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2nd at 2010 European Championships
June 12th, 2010 in Regattas.
With a fifth place finish today in a better-than-forecast 5-10 knot westerly, Brad and I tied with Richard Clarke and Tyler Bjorn of Canada to take second place at the Championships behind only Germans Johannes Polgar and Markus Koy in the 135 boat fleet. After sitting in sixth going into today, a lot of people needed to have tough luck for us to move up the leaderboard and really all we could do was sail our best race to ensure a good final result. We got out into a nice lane after a mediocre start and took a long righty across to the top left of the course which put us fourth around the windward mark. We held that most of the way around the track and could only watch as the other teams ahead of us in the standings struggled to catch up through the entire race. We put as much heat on the rest of the teams as we could but luck was also on our side moving us to as high a position as we could have achieved: second overall.
We’re very excited about this finish. What a great day for San Diego Yacht Club, and another strong performance by US Sailing Team Alphagraphics! Coach Ivey really held us together through a grueling, light-air week, and I think the US Team put up a strong front with our 1215 daily line-ups. By the end of the week there were lots of boats that wanted to see how they would line up against us. All the guys sailed well. The points spread in the top ten was tight because of the extraordinary series that everybody had amongst the biggest fleet in class history. Consistency was our gameplan from the get-go, and that paid off (actually after studying the results we had the best overall six-race series, edging out the winners by a point!).
This regatta has put an exclamation point on a long trip to Europe for me. I’ve been here since April 28th, delivering the boat from Weymouth to Italy to Holland to Italy and back to Weymouth, training and racing in Garda, and training and racing in Viareggio. 50 days in Europe is quite enough for me, but the hard work has paid off, and the training we did in Garda and here with Coaches Mark Ivey and Leandro Spina helped us make clear progress.Without a doubt none of this could have happened without the sponsors of USSTAG, but also our team sponsors: Sperry Top-Sider, Keanon Polarized, North Sails and Harken, as well as a number of critical donors to our campaign.
Needless to say, I’ll be glad to get home when I do next week… still 1500 more miles to drive in Europe.
Full Results: http://www.stareuropean2010.it/classifica6.pdf
Photos: http://photos.friedbits.com/2010stareuropeanchampionship
3rd in race 5, Sixth Overall into final race tomorrow
June 11th, 2010 in Regattas.
Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. The regatta website http://www.stareuropean2010.it/eng/ unfortunately lists bow 111 instead of us (bow 11) as finishing third in today’s race. We had a three hour wait, but finally started race 5 at 4:15pm. A full two hours went by for the leaders to finish, but the fleet took easily an hour beyond that to finish. The breeze all but quit after we got through the line. There is one more light air day in the forecast for tomorrow, so we’ll see what we get. Currently we’re sitting 6th overall have good opportunity to move up the board tomorrow if we can mix the fleet up like happened today. More to come…
Here are some photo links from Fried Elliott
Top Reach Race 4
Leeward Mark Race 4
Same Leeward Mark’s Exit
Checking the OCS Board at Mark 1, Race 5
A slow and painful third just ahead of Puerto Rico and Spain
Flat calm after the finish
4 Down, 2 to Go
June 10th, 2010 in Regattas.
Here’s a great example of the size of the crowd. Fried Elliott is here taking some cool shots.
We’ve had four races in four days here in Viareggio. Light air is still the name of the game, but the steady and relatively even pressure has provided for some very nice racing. This morning we sailed out in a hot offshore breeze ahead of a low pressure system to the west of us. But, by the time the start time came around, the dry wind was fading and signs of the seabreeze moved across the course. The RC patiently reset the course for a southerly and got our 2 hour marathon under way. Because of the sheer size of the fleet, the starting line is in two segments totaling 1.4 kilometers, more than 4000 feet long. The beats are kept to a reasonable 2+ miles and except for yesterday’s five-leg course, we’ve been tallying up 8 mile races no problem. So, two races and almost 20 miles of racing to go.
Brad and I managed to get off the line in places where we could continue straight in each of the last two races. That seems to be the name of the game: finding clear lanes and not getting bogged down by traffic or little one-on-one battles. Halfway up the first beats we have been able to make a break for what I think the favored side is at the top of the leg and we can come into the first windward mark in the top 20. Yesterday we clawed our way into the low teens and settled for a 15th. Today we had a similar race and similar result: 13th. There were about 10 boats called OCS today as well, so I’m sure there will be some mixing and moving in the scoresheet. Consistency has been our name of the game, hopefully in the next couple of races we’ll be able to make a move into the top group and fight for a top five finish at the end of the week.
More to come from www.CampbellSailing.com
20th in Race 2
June 8th, 2010 in Regattas.
Here’s a look at our neighbors, both big and small:
After a great start on what turned out to be the wrong side of the course, we ended up fighting for 20th around the first top mark. We broke into the teens only to be swallowed up by a group of boats as we drifted through the finish line 2 and 1/2 hours after we started at 2pm. Light seabreeze was again the name of the game. We waited for about an hour to start the race and even after the wait stumbled through two general recalls. Rumors were floating that a large number of boats were OCS in addition to the handful given the label. We’ll take a 20 and move along happy, considering that some very top guys sailed the same 2.5 hours as us but instead have a 145th to show for it. Tomorrow has a better forecast, but we’ll believe it when we see it. More to come at www.CampbellSailing.com.
Sixth in Race 1
June 7th, 2010 in Regattas.
It’s official, our buddies German team Polgar and Koy beat more teams today than any Star class team has ever beaten in the 99 year history of the class. More than 140 boats lumbered around the racetrack in just less than 2.5 hours today. At the starting line only a mile from the beach the seabreeze was a solid 8-11 knots but the further upwind away from shore we got the lighter the breeze became. 2.2 miles later it was a measly 4 knots and after 140+ boats cut through probably less wind than that. We rounded mark 1 in about 18th position but were able to slice and dice or way into a very solid position in the top ten.
Full results: http://www.stareuropean2010.it/eng/news-det.asp?news_id=20
Couple of shoutouts: first congrats to SDYC for being voted as the host for the 2013 Star World Championships, and secondly congrats to my Georgetown Hoyas for putting 8 new All-Americans on the books after a solid performance in at College Nationals last week, taking A division by storm!
European Championships Set to Start in Viareggio, Italy
June 6th, 2010 in Regattas.
We’re back in Italy after delivering the boat north from Garda to Medemblik, Holland for it’s owner Andy MacDonald to use at the Delta Lloyd Regatta and then huffing it back down to Viareggio. When we left Holland it was raining and 55 degrees, and since we’ve arrived in Viareggio it’s been hanging in the 70s and the sun is out, big time. We’re not the only ones here either. Besides the US Star Team, there are 150 other boats from all around the world training and tuning waiting for the 2010 European Championships to begin. As hard as it may be to believe, this will be the largest Star event ever. EVER! Pretty wild. Luckily, this is a major tourist town on the Italian Riviera, so there are plenty of hotels and restaurants to handle us. Likewise, the marina is massive, the home to both the local Coast Guard, but also a monstrous Perini Navi facility as well as a number of impressive mega-yacht boatyards. We’re definitely some of the smallest boats on the moorings (not a role we’re used to playing when there are 470s and Lasers in the boatparks elsewhere). The club is rolling out the red carpet for us no doubt. And we’re excited to get this show on the road. We’ve had about five days of nice tuning with coach Mark Ivey and we’re ready to go and defend our new ranking: 6th in the World! Its actually quite exciting to have three Americans in the top 6!
Having been in Europe since we delivered the boat to Garda in late April, I’m excited to get this regatta going so I can get back to the States. That said, Viareggio has a very San Diego-like feel. The boys make jokes about how similar the place is to Marina del Ray with its inland mountains, light air and a hint of swell. The water is a fair amount warmer in reality, but the palm lined streets and big dusty boatyards are a comforting sight. We’re not lacking for good Italian food either.
More pictures and updates to come. Racing starts Monday. Follow the regatta at: http://www.stareuropean2010.it/eng/
Threading the Needle in Nassau
April 21st, 2010 in Regattas.
Photo from Fried Elliott www.FriedBits.com
Windy first day of the Western Hemispheres
April 16th, 2010 in Regattas.
Had a tough day of racing after being forced ashore on Wednesday. Thursday morning we had the same type of look to the day, and we sat postponed on shore for an hour yesterday waiting for a wind report from the racecourse. Ultimately we sailed two races in 17-22 knots of breeze and 3 foot chop.
We broke our mainsheet block before the first race and were forced to start at the unfavored end after we scrambled back to the line from the fix. We managed a 16th in the first race. In race two we had a much better start down at the pin end but never really got our speed going and finished 12th. It was a bit of a humbling day and I’m not really all the happy about the results, but I think we’re progressing.
Great photos from Fried yesterday. We’re black numbers 8361, bow 10.
Nassau Yacht Club’s website has full results. Look for three races today.
No blood, no foul - err… Windy opener at Nassau
April 13th, 2010 in Regattas.
The breeze was already in when we got down to the Nassau Yacht Club today. We sailed out for a noon start and had two windy triangle windward leeward courses taking about an hour a piece. In the second race the breeze increased steadily from 17 to 22 knots and took a rig and made some chaos along the way. We tried to close the door on a barging Richard Clark and Tyler Bjorn but when he rounded up inside between us and the mark we did our best to avoid a raft-up. Their flailing boom nicked me in the head as we went past. It took me a few minutes to figure out that my blue hat had turned dark with blood, luckily I lost it in a wave on the next run, but it kept my shirt from getting all red. Later on next leg run we were in the process of gybing in plenty of breeze when all of a sudden we see Tyler reaching across the course straight for us but this time without Richard. We rounded up quickly to avoid the boat and barely missed Richard swimming after his boat. We took an 8th and a 9th on the day with plenty of room for improvement in the Knowles series which is rumored to finish tomorrow before starting the Western Hemispheres. When we got back to the dock the bleeding had all but stopped, and after a poll of the sailors we decided my cut was 50/50 for stitches. I went off to the clinic to have the pro take a look. We’d love to call it “no blood, no foul” but considering there was both blood and a foul, I guess we know who’s buying the first round.
And, so the final results for the day: 9, 8, 1 stitch in my dome (luckily they didn’t have to shave my head!)
AudiMelges20 Event Done, Melges32 Race Week and Star Bacardi Cup to go in Miami
February 22nd, 2010 in Regattas.
Photo by JOY /IM20CA© We’re in the green spinnaker.
The February/March calendar filled up quicker than I anticipated after two weeks overseas and a week at Miami OCR in January. This past weekend I went back to Miami to sail with some Minnesota A-Scow sailors in the second of the Audi Melges 20 series held in Miami this winter. The weather pattern didn’t leave us with a ton of breeze, but just enough to get a nice five race regatta in with 14 new boats on the line. The event was the first regatta in the boat for me as well as skipper Joel Ronning, so the learning curve was steep, but the boats were still very fun to sail.
The keels on the 20 are similarly skinny as the Melges 24 or 32. It really makes for interesting sailing when compared to the Star. The Star has a lot of momentum and tracks very well, where the high aspect keels on the 20, 24, and 32 go sideways often, especially when down-speed. Having attachment on the foils is paramount in any racing sailboat, but it was especially the case in the 20 this weekend. We managed to have great starts relative the rest of the fleet in large part because we hardly ever furled the jib in the pre-starts. The common play for the Melges 24 is to get up to the line on your final approach and furl your jib to hold position. The majority of the Melges 20 fleet employed the same tactic, but regretted it as soon as they tried to go jib-out and accelerate. The boats that carried speed through the entire pre-start were often punching out after the gun. Compounding their problems, the boats with bad starts would then have to do a downspeed tack to clear their air. The high aspect jib and flat mains, while fast once up to speed, really don’t add a lot of power to the M20’s setup making any downspeed maneuver extremely difficult. Tacking through 100+ degrees didn’t make things any easier.
The big conclusion from the weekend is that in many ways, the light-weight, high-aspect, modern Melges 20 should be handled much the same as the heavy, low-aspect, venerable Star in light air. Momentum and therefore flow attachment on the foils is king. Making maneuvers should be well thought out and practiced in a long, slow, deliberate turn for best success. I can’t wait to race the new boats in 15-20 knots.
Tomorrow I’m headed to California for a speaking event at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, then I’m home for a few days before heading back to Miami for the Acura Miami Race Week on the Melges 32 Ninkasi immediately followed by Bacardi Sailing Week in the Starboat.