Warnmunde-Day 3

Day 3 Warnemunde.

The only race of day 3 started with a large pin end bais. It was one of those races where the whole fleet stacks up at the pin, and it is very difficult to find a hole in the last minute if approaching on port...

Unfortunately, I approached on port, and was trying to reach down the line as quickly as I could as the holes that were avaible were quickly closing. I got caught behind my training partner who was also reaching down the line on port, and had a decision to make. I chose the best of a losing scenario, and stayed behind him so that I kept my options open. In that scenario, you do not want to develop an overlap, as if you try to go to weather, he can force you into a less then desirable spot, and if you go to leeward, you might miss out on a potential gap. I ended up a long way down the line(almost mid line), giving up a lot of distance to the guys at the pin.

My only saving grace was that I was able to take advantage of the line mid-line sag, which allowed me to immediately tack onto the favoured port tack. I made my way back over to the left side of the beat to round the first weather mark in about 6th. I then shot by a few guys on the top reach, and a couple more on the downwind to round the bottom in 2nd. Jean Baptiste had a large lead at this stage, and it was looking like I was going to get second in the race and regatta.

To my surprise, shortly after I rounded the right gate(looking downwind) he tacked before a line of pressure, which knocked him. He carried on back towards me consolidating my gain, and then tacked just back of my apparent wind, and about 4-5 boatlengths ahead. I thought the breeze was going to do a large dial left, and knew I needed to create more of a gap to get the leverage I needed to come bow even. I suspected he would put a tighter cover on me the rest of the way up the work, so we sailed into a small knock, and I tacked. He tacked with me, and I immediately tacked back left. He sailed several more lengths and then flipped back. I had the leverage I was looking for! We sailed into the first of two big knocks and he tacked away. I sailed a bit further into the second major knock, and flipped back to cross him by about 5 boatlengths the next time we converged. I managed to hold on for the rest of the race.

The RC made several attempts at starting a second race that day, and eventually got one off. I worked middle left up the first beat, and near the top of the course, it looked like it was starting to go really funky. I thought it was going to do a large dial right, but didnt want to tack over there too early, as all the top guys were out left, and if I went and it dialed back left, I would be eating some massive knocks. Fortunately, I picked the last possible opportunity to head right, making big gains on the boats from the left to round the top mark about 10th. The top reach was shifted to a run, and I could not manage to sneak by anyone. On the run(which was now a reach), I got high on the pack of 6 ahead, and then rolled over them, only to have the race abandoned just before the bottom mark.

I think it was a good decision to abandon the race, but was a bit surprised as the same thing had happened the day before; however, that race had been shortened to the bottom mark. After the abandonment, we were sent ashore as racing had been called off for the rest of the day.

Warnemunde Week-Day 2

Wow, did I have an off day today! A 26th in the first race and a 10th in the second, was the damage at the end of the day, and I have dropped to 3rd overall. There are two more days of racing to go, and hopefully I can use the remaining four races to move back into the lead.

Race 1-I had a great start just down from the pin. I punched out, and started playing the threatening groups up the beat, to be sitting in the leading group after about 15 minutes of upwind with another 5 to go. Then the little wind we shut down, and a wind line filled in from the right hand side. I had no wind, so I couldnt cut my losses and get over there. About 25 boats sailed around me. Unfortunately, the race was shortened to the first downwind so there wasnt much time to catch back up.

Race 2-I had an okay start start down about 100m down from the boat end. I was doing ok, and still in touch with the lead bunch, but for the last hundred or so meters, I just got dumped on by another sailor. Not to sure who he was, or what his aim was in doing so, but we lost substantial distance on the lead group-too much to regain. There was a large shift on the first reach, and after that it was game over as the next beat was one tack, and the rest of the race was a reach.

Hopefully tomorrow will treat me better. Surprisingly, I am quite pleased to have a day like today as I learnt so much.

Warnemunde-Day 1

First day of racing at Warnemunde has now concluded. I had a great day today scoring two first places. It is quite an interesting change from racing at a Hyeres(SOF), Holland Regatta, or Kiel as there is quite a bit more space on the course. Also, there is only one fleet so the start line is quite big, and makes it imparative to start at the correct end. My starts were what helped me win both races, as each time, I came off close to the favored end, and then was able to extend up the work.

I am really happy to be doing this regatta, as the conditions today reminded me of racing in China-lighter winds with a bit of chop. Hopefully we will get a bit more of that, as there hasnt been to much light wind with chop at the grade ones this year.

For the last bit of my preparation, I am focusing on my adaptibility, and have traded a bit of gear with one of my training partners. In particular, we have found 3 top sections of different weight: one at the maximimum weight, one towards the average, and the lightest one we can find. My normal section is the heavy one, but for this event, I am using the average weight section. It was quite interesting to put it up, as the first thing I noticed was that I based more of my rig setup decisions on feel rather then looks as it setup with slight differences compared to my normal one. I am not trying to say that there are a massive performance difference between spars, but there are subtle differences, and I believe that becoming comfortable with different gear will be very important at the games when there are so many other distractions to deal with. Next week I will train with the light one.

Kiel Week Final Report

Kiel Week finished a couple of days ago, and I ended up 3rd overall. My medal race was less then desired, as I received a yellow flag for coming out of my tack to quickly up the first work. I was quite surprised at the call, to say the least, but managed to catch up to Rasmus Mrygren of Sweden on the last lap to hold onto third place.

Overall, it was quite a good event for me. I had a few silly mistakes, like missing the start of one race, but feel that my speed, tactics/strategy, and boathandling are close to where they need to be for the Olympics. It looks like everyone is getting close to their China weight now, and it is quite easy to tell who has lost weight properly and who hasn't, as there are several top sailors who have taken quite a hit to their upwind speed in breeze. Ultimately, we will see who made the correct call in China, but I certainly wouldnt want to create a weakness in one area for a small gain in another.

I am now training in Warnemunde, Germany for the next event. My focus right now is on my land training, to maintain my weight and improve my fitness.

Kiel Week-Day 4

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.

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.

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.