Bayport Olympian & Team Must Win 3 Matches in Quarterfinals

Bayport sailing Olympian Debbie Capozzi and her Team USA Women’s Match Racing team need to win three straight in today’s quarter finals against Finland after losing two in the first two-to-three-points series yesterday.

As US Sailing Team Leader Dean Brenner writes in his blog this morning, it's a big day .

"We’re “all in” behind Amanda and Sarah, and Anna, Molly and Debbie," he writes in his daily blog.

But such a challenge doesn’t appear to be intimidating the WMR crew of Capozzi Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly O’Bryan Vandemoer and Capozzi, according to the Daily Report blog provided by US Sailing.org.

Here’s what the blog offered up yesterday from the team after Tuesday’s competition.

As Vandemoer explained the two matches were very close racing with the boats evenly matched. “First race we lead most of the race and last 5-6 boat lengths we may have went for a little more than we should have,” she said. “They fall for a fake jibe and you have one planned, and it didn’t go our way. On the second (race), we were pretty even. They had a little piece of us on starboard the whole time, so they were able to stay ahead. We never got enough to get ahead. The Nothe course is really shifty, and you have your game plan and if something comes down you gotta roll with it.”

With Finland winning the first two matches of the “first to three wins” series, it is now up to USA to come back Wednesday and win three straight.

“It’s all part of the game,” said Tunnicliffe after racing. “We’ve been down many times in situations before, like in our Trials. We sailed two really great races today. We’re not disappointed about how we sailed. Tomorrow’s a new day and we’re looking forward to it.”

Brenner, who writes the daily blog called At the Helm, wrote the following yesterday:

The competition has been fierce in every class, on every day.

Big day today here in Weymouth. The match racers square off in their quarter final match against Finland. Anna, Molly and Debbie sailed well in the opening round robin, finished 8-3 and head into the quarters with plenty of confidence.

Several of you have asked me if I, or anyone else on the team, is getting tired. The answer is “sure, but it doesn’t matter.” We’ve been here for a while, but we still have a lot of racing left, and every day we are bringing the same energy and positive outlook to the table. Every day, same focus, same enthusiasm. Why? Because the last day of the Olympics is just as important as the first. An athlete competing at the end of the event deserves the same enthusiasm and support as an athlete competing on day one.

Many of our athletes have wrapped up their Games. But we are keeping everything the same. No USA boats have been unrigged. They remain in the boat park, fully set up, even if that athlete’s racing is over. Why? Because we arrived as a team, and we’ll leave as a team. We rigged all our boats together, and we’ll put them away together.

So it is business as usual here in Weymouth. Many people are asking me how I feel about our performance so far, and I refuse to answer the question. There will be plenty of time to debrief the good and the not-so-good aspects of our performance here. And we’ll do all of that when the event is over. Until that point, we are still competing, and bringing the same energy every single day.

Big day today… I hope you will keep following along.

This morning, Brenner wrote:

Anna, Molly and Debbie are down 0-2 in their quarterfinal match up with Finland, but they came back to the dock yesterday all smiles, and they will be ready to go today. Their match up is first to three points.

Most of our team is done with their racing here in Weymouth, and I’m getting lots of emails and questions, asking for an evaluation of how things have gone. I’ll share here exactly what I have shared every time I’ve been asked that question… there will be plenty of time for that conversation, after the Games are over. And believe me, I’ll answer the questions thoroughly and honestly. But we’re not doing that now.

We have a big day today. We’re “all in” behind Amanda and Sarah, and Anna, Molly and Debbie.

This team stands as one, and we’ll compete right down to the last moment.