Newcomer of the Year - 2010 US Sailing Team Alphagraphics

February 2nd, 2010 in General.

Inaugural US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marni Lane, marnilane@ussailing.org, 617-671-8332Olympic Sailing Program Presents Inaugural US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics AwardsPortsmouth, R.I. (January 23, 2010) –

The Olympic Sailing Program presented seven US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics Awards to the 2009 team members who achieved excellence in the following categories in 2009: Best Individual Performance, Best Team Performance, Best Performance by a Newcomer, Best Teammate, Most Improved Fitness and Commercial Award. The awards were presented at the first annual US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) Awards Banquet Friday evening in Miami, Florida, prior to US SAILING’s Rolex Miami OCR, the biggest Olympic and Paralympic class sailing event in North America.

“Our program and team culture are all about excellence and these awards were created to reward the team members who exemplify the work ethic we’re looking for,” said Dean Brenner (Wallingford, Conn.), the Chairman of the US Olympic Sailing Program.Charles M. Leighton Award for Outstanding Service – Charles Leighton (Middletown, R.I.)
This award is presented to the individual who has made a significant difference in the lives of the members of the US Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Program.Best Performance by a Newcomer – Andrew Campbell

(San Diego, Calif.)
This award is presented to the athlete who, over the previous twelve months, has begun Olympic or Paralympic Class competition for the first time, or switched to a new event, and achieved notable performance on the water.Commercial Award – Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.)
This award is presented to the athlete who has made an outstanding effort in support of the commercial and sponsorship activities of the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics.Most Improved Fitness – (tie) Paige Railey

(Clearwater, Fla.) and Clay Johnson (Toms River, N.J.)
This award is given to the athlete who, over the previous twelve months, has made the most significant improvement to their physical fitness.Best Teammate – Stuart McNay (Boston, Mass.)
This award is given to the athlete who best exemplifies what it means to be a great teammate. This athlete has demonstrated commitment, flexibility, collaboration and generosity of spirit.Best Team Performance – Scott Whitman

(Brick, N.J.) and Julia Dorsett (West Chester, Pa./ Boca Raton, Fla.)
This award is given to the team who, over the previous twelve months, has produced the best overall performance on the water.Best Individual Performance – Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.)
This award is given to the athlete who, over the previous twelve months, has produced the best overall performance on the water by an individual.

Photo gallery: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/Multimedia/Inaugural_USSTAG_Awards.htm

To learn more about the team and athletes’ accomplishments and achievements, as well as bios, photos and Meet the Team video interviews, please visit the US Sailing Teams web site at sailingteams.ussailing.org. Get the latest news and updates by becoming a fan of the team on Facebook and following them on Twitter.

About US SAILING and the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics
The US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) is managed by the United States Sailing Association (US SAILING), the national governing body for the sport of sailing and sailboat racing. The top boats in each Olympic and Paralympic class are selected annually to be members of the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. US SAILING supports these elite athletes with funding, coaching and training. The title sponsor of the team is AlphaGraphics; other sponsors include Rolex Watch USA, Atlantis WeatherGear, Sperry Top-Sider, LaserPerformance, Harken, Team McLube, Bow Down Training, New England Ropes and Group Experiential Learning. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, US SAILING is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. US SAILING offers training and education programs for instructors and race officials, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country. For more information about US SAILING, please visit: www.ussailing.org. For more information about the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, please visit: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org. (End)

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Worlds Interview with Scuttlebutt

January 25th, 2010 in Regattas, General.

Here’s a new interview regarding the Worlds at SailingScuttlebutt.com

http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/0125/

1 comment.

11th Overall at 2010 Star World Championships

January 22nd, 2010 in General.

Yesterday capped off a tricky 2010 Star World Championships. From the first race of the regatta inside the confines of Rio’s Guanabara Bay to nasty swirling current mixed with ocean slop, the racing was extremely testing at times for even the best sailors at the event.

Yesterday was not in the regular seabreeze pattern. When we arrived on the course, the wind had already filled from the southwest in anticipation of a small trough of weather. We were able to start in the 210 direction, but as we went up the first beat, the clouds moving over head quickly burned off revealing yet another 95 degree day. Brad and I had a great start near the boat-end of the line, tacked and crossed to the right side of the course. Ultimately we were crossed by only three boats in the final few hundred yards of the course from the left side of the fleet. Because the current was finally not pushing us upwind, the 2.1 mile windward beat took almost 45 minutes. The race took nearly three hours to complete, and the final direction for the last beat was almost 100 degrees left of where we started. In retrospect as the clouds burned off the breeze started to trend left towards the normal seabreeze direction. We made a critical error on the second beat letting too many boats get left of us, and were only able to hold onto a 14th place finish in the race. We were able to hold off Percy and Simpson as they sailed across the line for their World Championship, and were able to put some serious points on a number of other teams that were deep in the race allowing us to move up the leaderboard to 11th overall, one point out of tenth and only three behind Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada in 9th.

If you take a look at the results list, it provides a pretty good “box score” analysis of how difficult the event was. It was not uncommon for sailors that finished in the top ten to have 30s, 40s, even 50s in their series.

Today we will pack up the boats into containers and hopefully have them ship back to the US before Bacardi Cup in about 8 weeks. Next up, I will be coaching Charlie Buckingham at Miami OCR.

Good times in Rio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0lRYMQO3ic

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14th in Race 5. One more race to go.

January 21st, 2010 in General.

After another miserable start, Brad and I were able to claw back into a much better finish yesterday to take a 14th. Something about the serious upwind current has thrown my normal starting strategy for a loop, but we are trying to just keep battling. Coach Ed Adams had us somewhere in the mid-thirties at the first windward mark, but a very nice first run put us in contention for a decent score. Our American heroes Rick Merriman and Phil Trinter have put the heat on lately taking a 2, 1 in the last two races. As much as we’re cheering them on, Brad and I will have our work cut out for us to beat them in the last race and try to push ourselves into the top ten for the event.

Right now, we stand 15th, five or ten points out of the top ten. Results

Follow along here if you know any portuguese: http://twitter.com/starworlds2010

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Tough couple of races in Rio, Two more to go…

January 19th, 2010 in Regattas.

Photo by Friedbits.com

I struggled getting off the line cleanly the last couple of days here in Rio. Yesterday was a very light air slugfest. We were postponed for nearly an hour, followed by five starts, three general recalls and another short postponement before finally getting the fleet off the line under black flag. We flushed into the middle of the racecourse but never really broke into the top group. After rounding in the high twenties, we could only nose into the next group. Never getting any breaks, and watching some close boats move up the fleet, we finished a disappointing 24th.

Today was a very different race with similar results. We rounded the first mark in about 50th after a decent comeback on the first beat from a horrendous start. For whatever reason we had a better time picking our way through the fleet today. We took five or six boats a leg, sometimes at marks, other times mid leg. But somehow we managed to salvage a 26th place finish. Ironically, the 26th was a much more rewarding race than the previous day’s 24th.

Tomorrow will bring the throwout into the scores and mix things up a bit. We’ll look to beat the heat and try and get off the starting line regardless of the upwind current (almost a knot at times).

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Two Days Down, In Fourth at the Worlds

January 17th, 2010 in General.

Photo: FriedBits.com

We’ve had two very warm days here in Rio to start the 2010 Star Worlds. Temperatures neared 100 degrees again today even under partly cloudy skies, but the seabreeze could not quite switch on like it did for yesterday’s regatta opener inside the bay.

Yesterday we raced in the confines of Guanabara Bay just beside Rio’s downtown airport and in the lee of Sugarloaf mountain. The current swirled around the points and bays within the harbor making racing very difficult to figure out. Team USA had a rough go at it, but Brad and I managed to survive the day taking a 12th in the 75 boat fleet.

Today’s racing started with a hour tow offshore to the racecourse and a short postponement. The current was running upwind at almost a knot making starting tough for the fleet and prompting two general recalls and a black flag. Five boats ended up taking the starting penalty. Brad and I started in the windward third and worked our way left into better current. When we tacked to port I realized that our starboard lower shroud had come undone. We had to go slightly slower for about two minutes up the beat so Brad could go to leeward to solve the problem, but still rounded in about tenth. After a two runs and another beat we rounded the favored leeward gate in about fifth. We were overlapped with the second place boat across the finish line to take third in the race.

Now we sit fourth overall. Four races to go.

Stay tuned with twitter updates and results at StarClass.org and StarWorlds2010.com.

Photos at FriedBits.com

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Two days to go…

January 13th, 2010 in Training.

Brazil is living up to its summer-time reputation, hot, humid and great sailing. Yesterday was a phenomenal day of sailing outside of Rio. 10-15 knots and some fun wave action made for good tuning conditions and the most fun downwind sailing we’ve seen down here.

Measurement is today’s big effort. The Star worlds is a lesson in patience when it comes to measurement. You take your mast down, check in all your safety gear, weigh the boat (871 kilos), weigh your masts tip-weight, lay your sails out for stamping, put your mast back up and measure the boom length, all in 100 degree heat (well 96 if you trust the heat index). The reward is being able to have rides like in the video below. We had our practice kit up for yesterday’s blast. Looking forward to breaking out the good stuff for the regatta. Racing starts Saturday:

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Training for Worlds in Rio

January 10th, 2010 in Training.

We’ve had a couple of days of race-training inside the bay here in Rio. We’re right under the of Sugar Loaf and the massive statue of Christ atop the highest promontory in town, but the only shade in town is under the boat when we’re polishing. Temperatures reach 90+ degrees almost daily this time of year. Luckily the seabreeze fills around 1pm so there is some relief once we get sailing, but if the wind is still light, then the downwind legs can be painfully hot. The next week will be critical to acclimatize as well as tune the boat for the big show. Racing starts next Saturday.Stay in touch at the new www.CampbellSailing.com(photo by Brad)

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150+ Days in ‘09: Onward to 2010

January 5th, 2010 in Monday Morning Tactician, General.

Getting 150 days sailing in 2009 is a bit difficult for even me to understand. With the Lasers sold and a new Olympic class in the mix, I’m not sure I could have forecasted a year like this one. Three world championships in the J24, Melges 24, and Star show the keelboat theme. Actually I think I can list the range of sailing 11 different classes of boats this year, in 7 countries. From Match Racing IODs at Bermuda Gold Cup to Team Racing V15s at the Hinman I’ve had everything in between. Racing with the Melges 32 team has put me in a new frame of mind for sailing within the team dynamic and has left me wanting for more.

Last year was a building year in many ways. The Star sailing has been a great transition only because of a successful ten years in the Laser; the Match Racing because of four years of college Team Racing; and the multi-person keelboats only because of four years of high school teams and four more of a forty person college team dynamic. All of these transitions have been broadly expanding my access to the sport, and I have to say I’m very much looking forward to this year.

First on the agenda: the 2010 Star Worlds at the ICRJ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The big hurdle this year will be funding the program. Buying a boat, sails, travel, insurance, housing abroad, rent at home, fitness, sponsorship, coaching, writing, working at Georgetown, not to mention sailing well… if you ever wanted to be up to your ears running a small business, try the Olympic Campaign. Luckily I’ve had some incredible sponsors this past year that I will carry forward into 2010: the new US Sailing Team Alphagraphics is stepping forward in ways we’ve never seen before, Sperry Top-Sider, Kaenon Polarized, McLube, Harken, Annapolis Sailing Fitness, the SDYC Sailing Foundation, and CISA.

The next update will be from Rio. 

Happy New Year! �

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Melges 32 Gold Cup Wrap-up

December 11th, 2009 in General.

Thanks Joy for the photos.

Team Ninkasi took a fourth place finish in the fleet of 23 boats at the 2009 Melges 32 Gold Cup last weekend of Fort Lauderdale. Owner John Taylor at the helm took his team through a very consistent series and ultimately was within striking distance of the lead going into the last race. Anthony Kotoun and I switched positions on the boat for this regatta from last year’s roles. He trimmed mainsheet while I was legs-out calling tactics and strategy from the rail. The decision was a success for a number of reasons, but simply put Anthony is the speed-guru on board and I’m more comfortable positioning us for success.

Three points became very clear after a very windy practice session before the regatta, and after a few breezy days during the regatta:

1. Communication must be Clear and Concise: If the tactician is making a call, grabbing everybody’s attention for a split second to explain what’s going to happen in the upcoming maneuver drastically improves the chances of success. If the trimmer is talking to the helmsman downwind, short and clear words about a) what kind of pressure he is feeling and b) what mode he thinks the helmsman should be sailing make it a heck of a lot easier for everybody to do their jobs.
2. Consistent Speed is a Killer: Most of what made Anthony and my switch a success was his ability to keep the boat from getting too slow. In order for the tactician to be able to make good decisions, he has to be able to depend on the boat to continued around the racecourse at a consistent speed. Changes in speeds demand on-the-spot changes in tactics. When the tactician can concentrate solely on tactics and let the mainsheet trimmer concentrate solely on mainsheet, then the boat is better off around the racecourse.
3. Cooler Heads Prevail: Continuing on the theme above, placing everybody in positions where they can excel is the key to any sailing program, or any business for that matter. When people are in positions where they are already performing at their highest level as opposed to positions where they are improving their skills, the team around them will be better because of it. When players are in the wrong positions, stress is amongst players in the correct positions because the weaker player is thus holding back the entire team. Let the training happen somewhere else besides at the regatta. Having the correct players in the positions where they’ll do their best will enable cooler heads to prevail in heated racing situations.
4. Front Row is a Bonus: In a fleet as strong as the M32 is right now, being in the front row off the starting line is a bonus you cannot live without. Simply put, if you start in the front row you will likely be top 10 with average speed. If you are not in the front row, you will guarantee yourself a bottom 5 mark rounding. You must be able to hold on starboard or make your own decision about tacking for at least a minute in order to have a decent first mark rounding. This weekend we had two rough starts and two finishes outside of the top ten. There were some very good sailors on board boats that finished 1st in some races and last in others. Our fourth place finish at the end of the series was testament to a good weekend on the starting line.

On-the-water time is almost over for 2009, I will have an annual report out shortly. Time is at hand to make a final push into the 2010 Star Worlds coming up in Rio de Janeiro in January.

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