Mens Radial Worlds

The mens laser radial world championships ended a couple of days ago. Being my first radial event, I did not expect much. My preparation did not help my confidence, as the total amount of radial sailing I had done in my life consisted of 4 days of training immediately prior to the event.

Going into the event, I knew that my unpwind rig setup would need the most attention, as the radial and full rig setups are quite different. Being at least 10kg overweight for the boat, I thought I would try to power up the rig like I do in the full rig by dropping the foot out and leaving the cunningham completely off until I started to get overpowered. However, with the help of Brad Funk and Eric Stibbe, I quickly learnt that the extra power was ineffective as the foot quickly became too deep, and leaving the cunningham off meant the draft was to far aft leading to excessive weather helm. Also, I found the leach quite tight and hooked, and pulling on a touch of cunningham helped add a bit of twist into the sail allowing a bit wider groove.

Fortunately for a fatty like myself, we had good breeze all week, with the breeze dropping below 10 knots in only one race. The conditions were absolutely prefect with waves that were ideal for downwind surfing. We spent all week catching amazing rides-I wish every event I sail has conditions as great as we had in Takapuna!

Along with my surprising result at this event, I had many takeaway lessons from this event. My two major goals for the event were to expand my knowledge of sail trim, and to determine where the breakdown in my decision making process is when I am under stress. I am happy to report that both goals have been accomplished, and it is a huge relief to have isolated the mental hurdle that has plagued me in the past. I am really excited about figuring this out, and now will focus extensively on improving this area.