Aug. 8, 2012
WEYMOUTH, UK - Former Old Dominion University sailing standouts Anna Tunnicliffe and Debbie Capozzi and the United States women's match race team was defeated in the quarterfinals of the women's Elliott 6m competition on Wednesday by Finland, 3-1.
The United States, with Tunnicliffe at skipper paired with Capozzi and Molly O'Bryan Vandemoer will now compete in the sail-off competition beginning on Thursday to decide the final positions for fifth through eighth place. The U.S. will take on the Netherlands who fell to top-seeded Australia, 3-1.
Finland, who was the No. 5 seed in the quarterfinals, was led by skipper Silja Lehtinen along with crew Silja Kanerva and Mikaela Wulff. The No. 4 seed U.S. team fell behind on Tuesday, 2-0, as Finland took a quick lead in the best of five format winning the first race by close splits of 0:05, 0:03 and 0:04 for a total of 1:03 at the finish. In the second race, the U.S. trailed by splits of 0:10, 0:02, 0:05 and then a slim 0:03 at the finish.
The Americans got back on track Wednesday morning with a win in the third race by times of 0:04, 0:06, 0:19 and 0:26 at the finish. Finland would rally back in the fourth race to clinch the victory however winning by splits of 0:08, 0:03, 0:04 and a finish of 0:02 to oust the U.S.
Follow along with Team USA and their blog at teammaclaren.com/news. For all news, results and schedule, visit London2012.com.