormy and rainy Medal-race for the Yngling early this morning, very exciting from the start all trough the first beat. NED started as most windward boat in very good position. GBR was third from the committee boat. A good start on starboard in 15 knots of breeze.
All the way trough the first beat it was a neck on neck race with NED in front at one time and then GBR, changing places in the strong current, and then back again.
The current was almost a 45 angle on the course which meant that on Port the boats sailed directly against it, but on Starboard tack the boat drifted sideways fairly quickly.

Coming to the first mark most boats had trouble fetching the mark because of that. GBR rounded clean ahead of NED but not by much.

Unfortunately NED had to go almost head-to-wind to keep clear of another Yngling who didn't fetch the mark and touched it. That cost them a lot of speed and although they cleared and went round as second boat, GBR gained a lot from that rounding.

The commentator said that NED chose the wrong side of the first downwind leg and lost because of that, but I think the connection with GBR was lost in that first rounding.

Anyway, that is sailing in a fleet race. Getting to first place gives you an advantage

The ladies in the NED Yngling have done a tremendous job in winning the Silver medal!
It is due to them and also due to all the other ladies and the coach that this unique Yngling project has put the Netherlands back in a medal position.
Congratulations to all of them.

(picture from the ISAF website)