Today was a three race day in about 15-18 knots of wind. Tom Slingsby locked up the championship today, and just needs to finish the medal race to win the regatta. The results tell the story, and I think the big difference between Tom and everyone else at this event, has been his ability to get off the start line cleanly.
Personally, todays racing worked in my favor, and I moved up the standings to 3rd overall. Tomorrow is the medal race(final race of the regatta), and it looks like it will be a bit of a fight for the last two spots on the podium between Gustavo Lima, Rasmus Myrgren and myself. Not to sure what the forecast is, but I dont think it will make much difference as we are all strong sailors throughout the wind range.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Kiel Week-Day two
The second day of Kiel is finished. It was a typical Kiel day-one hours sail out and another hour sail in, three hour long races, and 18 knots of wind.
I ran into a bit of difficulty today in the first race. The lasers have split fleet for qualifying, and I was in blue, which normally starts second. However, yellow fleet had a general recall, and the RC decided to shift blue into the starting slot. I didnt notice the change until about 30 seconds before the start. I tossed my jacket into the water(hoping someone would pick it up so I could claim it later), and made a dash for the start. I eventually crossed the line on port 15 second after the start. Unfortunately, the first(and major) shift was a lefty, while I was stuck out on the right. I managed to catch up to tenth in the race.
After the frustration of race 3, I was determined to have a good result. I started just up from the pin, and punched out shortly after the start, rounding the first weather mark in 3rd. I made a small split on the first run, and Andy Geritzer snuck around. Up the next beat, I made small gains back on the boats ahead to round the top mark right behind Andy, with a bit of a gap behind. Andy and I both had good runs to close on Tom Slingsby, with Andy rounding first, Tom second, and me in third right with them. The bottom reach was really broad, with Tom and I going high, and Andy slightly lower. Tom slipped by Andy, and towards the mark, I was making my move, but unfortunately needed one more foot to catch Andy at the mark. I had an average mark rounding, and got pinned by Diego Romero, who had a stellar bottom reach, and snuck by me on the last dash upwind.
In race 5, I started mid-line, and quickly punched out. The fleet held out to the left, and I tacked slightly earlier to lead them back right. I had Denis Karpak to weather, and the two of us charged back to the right to round 1-2. Denis sailed the next three legs slightly ahead. On the last run, I closed the distance, and to round just behind him for the bottom reach. Again, it was very broad, and I seemed to have a touch more pace. At the last mark, I was slightly ahead, but owed room to Denis. I had almost a boat length on him so I elected to round wide, and to leeward for the last beat to the finish. I pinched him off, and then protected my lead for the last little beat to win the race.
Overall, it is a bit of a weird day. I moved up 5 spots to 6th overall, which is really good, but on the otherhand, missing the start in the first race, and not attacking hard enough on the bottom reaach in race 4 cost me dearly in the points tally. I know that I will need to tidy up my sailing in the coming weeks, as I cant afford to be giving up bankable points. These points decide who wins and loses the event.
I ran into a bit of difficulty today in the first race. The lasers have split fleet for qualifying, and I was in blue, which normally starts second. However, yellow fleet had a general recall, and the RC decided to shift blue into the starting slot. I didnt notice the change until about 30 seconds before the start. I tossed my jacket into the water(hoping someone would pick it up so I could claim it later), and made a dash for the start. I eventually crossed the line on port 15 second after the start. Unfortunately, the first(and major) shift was a lefty, while I was stuck out on the right. I managed to catch up to tenth in the race.
After the frustration of race 3, I was determined to have a good result. I started just up from the pin, and punched out shortly after the start, rounding the first weather mark in 3rd. I made a small split on the first run, and Andy Geritzer snuck around. Up the next beat, I made small gains back on the boats ahead to round the top mark right behind Andy, with a bit of a gap behind. Andy and I both had good runs to close on Tom Slingsby, with Andy rounding first, Tom second, and me in third right with them. The bottom reach was really broad, with Tom and I going high, and Andy slightly lower. Tom slipped by Andy, and towards the mark, I was making my move, but unfortunately needed one more foot to catch Andy at the mark. I had an average mark rounding, and got pinned by Diego Romero, who had a stellar bottom reach, and snuck by me on the last dash upwind.
In race 5, I started mid-line, and quickly punched out. The fleet held out to the left, and I tacked slightly earlier to lead them back right. I had Denis Karpak to weather, and the two of us charged back to the right to round 1-2. Denis sailed the next three legs slightly ahead. On the last run, I closed the distance, and to round just behind him for the bottom reach. Again, it was very broad, and I seemed to have a touch more pace. At the last mark, I was slightly ahead, but owed room to Denis. I had almost a boat length on him so I elected to round wide, and to leeward for the last beat to the finish. I pinched him off, and then protected my lead for the last little beat to win the race.
Overall, it is a bit of a weird day. I moved up 5 spots to 6th overall, which is really good, but on the otherhand, missing the start in the first race, and not attacking hard enough on the bottom reaach in race 4 cost me dearly in the points tally. I know that I will need to tidy up my sailing in the coming weeks, as I cant afford to be giving up bankable points. These points decide who wins and loses the event.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Kiel Week-Day One
The first day of Kiel has finished up for the day. It was a relatively unusual start to the grade one with a 1pm start and only 2 races. The breeze was a moderate 10 knots and only took an hour to reach out to the course this morning. Pretty good for kiel standards, and in comparison to previous years. The first time I did this event, we didnt have a day under 18 knots(small tornados had touched down nearby to the regatta site), and took at least 1.5 hours to make it out to the course.
I had a pretty average day, but ended up with two good scores(4,5) to sit in about 9th overall. In the first race, I had a pretty good start just up from the pin. Unfortunately, I was pinned in, and had to sail through the first shift, waiting until it came back left again. At the top of the beat, I was looking at a low teens rounding, but after having to avoid a foul by a port tacker, and underlaying once, I rounded in the mid twenties. I picked off a couple boats on the top reach, then maybe 10-12 on the first run to round just in the top ten. Passed one or two up the next work, and then a couple more on the next run, reach, and last beat.
The second race for red fleet had a tricky first beat. There was a couple different breezes, and at the start, the boats at the pin were in a left breeze, and the guys at the boat were in a righty. I had a good start at the boat, but the lefty held a bit longer, and the pin end group came out a bit ahead. I tacked to leeward of the group and headed right for quite a ways. The breeze came back right a bit, and I reconnected with the group on the left. I rounded in 7th, and had good first run to close the lead on the pack in front. Around the bottom mark, the breeze was in the left. I tacked onto port, which was the long led, but unfortunately, the guys on the left had a bit more pressure, and legged out a bit. I closed the gap down on the next run and on the bottom reach, but couldnt sneak by the two boats just in front.
Racing continues tomorrow with a bit more breeze forecasted. There are 3 races scheduled with an 11AM start(930AM off the beach) so it should be an exhausting day.
I had a pretty average day, but ended up with two good scores(4,5) to sit in about 9th overall. In the first race, I had a pretty good start just up from the pin. Unfortunately, I was pinned in, and had to sail through the first shift, waiting until it came back left again. At the top of the beat, I was looking at a low teens rounding, but after having to avoid a foul by a port tacker, and underlaying once, I rounded in the mid twenties. I picked off a couple boats on the top reach, then maybe 10-12 on the first run to round just in the top ten. Passed one or two up the next work, and then a couple more on the next run, reach, and last beat.
The second race for red fleet had a tricky first beat. There was a couple different breezes, and at the start, the boats at the pin were in a left breeze, and the guys at the boat were in a righty. I had a good start at the boat, but the lefty held a bit longer, and the pin end group came out a bit ahead. I tacked to leeward of the group and headed right for quite a ways. The breeze came back right a bit, and I reconnected with the group on the left. I rounded in 7th, and had good first run to close the lead on the pack in front. Around the bottom mark, the breeze was in the left. I tacked onto port, which was the long led, but unfortunately, the guys on the left had a bit more pressure, and legged out a bit. I closed the gap down on the next run and on the bottom reach, but couldnt sneak by the two boats just in front.
Racing continues tomorrow with a bit more breeze forecasted. There are 3 races scheduled with an 11AM start(930AM off the beach) so it should be an exhausting day.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Holland Regatta-equipment preparation
It has been a long time since my last post. The only news I have to report on is the Holland regatta which finished up two weeks ago.
Overall it was an okay event for me. I had a horrible first day, and was sitting quite deep in the standings, and unfortunately, I started out the next day with an OCS, which really killed my chances of a podium finish. However I was really pleased with my recovery after those first four races, and to make it back to 7th overall. My starts were horrible all week, but tactically and strategically I was really with it, and clawed back through the fleet in more then my fair share of the races.
I think one of the big takeaways from this event was equipment preparation. At top level laser racing, sails really only last one major grade 1 event, and then get demoted to training or use at smaller regattas. Therefore, I normally go through between 5-7 sails a year. Typically, I buy all my sails for the season at one time, so that I can put them all up and compare shapes, note imperfections, and then rank them-saving the best ones for the most important regattas. However, for the Holland Regatta, I didnt have time to look at the latest batch of sails. Unfortunately, I had grabbed a sail with a really tight leech, and my speed suffered. It took me most of the first day to figure out the problem, and after that, I figured out how much I needed to free the sheet to bring back my normal groove.
Now I am not blaming my gear for my lack of speed. Instead, I am blaming my lack of preparation, as this was well within my control, and presents an interesting scenario for the games where the lasers are receiving supplied equipment. In China, it will be of the utmost importance to identify the differences between our normal gear, and the supplied gear. In particular, the stiffness of the mast, mast rake, and the shape of the sail. Then we will need to take this information, and be able to adapt our normal setup so that we are still getting the correct shapes and feel to maximize our boatspeed. I know this problem has plagued almost every top laser sailor I can think of at one stage or another, and whilst adapting may not win the Olympics, not adapting could certainly lose it.
Overall it was an okay event for me. I had a horrible first day, and was sitting quite deep in the standings, and unfortunately, I started out the next day with an OCS, which really killed my chances of a podium finish. However I was really pleased with my recovery after those first four races, and to make it back to 7th overall. My starts were horrible all week, but tactically and strategically I was really with it, and clawed back through the fleet in more then my fair share of the races.
I think one of the big takeaways from this event was equipment preparation. At top level laser racing, sails really only last one major grade 1 event, and then get demoted to training or use at smaller regattas. Therefore, I normally go through between 5-7 sails a year. Typically, I buy all my sails for the season at one time, so that I can put them all up and compare shapes, note imperfections, and then rank them-saving the best ones for the most important regattas. However, for the Holland Regatta, I didnt have time to look at the latest batch of sails. Unfortunately, I had grabbed a sail with a really tight leech, and my speed suffered. It took me most of the first day to figure out the problem, and after that, I figured out how much I needed to free the sheet to bring back my normal groove.
Now I am not blaming my gear for my lack of speed. Instead, I am blaming my lack of preparation, as this was well within my control, and presents an interesting scenario for the games where the lasers are receiving supplied equipment. In China, it will be of the utmost importance to identify the differences between our normal gear, and the supplied gear. In particular, the stiffness of the mast, mast rake, and the shape of the sail. Then we will need to take this information, and be able to adapt our normal setup so that we are still getting the correct shapes and feel to maximize our boatspeed. I know this problem has plagued almost every top laser sailor I can think of at one stage or another, and whilst adapting may not win the Olympics, not adapting could certainly lose it.
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