Cascais, Portugal
July 4, 2007

Racing started yesterday at the Tornado Class World Championships in Cascais. Team Advanced Equities I is in fifth place overall after four races over two days in a world class fleet of 49 boats. Our finishes were 23-2-9-8.

Johnny Lovell and Charlie Ogletree are fifth overall

It has been some time since we wrote to you but life has been pretty intense as we prepared for this event which is part of the massive ISAF Combined World Championships here in Cascais.

This is our first opportunity to qualify the USA as an entrant in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Qingdao. Eleven places will be assigned from this event and it is our goal to secure the USA entry.

Just 20 minutes drive from Lisbon, this former fishing village with a rich historical and cultural heritage was a rival for Valencia in the contest for the America’s Cup venue. It has stunning beaches, excellent surfing and windsurfing, and a reputation for great sailing conditions with consistent, strong breezes. We got here in plenty of time for training and testing with Jay Glaser and Andy Hagara as coaches and, going into the event, we are confident that our speed is good, even though we didn’t have an opportunity to line up with all of our competition.

We’ve worked very hard on testing and we’ve narrowed down to the sails we are using this week. So far, we’ve been quick – real quick. Our speed is excellent.

On Day One we woke up to clouds and mist, not your typical sunny, breezy Cascais conditions. The breeze was down all day and very shifty and puffy, along with lots of big swells. In the first race we had a good start and were in the top five places approaching the weather mark for the first time. However we misjudged the current and the layline, and very quickly we found ourselves below the mark, eventually rounding in something like 20th. We fought hard to get back but were never able to recover and finished 23rd.

After that disappointing beginning to our series, we bounced back with a great start in race two to lead at the first three marks before a big wind shift came in on the second run and left us overstanding the leeward gate. Olivier Backes from France got there ahead of us but we worked hard to catch him and finished overlapped, although in second place. We were 13th overall for the day.

On Day Two we had conditions that were more typical of Cascais, with breezes starting at 12-14 knots and building to 18 knots with some gusts at 20 knots. The swell was bigger, nearly two meters, but it was still very shifty and the racing featured lots of lead changes. We were on Course 3 which was down the coast near a bridge that, with the same color and design, looks just like San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. There was a lot of current too. It felt just like the Bay area.

We had another good start in the first race of the day and were fourth at the weather mark before we got tangled up with another boat, missed a wind shift and didn’t jibe-set soon enough. However we battled back hard for a solid finish in ninth place. Race two saw us with another good mid-line start and an eighth place finish. We were able to use our speed to get out of a couple of tight spots. Our boat handling is getting better and better and when it comes to tactics we’re still learning the area so we see ourselves improving as the week wears on. Tomorrow we sail on Course 5 which is regarded as the windiest course, out on the bay and we’re looking forward to big breeze.

Don Thinschmidt steers aboard Advanced Equities II

Aboard Advanced Equities II, Don Thinschmidt and Jon Farrar had a real good race four after a slow start to the series. They punched out of the line well ahead of the rest of the fleet and rounded the first mark right behind us. Their finishes are 45-36-43-17 for 36th overall. Jon, who is the coach for Don and Drew Wierda, filled in at the 11th hour for Drew, who unfortunately had to return home after he became ill.

Full results from the worlds are available at Tornado World Championship Results. Our sponsor, Advanced Equities, is at www.advancedequities.com.

Sail fast,

Johnny Lovell and Charlie Ogletree - Team Advanced Equities I