This past weekend was the 2019 Sail Sydney regatta, sailed out of the Woollara Sailing Club in Rose Bay. It'd been 19 years since I last sailed on the Harbour (when training for the 2000 Olympics in the Laser), so it was fun to once again see the beautiful water and topography. Saturday the breeze was a bit more right than Sunday, but both days featured LOTS of chop, motorboat wakes and traffic, including the (in)famous Sydney Harbour ferries, which stop for NO one/boat. As a result of deaths caused by collisions, it is now illegal to pass within 100 meters in front and 50 meters to the side of the ferries, with a fine of up to $2000 for infractions!
Apologies for no videos: my 360 degree camera was only taking 3 second snippets, definitely not usable. Need to get that sorted...
SATURDAY
Back in 1999/2000, we raced on four sailing circles around the Harbour. In 2019, we didn't sail in any of those locations, so past experience didn't help much. Friday before the event a number of us went out for training, but I had a breakdown and couldn't push the boat as hard as I might. Setting up the new boat took a fair bit of time on Saturday morning, so I was the last Aero to leave the ramp. NOT my preferred modus operandi...
I got to the racing area about 10 minutes before the first start. It was just enough time to get the boat set-up for upwind work and check out the start line. The breeze for Race 1 started at a rather pleasant 12-15 knots (plenty to keep me hiking with the 7 rig), and after a good start at the boat, I played a few shifts and had a substantial lead at the first mark that I was able to hold to the finish.
The wind dropped throughout Races 2 and 3, making it harder to hold off the 9s, sailed by locals Simon Reffold and David Andrew. I made a big mistake in the final run of Race 3, getting stuck to leeward of a slow I420 and staying there for too long, which allowed Simon to walk away for the on-the-water win.
SUNDAY
Another late departure had me racing to get to the line. Fortunately the breeze was a bit stronger, so I had enough time to do some wind and current readings before the start that turned out to be crucial.
We started around 1050, and the locals said the tide would switch at 1100. OK fine, but my readings showed a still-significant amount of incoming tide, which would favor staying right on the beats and left (looking upwind) on the runs. In Race 4 I port-tacked the fleet (surfing a nice motorboat wake) and covered the right side of the fleet upwind. Simon did another fine job of playing shifts and we rounded very close at the top mark. On the runs there was a definite current line (a band of leaves/debris) that I made sure to stay on the correct side of, while the rest of the fleet sailed more directly toward the mark, but in bad current. This allowed me to gain on the runs. It wasn't until the final run of Race 6 that I felt comfortable sailing more directly to the leeward mark on the runs (nearly 1.5 hours after the tide was "supposed" to have changed). Simon got ahead of me on one of the races upwind, but I won the other two on-the-water to take the event overall.
There was tons of chop and boat wakes to deal with on busy Sydney Harbour. I worked really hard downwind, steering all over the place to catch waves and ride them as long as possible. Upwind, one could occasionally surf wakes by sitting very far forward and hiking super hard. The nice thing about the Aero in these conditions is that it accelerates so incredibly well--I was even able to hold off the leading I420s on some beats Sunday!
The Sydney Aero fleet is growing rapidly. It's a good bunch of people who are keen to sail and learn the boat. Off the water we spent a lot of time going over rigging and techniques, which resulted in significantly tighter competition as the weekend went on. I look forward to sailing against a number of these fine sailors again at the World Championship in Melbourne 28 Dec-4 Jan!
I HAVE A SPONSOR!
Be sure to check out www.SailStar.org, a sponsor of
my 2019 Worlds campaign! They are a sailing school
with locations in Sweden, Croatia and Tenerife. For those who want to enjoy some Winter sailing in the sun and surf, SailStar recently added 4 RS Aeros to
their Tenerife fleet, which includes bigger and smaller boats as well.
POST SCRIPT
I was heartened to see so many junior sailors handling the windier conditions just fine. They looked fit,
focused and competent. It was so nice seeing young sailors not afraid of
wind--if anything, they wanted more. American instructors, race
officers and yacht clubs: please allow our youth to learn/sail/grow in
stronger breezes, or we will continue to fall behind the rest of the
world.
In general, the Aussie sailors looked more trim/muscular than Americans--clearly they're not shying away from fitness. If I was a junior, I'd definitely be working on my strength and stamina to compete at the international level!
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Traveling Internationally? Read on...
When planning an international trip, a few tips:
- Check with your cell provider about service to the country/countries you're planning to visit. They'll probably say: "We provide international data while you travel."
Question is: is it HIGH-SPEED data? Probably not. Then you'll need to purchase their "enhanced" data package, usually at some crazy price (in Sprint's case: $25/week). If you're like me and don't want to pay that, read on...
- BEFORE leaving your country, ask your cell provider if a "SIM Unlock Code" is needed to use a different company's SIM card. This code allows one to get a local SIM card at destination, often with better data and international rates (Telstra had a special offer in-airport here in Australia: AU$20 for unlimited calling to/from USA/Canada/others, and 35gig data for 35 days!).
I didn't know such a code was needed for my carrier (Sprint), and am now trying to deal with this via email over excruciatingly slow roaming data (it's too slow to handle online chat).
- Noise canceling headphones. Just do it. Spend the money, get decent ones (as of this post, Bose QuietComfort 35 II or 700, Sony WH-1000XM3 are the frontrunners). I got mine used on craigslist for nearly half-price. Incredible how much quieter these make the journey, especially for those of us flying in the back!
Happy Traveling! Signed,
Learn From My Mistakes/Experience
Friday, September 7, 2018
2018 RS Aero World Championship - Days 5 & 6
Sorry for the delay in wrapping this regatta up.
DAY 5
Regatta rituals are, for me at least, very important. Day 5 started on an off note when I had no more bananas; as a result, my morning smoothie consisted of kale, carrot and walnuts only. Even for me, it was tough to choke down...
I left the dock late and didn't have much time to do pre-race homework on the racecourse. My energy level was off and I just didn't feel settled in the boat. This was going to be a challenging day.
Stronger wind overall, along with some very nasty chop. Peter Barton was really motoring upwind, sailing low and fast, and pulled out to a significant lead in the first race. Midway through I found myself panicking a bit, with thoughts like "oh no, there goes my perfect scorecard" running through my head.
Then I reminded myself that what ultimately mattered was the overall regatta result, and there was no sense risking a poor finish by sailing a flyer when 2nd would be more than good enough. I continued to have good pace running, and gained several boatlengths to surf into an inside overlap at the very last mark. Peter had a better gybe though, and that was it.
Peter had more decisive victories in the remaining two races, including a runaway in the final. I managed to pull down two more 2nds. With only two races scheduled for the final day, I had mathematically cemented First Overall for my second consecutive RS Aero 9 World Championship win!
DAY 6
The forecast for the final day was quite ominous, with near-gale conditions anticipated in the late morning/early afternoon. The night before I had a dream about going out and getting conked in the head by the boom. That's never happened to me in an Aero (the boom is nice and high), but the premonition was very strong. That, and my desire to find my dolly in the stack of 206(!) made me decide to sit out racing.
Turns out the wind was quite sailable, at least early, but then filled to pucker-inducing strength toward the end of the first race. Barton added to his string of 1sts, sewing up Second Overall, while George Cousins locked down Third Overall.
DAY 5
Regatta rituals are, for me at least, very important. Day 5 started on an off note when I had no more bananas; as a result, my morning smoothie consisted of kale, carrot and walnuts only. Even for me, it was tough to choke down...
I left the dock late and didn't have much time to do pre-race homework on the racecourse. My energy level was off and I just didn't feel settled in the boat. This was going to be a challenging day.
Stronger wind overall, along with some very nasty chop. Peter Barton was really motoring upwind, sailing low and fast, and pulled out to a significant lead in the first race. Midway through I found myself panicking a bit, with thoughts like "oh no, there goes my perfect scorecard" running through my head.
Then I reminded myself that what ultimately mattered was the overall regatta result, and there was no sense risking a poor finish by sailing a flyer when 2nd would be more than good enough. I continued to have good pace running, and gained several boatlengths to surf into an inside overlap at the very last mark. Peter had a better gybe though, and that was it.
Peter had more decisive victories in the remaining two races, including a runaway in the final. I managed to pull down two more 2nds. With only two races scheduled for the final day, I had mathematically cemented First Overall for my second consecutive RS Aero 9 World Championship win!
DAY 6
The forecast for the final day was quite ominous, with near-gale conditions anticipated in the late morning/early afternoon. The night before I had a dream about going out and getting conked in the head by the boom. That's never happened to me in an Aero (the boom is nice and high), but the premonition was very strong. That, and my desire to find my dolly in the stack of 206(!) made me decide to sit out racing.
Turns out the wind was quite sailable, at least early, but then filled to pucker-inducing strength toward the end of the first race. Barton added to his string of 1sts, sewing up Second Overall, while George Cousins locked down Third Overall.
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
2018 RS Aero World Championship - Day 3
Another brisk day in the open ocean outside Portland Harbour. Writing this very late after preparing an offer for a client (I'm a Realtor in "real life"); everything noted here actually happened, but possibly not in the order noted. :)
Race 6
Started at the pin. Rounded weather mark in second just behind Chris Larr, with George Cousins and Peter Barton in hot pursuit. The three of us quickly passed Larr in big waves going right-to-left looking downwind. The lead shifted several times between Barton and me before I caught a few good wave sets near the leeward gate to round 3 boatlengths ahead.
The chop on top of the big swells was vicious, making forward progress upwind quite difficult. The breeze was oscillating through about 15 degrees, with a few oscillating cycles per beat. I missed one of the cycles but got more correct, especially the last at the top to extend on the beat.
Blasted down the reach, during which I hit a light-ish patch that allowed Barton and Cousins to get closer, then on the latter quarter of the run had a real case of the slows, allowing Barton to zoom up from astern. A bad gybe at the final mark and he was nearly overlapped, but I managed to get my act together and surfed a final wave to be clear ahead and prevail by less than 10 seconds. What a nail-biter!
Race 7
After a general recall, we had to wait quite a long time for another start under black flag. I had a good start near the boat, with Peter Barton about 1.5 boatlengths to leeward. He sailed low and fast over the boats to leeward of him, while I, noting we were in a header, sailed in high mode, not sacrificing much fore-and-aft speed. Nonetheless, 3/4 up the beat it looked like Barton would be first to the top mark, until he did another tack to get more left. I stayed on the (barely) lifted port tack, digging into a nice little header about a minute later then tacking on layline to reach the top mark in first. Extended nicely on the run and ended up with a 25 second lead over the hard charging Barton, with Cousins in 3rd.
Race 8
By now just about everyone was good and tired. I had trouble setting something up during my pre-start routine that left me a bit discombobulated. Managed to sneak into a little hole to leeward of Liam Willis at the boat during a black flag start, but slammed into one wave immediately after the gun that let both him and the boat to leeward pull ahead. Tacked quickly onto port, which was the favored tack anyway, ducked about 5 transoms then settled in. Sailed and sailed and sailed on port waiting for the compass to confirm it was OK to sail back to the middle of the course. When it finally did, I tacked over and had a big lead, rounding first after playing a final shift near the first mark. Extended from there. Cousins beat Barton in this one to stay in 2nd overall, with Barton four points back.
Race 6
Started at the pin. Rounded weather mark in second just behind Chris Larr, with George Cousins and Peter Barton in hot pursuit. The three of us quickly passed Larr in big waves going right-to-left looking downwind. The lead shifted several times between Barton and me before I caught a few good wave sets near the leeward gate to round 3 boatlengths ahead.
The chop on top of the big swells was vicious, making forward progress upwind quite difficult. The breeze was oscillating through about 15 degrees, with a few oscillating cycles per beat. I missed one of the cycles but got more correct, especially the last at the top to extend on the beat.
Blasted down the reach, during which I hit a light-ish patch that allowed Barton and Cousins to get closer, then on the latter quarter of the run had a real case of the slows, allowing Barton to zoom up from astern. A bad gybe at the final mark and he was nearly overlapped, but I managed to get my act together and surfed a final wave to be clear ahead and prevail by less than 10 seconds. What a nail-biter!
Race 7
After a general recall, we had to wait quite a long time for another start under black flag. I had a good start near the boat, with Peter Barton about 1.5 boatlengths to leeward. He sailed low and fast over the boats to leeward of him, while I, noting we were in a header, sailed in high mode, not sacrificing much fore-and-aft speed. Nonetheless, 3/4 up the beat it looked like Barton would be first to the top mark, until he did another tack to get more left. I stayed on the (barely) lifted port tack, digging into a nice little header about a minute later then tacking on layline to reach the top mark in first. Extended nicely on the run and ended up with a 25 second lead over the hard charging Barton, with Cousins in 3rd.
Race 8
By now just about everyone was good and tired. I had trouble setting something up during my pre-start routine that left me a bit discombobulated. Managed to sneak into a little hole to leeward of Liam Willis at the boat during a black flag start, but slammed into one wave immediately after the gun that let both him and the boat to leeward pull ahead. Tacked quickly onto port, which was the favored tack anyway, ducked about 5 transoms then settled in. Sailed and sailed and sailed on port waiting for the compass to confirm it was OK to sail back to the middle of the course. When it finally did, I tacked over and had a big lead, rounding first after playing a final shift near the first mark. Extended from there. Cousins beat Barton in this one to stay in 2nd overall, with Barton four points back.
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
2018 RS Aero World Championship - Day 2
Today was very long and I'm bushed, so this will be short.
Left dock at 10am in very light NWly, took the better part of an hour to get to the course, where the breeze bounced between W and SW and occasionally freshened to 15-17 knots. Since we were sailing trapezoid courses, the race committee waited for the breeze to settle down between races, which led to up to 1-hour gaps between races. That, and general recalls, kept us racing until 5:20pm, then a nearly 1-hour sail upwind/tight reaching home. Exhausting!
Race 3
Don't remember much about this one except that I was about 50 seconds ahead at the finish. ;)
Race 4
Got lucky here. First, had a bad start at the boat, did 2 quick tacks to clear as a booming 40 degree righty had everyone planing to the weather mark. We gybed around the mark for another fast reach to the leeward gate. The committee abandoned the race near this mark, much to my relief, as I was in about 6th at the time. It was unfortunate for my training partner Madhavan, who'd had a great start and was walking away from everybody in the breezy reaching conditions.
On the re-sail, had another terrible start at the boat and was shot out the back. Tacked over immediately and, with Chris Larr of the UK just to weather, couldn't tack until nearly on the starboard layline. Fortunately, we tacked onto a lift and crossed back to the middle of the course comfortably ahead of the fleet.
Had another fast run and extended a bit before rounding the leeward gate. The breeze was really pumping now, and the chop was nasty. I tried "Secret Upwind Mode" (SUM, to be revealed in a few days) but it was too bumpy and I slid a bit to leeward of George Cousins, a very fit Brit. He also played a few shifts well near the top, but I called the last one right to lead at the second top mark. Held my own on the reach, extended a bit on the run, and had about a 20-second lead at the finish.
Race 5
More luck. Had a good start, but my downhaul wouldn't tighten. I pulled and pulled on the line, but...nothing. It took about 30 seconds to realize the line wasn't secured in the leeward cleat and, because the system is a continuous loop, I could have kept pulling for hours and nothing would've happened. Eased sail, reached down to leeward, cleated the line then sheeted back in. Fortunately, we were in a big right-hand shift and I had been able to keep going upwind at about 80% efficiency while fiddling with lines, so hadn't lost much.
Peter Barton was to windward and ahead, Liam Willis to leeward and ahead. Once the boat was sorted I was able to move forward between the two Brits, with Peter tacking off my hip near the port tack layline. I waited until the breeze shifted a smidge more left and freshened before tacking and had a nice clear line to the windward mark.
Extended handily on the first run in the puffy Westerly and rounded comfortably ahead. Misjudged a few small shifts allowing the others to get closer, then put the boat into SUM and just pulled away. Did OK on the first reach even though I hit a light spot the boats behind didn't, then extended on the outer run to lead by about 25 seconds after the short final reach to the finish.
SUMMARY
5 first-place finishes is tough to beat. :) George Cousins has worked up into 2nd with 3,2,2 finishes today to be 6 points behind, while Liam Willis and Peter Barton are tied for 3rd another 5 points back.
Upwind I'm fast, mostly due to good transitioning between stronger and lighter breeze. Also, because the Aero is so light, it accelerates like crazy when slightly cracked off. In the big shifts of today, I converted some lifts to cracked-off bursts of speed, and was also able to keep speed up while pointing high in headers. SUM helps in both these scenarios, especially in flatter water. Adjusting the downhaul in the puffs and lulls does also.
Running I'm fast. It helps to be first to the weather mark (smile), but also have been keeping track of which shift I'm rounding in, then playing others down to the mark. Often there have been enough current differences on opposite sides of the course to reward working one side over the other. Finally, sailing dead-down in puffs and saving by-the-lee and reaching for lulls and catching waves translates into big gains over the course of a leg.
Sorry, no pics today, except for this blurry one of the fleet heading out to the racecourse. Apparently, a waterproof bag is not a good thing to be taking a cell phone pic from...
Left dock at 10am in very light NWly, took the better part of an hour to get to the course, where the breeze bounced between W and SW and occasionally freshened to 15-17 knots. Since we were sailing trapezoid courses, the race committee waited for the breeze to settle down between races, which led to up to 1-hour gaps between races. That, and general recalls, kept us racing until 5:20pm, then a nearly 1-hour sail upwind/tight reaching home. Exhausting!
Race 3
Don't remember much about this one except that I was about 50 seconds ahead at the finish. ;)
Race 4
Got lucky here. First, had a bad start at the boat, did 2 quick tacks to clear as a booming 40 degree righty had everyone planing to the weather mark. We gybed around the mark for another fast reach to the leeward gate. The committee abandoned the race near this mark, much to my relief, as I was in about 6th at the time. It was unfortunate for my training partner Madhavan, who'd had a great start and was walking away from everybody in the breezy reaching conditions.
On the re-sail, had another terrible start at the boat and was shot out the back. Tacked over immediately and, with Chris Larr of the UK just to weather, couldn't tack until nearly on the starboard layline. Fortunately, we tacked onto a lift and crossed back to the middle of the course comfortably ahead of the fleet.
Had another fast run and extended a bit before rounding the leeward gate. The breeze was really pumping now, and the chop was nasty. I tried "Secret Upwind Mode" (SUM, to be revealed in a few days) but it was too bumpy and I slid a bit to leeward of George Cousins, a very fit Brit. He also played a few shifts well near the top, but I called the last one right to lead at the second top mark. Held my own on the reach, extended a bit on the run, and had about a 20-second lead at the finish.
Race 5
More luck. Had a good start, but my downhaul wouldn't tighten. I pulled and pulled on the line, but...nothing. It took about 30 seconds to realize the line wasn't secured in the leeward cleat and, because the system is a continuous loop, I could have kept pulling for hours and nothing would've happened. Eased sail, reached down to leeward, cleated the line then sheeted back in. Fortunately, we were in a big right-hand shift and I had been able to keep going upwind at about 80% efficiency while fiddling with lines, so hadn't lost much.
Peter Barton was to windward and ahead, Liam Willis to leeward and ahead. Once the boat was sorted I was able to move forward between the two Brits, with Peter tacking off my hip near the port tack layline. I waited until the breeze shifted a smidge more left and freshened before tacking and had a nice clear line to the windward mark.
Extended handily on the first run in the puffy Westerly and rounded comfortably ahead. Misjudged a few small shifts allowing the others to get closer, then put the boat into SUM and just pulled away. Did OK on the first reach even though I hit a light spot the boats behind didn't, then extended on the outer run to lead by about 25 seconds after the short final reach to the finish.
SUMMARY
5 first-place finishes is tough to beat. :) George Cousins has worked up into 2nd with 3,2,2 finishes today to be 6 points behind, while Liam Willis and Peter Barton are tied for 3rd another 5 points back.
Upwind I'm fast, mostly due to good transitioning between stronger and lighter breeze. Also, because the Aero is so light, it accelerates like crazy when slightly cracked off. In the big shifts of today, I converted some lifts to cracked-off bursts of speed, and was also able to keep speed up while pointing high in headers. SUM helps in both these scenarios, especially in flatter water. Adjusting the downhaul in the puffs and lulls does also.
Running I'm fast. It helps to be first to the weather mark (smile)
Sorry, no pics today, except for this blurry one of the fleet heading out to the racecourse. Apparently, a waterproof bag is not a good thing to be taking a cell phone pic from...
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| Bad pic of 205 Aeros sailing to the racing area. Awesome sight! |
Monday, August 6, 2018
2018 RS Aero World Championship - Day 1
Conditions for the first day of the 2018 RS Aero World Championship were almost exactly as predicted, with sunny skies and a weak NW breeze quickly swinging around to the SW at around 1030 and building to about 8 knots. It was a perfect start to the Worlds for its 205 competitors, and beautifully suited to the 48 9-rig boats in attendance.
RACE 1
I was a bit too conservative off the start, with Aero legend Peter Barton to windward and two boats to leeward and ahead, all of whom left me in their dust after less than 30 seconds--yikes! I looked over my shoulder for a lane to bail out into, but if I went that way I'd have to duck behind nearly 2/3 of the fleet--unacceptable. Instead, I reached off to leeward of the leeward-most boat and concentrated on speed. I lost a tremendous amount of height reaching down, but was able to work forward enough to have clear air, on the liifted starboard tack, for a long sail to the left of the course.
The wind was quite steady, with little tiny shots of starboard lift. Several boats that liked the right or had bad starts peeled off onto port, so there was quite a bit of separation between boats going right and left. Separation = leverage, leverage = risk, so, about half-way up the leg, several of the boats near me toward the left tacked back to stay in touch with the fleet going right.
I knew from the splits that the shifts were quite minor and slow to form. When boats to weather of me started consolidating right we were still in a right hand lift, so they were eating a bad port tack angle (and getting out of phase with the wind) to get right. The guy to windward of me was the last to peel back right, but I sailed for another 30-45 seconds into a nice little increase in pressure, tacking onto a new port-tack lift and hiking hard.
Within a minute I was bow-forward of the guy who tacked a few moments earlier, and the two of us were launched, nearly laying the weather mark in good pressure, lifted, and in more favorable current! I rounded the weather mark about 30 seconds ahead of the next boat and extended, winning the inner-trapezoid race by about 45 seconds.
After the race I had a badly-need slug of water, rested a bit, then re-checked the current near the start line. There was still current flowing roughly with the wind, a bit stronger at about 3/4 boatlength every 30 seconds.
RACE 2
SO, good start to the event. "Lightning" Liam Willis, second to me last year at the Worlds in France, finished 2, 3 today, definitely scoring keepers. The wind forecast now shows increasing wind throughout the week, so it will be interesting to see how things go in planing conditions.
After returning to shore and having a quick bite to eat, a group of us got together for stretching and massages. It felt good to get the kinks out! Madhavan and I decided to skip the scheduled Monday dinner in nearby Weymouth, instead grabbing Indian food on Portland Island and then walking home.
My training partner Madhavan Thirumalai and I were the first boats off the ramp this morning. We were anxious to get acquainted with the racing area and do some upwind splits. "Splits" are when boats go off on opposite tacks for a few minutes (in our case, 3), then both boats tack back to the middle of the course. When the boats meet back in the middle, if one is ahead, that boat's side was the favored one.
Madhavan and I did three, 3-minute splits, with the right coming out ahead 2 out of 3 times. We also noted that the wind shifted about 7 degrees left over the time we did the splits. It was so nice having compass angles for both tacks figured out and written down on the deck, easy to see. I also did a few current checks by tossing my full water bottle next to a mark and seeing what direction, and how far, the bottle moved in 30 seconds. Current determined, sailing angles determined, a basic strategy for the first leg determined (go right), we were armed with meaty info with which to start our Worlds.
RACE 1
The 9s started last, which gave me about 25 minutes to watch the three other fleets going up their first windward leg. Contradicting the earlier split research, it seemed boats on the *left* side of the course seemed to be coming out ahead. Generally accepted local knowledge is that left pays in a southwesterly, so, given the left hand favor to the start line and the fleets above showing left favor, I abandoned my earlier plan to go right about 2 minutes before the start and went to the pin.
I was a bit too conservative off the start, with Aero legend Peter Barton to windward and two boats to leeward and ahead, all of whom left me in their dust after less than 30 seconds--yikes! I looked over my shoulder for a lane to bail out into, but if I went that way I'd have to duck behind nearly 2/3 of the fleet--unacceptable. Instead, I reached off to leeward of the leeward-most boat and concentrated on speed. I lost a tremendous amount of height reaching down, but was able to work forward enough to have clear air, on the liifted starboard tack, for a long sail to the left of the course.
The wind was quite steady, with little tiny shots of starboard lift. Several boats that liked the right or had bad starts peeled off onto port, so there was quite a bit of separation between boats going right and left. Separation = leverage, leverage = risk, so, about half-way up the leg, several of the boats near me toward the left tacked back to stay in touch with the fleet going right.
I knew from the splits that the shifts were quite minor and slow to form. When boats to weather of me started consolidating right we were still in a right hand lift, so they were eating a bad port tack angle (and getting out of phase with the wind) to get right. The guy to windward of me was the last to peel back right, but I sailed for another 30-45 seconds into a nice little increase in pressure, tacking onto a new port-tack lift and hiking hard.
Within a minute I was bow-forward of the guy who tacked a few moments earlier, and the two of us were launched, nearly laying the weather mark in good pressure, lifted, and in more favorable current! I rounded the weather mark about 30 seconds ahead of the next boat and extended, winning the inner-trapezoid race by about 45 seconds.
RACE 2
No-doubt noticing the left side was favored, the Race Committee re-set the line to be right-side favored for the second start. Because I had such a good idea what the tide was doing, I was able to set up perfectly at the committee boat (right) end of the line, blasting off in a right shift with great speed at the gun.
As before, the wind was quite steady; I eventually tacked just below the port-tack layline on a slight left shift and was first by a handy margin at Mark 1. Had good speed downwind, then worked the left side on the second upwind, before blasting off on the final three reach-run-reach legs to the finish for another bullet.
As before, the wind was quite steady; I eventually tacked just below the port-tack layline on a slight left shift and was first by a handy margin at Mark 1. Had good speed downwind, then worked the left side on the second upwind, before blasting off on the final three reach-run-reach legs to the finish for another bullet.
SO, good start to the event. "Lightning" Liam Willis, second to me last year at the Worlds in France, finished 2, 3 today, definitely scoring keepers. The wind forecast now shows increasing wind throughout the week, so it will be interesting to see how things go in planing conditions.
After returning to shore and having a quick bite to eat, a group of us got together for stretching and massages. It felt good to get the kinks out! Madhavan and I decided to skip the scheduled Monday dinner in nearby Weymouth, instead grabbing Indian food on Portland Island and then walking home.
Racing starts at 1130 tomorrow, so I have to be at the club earlier than today. Time for bed!
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| Stone buildings on historic Portland Island, with Chesil Beach and a beautiful sunset in the background. |
Sunday, August 5, 2018
2018 RS Aero World Championship, Weymouth UK - D-minus 1
Just a quick note before bed.
Warm, light air today. Did a bit of boat work, helped out running an on-shore clinic with 2-Time UK Aero 7 Champ Sam Whaley, then popped out for a quick two-hour sail in rapidly decreasing wind. Not much learned, except how vitally important hydration will be tomorrow in what is supposed to be even lighter air.
After getting back, the official opening ceremonies for the RS Games began, with a parade of nations, then speeches by RS bigwigs and locals involved in the planning and execution of this massive event, which will take place over 3 weeks with over 850 boats and literally thousands of competitors and bystanders. It's quite impressive to see!
Conditions for the regatta are meant to be quite light on Monday, then freshening throughout the week. Wouldn't be surprised if we only get a race or two in on Monday, then they'll try to make it up later. It'll be important to avoid major mistakes early, and get plenty of rest early as well for the grind to come.
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| Clinic with Sam Whaley |
After getting back, the official opening ceremonies for the RS Games began, with a parade of nations, then speeches by RS bigwigs and locals involved in the planning and execution of this massive event, which will take place over 3 weeks with over 850 boats and literally thousands of competitors and bystanders. It's quite impressive to see!
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