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Almost an all-good final day in Weymouth
June 10th, 2011 in Regattas.
Ian and I had dug ourselves a little hole over the last couple of days of racing with consistently mediocre scores and inconsistent if marginal speed upwind. Our downwind speed was keeping us in touch but the upwinds were keeping us out of the hunt. Our starts weren’t particularly good, but that all changed today. Friday was redemption day for us. We had a four great starts, including two under black flag. Lots of boats were listed DSQ for being over early in race one today, and a good start allowed us to round the top mark in 7th place. We made a couple good moves on the run and were fifth to the bottom. Our luck ran out quickly up the next beat as a 30 degree left pressure filled across the course. Already headed right and not able to fetch the mark ahead of the fleet were us and the four leaders. A complete fleet inversion forced some of the top sailors in the fleet to settle for horrendous scores and Ian and I went from 5th to 27th in one upwind leg. The final leg was a reach to the finish and we could only pick up one boat. Our hopes of being top American at the event were effectively dashed in one shift. Our competitors were able to get off the ropes and bounce back, all we could do was regroup and know that we were doing the right things and keep plugging.
The final race was yet another good start for us. We rumbled out to the right and rounded 10th and were able to make nice gains on the run. Two legs later we were on the run to the finish in 4th place. Our best finish so far in the event and a critical score to keep us ahead of a three-way tie for 15th place in the regatta, potentially critical points down the road for our trials. George and Mark were 13th and Mark and Brian 10th, making for a continuing close series.
Its been a cold and windy couple of weeks here and we’ve had a lot of hard and valuable lessons to take forward to Perth in December. I think we know the areas we really need to focus on to win a World Championship there. And, this regatta will serve as a motivation to do that.
Ian and I are going to be here for a couple more days to help out with Sperry Top-Sider and a photo shoot, and I would be remiss to not mention the support of our fantastic sponsors: US Sailing Team Alphagraphics, Sperry Top-Sider, Kaenon Polarized, Harken, McLube, New England Ropes and many donors from across the US. Thank you all for your continued support of our campaign. We’re close and getting closer all the time. The next step will be the critical one.
On Wednesday evening we will be speaking at the Tred Avon Yacht Club in Oxford, Maryland, if you are in the area, please feel free to contact me or the club to see about joining us for our evening presentation.
Results: http://www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk/Results/results2011.htm
Hard Fought Three-Race Day
June 9th, 2011 in Regattas.
The Race Committee finally went to the Black Flag penalty start early enough for the Finn fleet so we could get three races in today. We had stellar conditions 3-4 foot waves and 10-18 knots from the west southwest. But unfortunately the breeze came with a bit of a chill as high temperatures peaked at 57 degrees. All those factors made for a pretty long day on the water from diving the boat at 830am, dock off at 915am, first start at 1100am, racing on and off until 500pm and an hour long tow puts us to the dock at 600pm, by the time we change, debrief, get to the Italian food joint in town and get home its 1100pm, which gives us a perfect 8 1/2 hours of sleep before starting it all over again tomorrow. Hopefully with better results.
Ian and I have been maintaining our hard fought top-20 scores, but not until the last race did we really get a decent lane off the starting line and felt like the tuning was in full-speed mode. The first two races of the day were heavily mixed with US Team members tacking and gybing on each other and dragging each other back into the fleet. We’re certainly in the Trials mode now and its a bit unfortunate how chippy some of the incidents are getting. There are no easy crosses in this fleet anyway, but especially amongst our team it’s red hot.
Another Windy day in Weymouth
June 8th, 2011 in Regattas.
We had another very windy day here in Weymouth. The breeze came on early this morning from the west, and even though we were under AP to start the day, the committee shifted us and the Finn fleet a bit closer in to the harbor from our original digs on Foxtrot course some six miles from the marina to Delta only 2 miles outside the breakwater and 4 from the marina in total. This really only made for shiftier and flat-water conditions. For race committees that are unaware the Finn and the Star are probably the two worst Olympic classes to gybe in flat water windy conditions. Without waves to unload the sails, in more than 20 knots it is a very heavy load to get the sails across and safely under the boom. We watched a number of crash gybes and major wipeouts as well as masts topple down today in the breeziest part of the afternoon. While racing, we had pressure well into the high 20s. Luckily Ian and I had no such issues downwind, although we were within a boatlength of a team that lost its mast and I was a little worried it was coming down on top of us when it went in a fashion surprisingly lacking in violence. The mast slowly went inverted in a monster puff and instead of staying inverted until the skipper or crew could get the mast ram on, it just kept getting worse and worse inch by inch until the spreader bracket splayed apart and the mast bent neatly at a 90 degree angle. The mast hung there in midair for a moment because of the amount of breeze rushing under the sail before it slid into the water.
For all of our fortune and speed downwind, we had no magic to speak of going upwind. Even after advancing our tuning from yesterday’s numbers and pictures, we are still left scratching our heads a bit about how to get going up the racetrack with the top guys. We know that if we can get into the top 20 around the top mark we’ll be well into the top ten by the bottom, but we’ve been rounding far worse and having to come back and settle for high teens in both races today. We’re going to get this fixed before too long here I know it. Either that or the breeze will moderate. We’ll see what happens first.
Full results: http://www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk/Results/results2011.htm
Rough Day 2 at Weymouth
June 7th, 2011 in Regattas.
We had two tough races here today in Weymouth. The breeze built from an initial 12-15 knots to well into the high teens and near 20 knots. Leandro’s picture (above) of us downwind today shows just how windy it was. The race committee struggled to get the Finns off the starting line ahead of us and our fleet was forced to wait through a general recall in the first race and then three before the second race. Luckily it gave us a little extra time to sort out our upwind tuning which was a bit out of whack in the first race. We were going fine, if not great off the wind, but upwind we were dogging it. Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the first beat in the last race, but our better mode helped us pass about 15 boats through the course of the race to finish the day with a 15th. Hopefully we’ll be able to throwout the first race today, but we’ve certainly dug ourselves a bit of a hole to get out of. We’ve been in tough spots like this before and come out alright, so we’ll have to keep our noses to the grindstone and quite literally take it one race at a time.
The forecast is for more breeze tomorrow, so hopefully we can go out and get a couple off without the committee sending us home early like they did today. Even though it was nearly 4pm when they flew AP over H indicating we shoudl head for the harbor, we were certainly within our range and ready for a third race. The current had switched to the ebb and its upwind run was causing the seastate to pick up nicely. It would have been a pretty fun race to be sure.
Results are always available at: http://www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk/
10th in Race One at Weymouth
June 6th, 2011 in Regattas.
Almost all the classes had a long delay today for the first races of the 2011 Sail for Gold. The Stars were no exception with our Postponement finally coming down at 230pm. We had to wait for steady breeze on the race course as well delaying us further. When we did finally get a race off it was close to 500pm and the ebb tide was in full upwind swing. The three beats were short and the runs were long, but we managed to have a pretty fair race. I think the current caught a good portion of the fleet off-guard on the first beat, allowing Ian and I to round in the top ten. Thanks to the upwind current, the runs allowed the fleet to stack up on itself, but we escaped to finish 10th even with a funky right shift near the last finish. We hit the dock at about 800pm and are looking at a three race day tomorrow in all likelihood. The breeze is forecast to be better, but the light air today was certainly uncharacteristic of Weymouth’s reputation.
Results and more info: http://www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk/
Sail for Gold Regatta Set to Start in Weymouth
June 5th, 2011 in Regattas, General.
We’ve been here training in Weymouth for two weeks and now the regatta is finally here. Breeze and chilly weather have been the dominant weather patterns during our training. The sun broke through for a record heat-wave the last few days encouraging even the locals to break out the ol’ shorts and t-shirts. Two days in the 70s might indeed be the full extent of English summer and today, just before the regatta starts, the rain is coming down and the breeze is on. Tomorrow may prove to be the trickiest day of the week weather-wise. Luckily we’ve seen nearly every direction at some point in the last couple weeks of sailing as well as in our experience of the last two years sailing this regatta on this same site.
This week will be the first event of our US Olympic Trials. The six US Star teams are all in full race-mode and ready to go. We have come together to hire John MacCausland to coach coach for the week to augment our steady staff support from our coach Leandro Spina. We’re by far the biggest team here from the US Sailing Team standards, so we’re craving the extra support on the water especially as we are all in the home stretch.
You’ll be able to follow results and updates online at the Skandia Sail for Gold 2011 Website
Here’s the US Trials Tracker: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/Games/Olympics/Track.htm
It’s an interesting feeling coming to the main event of an overseas trials. The US has historically had domestic and limited-entry events for their trials, but to be honest I’m far lest nervous or stressed about the regatta than I have been for Olympic Trials in the past. Ian and I have been on a steady path of progress with our sailing and with our tuning over the last six months. I know we’re in as good a position as we’ve been relative an of our competition domestic or international. And now, finally we will see how the preparation pays off and have some fun while we’re at it.
I’ll do my best to update from www.CampbellSailing.com
Notes and Film from Balboa YC 2011 Rose Cup Clinic & Regatta
May 17th, 2011 in Regattas, General.
This past weekend I traveled to Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach, CA for a clinic and qualification regatta for the Governor’s Cup, an annual Youth Match Race regatta held at BYC. Recently they have added feeder regattas to enter competitors into the Gov Cup and created the Rose Cup to encourage coaching and race-training for teams interested in qualifying for the main event. We had 9 teams for our clinic and 8 teams for the regatta from all over the country. Most boats sail the GovCup 21-footers with three while a few sailed with four, but all in all I was very impressed by how the teams adapted and handled the excellent match racing platform that the 21s provide. Here are three videos from the week. The first video is a compilation of highlights of the action from the clinic and the regatta. The second and third are great examples of the type of learning going on during our clinic. We see some excellent control from the Yellow entry (Chicago YC) against Blue (Annapolis YC) in the first training film. And in the second we see a great back-and-forth battle with the local team BYC (Green Spinnaker) also against AYC (Red Spinnaker). These were the types of segments we spent time talking about after sailing this weekend. Hopefully the teams will enjoy the commentary and be able to take something away from the experience. I’ve also included the “Match Race Maneuvers Checklist” Document that we put together with notes during the clinic. Please email me if you can’t load the online version here: match-race-maneuvers-checklist-1.pdf Enjoy.
Highlight Reel:
CYC = #11 Yellow (on the right) v. AYC = #12 Blue (on the left) *Note: Commentator mostly referring to Yellow:
BYC Green Spinnaker v. AYC Red Spinnaker:
Oversight: ISAF Drops the Star from 2016 Olympic Docket
May 9th, 2011 in General.
In what seems like yet another major oversight by the ISAF Council, the two keelboat classes: the Olympic Star and the Women’s Match Race formats were both dropped from the next Games in 2016 in Rio. This happens to some class or another every time there is a vote for classes at the Olympics. The Star was dropped before the 2000 Games in Sydney before being reinstated. The Soling Match Race event was dropped for the 2004 Games. The Tornado Multihull was dropped for this upcoming Olympics in London and Weymouth. And now the Olympic Keelboat both Men’s and Women’s have been conspicuously omitted from the 2016 program in Rio. It’s a major disappointment for a lot of sailors both on and off of the Olympic circuit. Unlike Women’s Match Racing the Star has had a venerable run in Olympic competition having first been introduced in the 1932 Olympics. Yes, you read correctly, 80 years of Olympic history, finished. 2011 is almost ironically a big year for the Star class as it celebrates its 100th year of history at the Centennial Regatta in Larchmont, NY this September.
Without a doubt, Star sailing is what inspired me to pursue my Olympic ambitions first in the Laser and now in the premier one design keelboat in the world. San Diego Yacht Club’s hosting of the 1994 Star Worlds opened this 10-year-old’s eyes along with hundreds of other junior sailors showing us what world class international sailing was all about. We pushed trailers around the boat park and helped tie boats up to slips while we marveled at the many languages and experiences bellowing from these giants (quite literally in some cases) of the sport. These guys were my heroes in the midst of the America’s Cup also going on at SDYC at the time. Today as I walk the docks of these foreign ports and mingle with the elite sailors of Olympic as well as professional sailing it is never lost on me that there are young eyes observing our every move, following our results, and practicing their skills long after we have left town with hopes that they may one day be able to compete with us and at our level. Perhaps the greatest asset that the Star class brought to the table for this Olympic selection was the caliber of the talent and its strong connection to fleets around the world. Each top sailor involved at the Olympic level has a strong connection with his home fleet in some way or another. That trickle down in the form of inspiration and exposure to sailors both young and old across the globe is not to be diminished as a major factor for the health of our sport.
While I understand the desire for ISAF to pursue the faster, more accessible, and media friendly classes for the Olympics, I cannot agree with their casting aside of the single most recognizable representation of our sport to sailors and non-sailors alike: the keelboat. I felt much the same way about the multihull and the decision to remove that sector of the sport from the docket in 2012. ISAF is missing a grand opportunity to showcase a very important part of our game by not presenting the multihull when the Olympics come to London and Weymouth. The difference in my mind is while multihulls are one sector of the sport, while keelboats are the mainstream. Dinghy sailing is a precursor for sailors all over the world who will eventually pursue their passion in some form of keelboat sailing. Without a doubt the omission of the keelboats for both men and women will likewise omit some of the gravitas involved with Olympic competition in the future. Regardless of Olympic status the Star will continue to attract some of the best sailors in the world simply because of the support of its fleets and its history, but it will likely lose some of the elite competition driven by the additional weight of Olympic dreams. Beyond that the class will remain as the single greatest example of any Olympic class in history for its evolution and adaptation to maintain Olympic status. Other classes on the chopping block should observe how the Star has preserved both its fantastic culture of racing at the Local, Regional, and International level, while also continuing as an Olympic Class. Other Olympic classes can boast one or the other, but not often both. The developmental nature of the class rules and the progressive and intuitive nature of its membership are quite simply unparalleled. What better year to be involved with the Olympic Star than 2011? This story will undoubtedly develop over the next few weeks as we head to Weymouth to start our Olympic Trials next month.
Stay tuned at www.CampbellSailing.com
For more information: StarClass.org
The Star Class Case for 2016
May 2nd, 2011 in General.
For a little light reading in support of the ISAF meetings going on this week in Russia, here is the Star Class’ case for its inclusion in the Olympic Program for the 2016 Games in Brazil.
6th at Hyeres SOF
April 29th, 2011 in Regattas.
The weather, as soon as our race finished, turned into a day of stellar sailing here in France, 12-16 knots, sunny and 70 degrees, waves picking up… The key phrase: just after our race. Luckily* for the stars, we sailed in the drainage breeze off the mountains at our 1015 start (* asterisk denotes sarcasm). Our weather mark was 100 yards from the beach making for a crazy race. We started to leeward of our Swiss competition and flushed him to what we thought was the wrong side and then continued left. The left crashed in the lee of the shoreline and the right side came across with the lead. We caught Marazzi again on the run and actually caught him in a mistake causing him to foul us. After a protest and a quick penalty turn by the Swiss we were ahead again. We rounded the final windward mark in 2nd place after another massive righty. Sure enough the breeze went back left on the run allowing George and Marazzi to pass us on that side. As it turned out we finished overlapped with the French teams and Marazzi, just a nose behind to take 6th overall in the event.
I’m sure we’ll be able to reflect on it a bit after a few days, but Ian and I are certainly kings of consistency so far taking 6th place in Miami, Palma and now Hyeres. Ian heads home tomorrow and I’ll drive the boat north to Weymouth to prepare for training later next month. There are a bunch of positive things that came out of this regatta that will indeed help us move forward in the next regatta. We’re on the right track, so that’s reassuring. The irony of course is that our American competition are going well too. George Szabo and Mark Strube had things fall into place today to take 3rd. Rick Merriman and John Von Schwartz made a big push yesterday to make the medal race and were 10th. Andy Horton and James Lyne were right there in 12th. Mark Mendelblatt wasn’t here this week, but certainly will be pushing hard in Weymouth. We’re happy to be in the hunt, the breaks are going to start going our way soon enough.
Full results: http://sof.ffvoile.net/results/star.htm