Brant beach is a long barrier island that creates a big, shallow estuary with the NE running mainland of Jersey. Shifty winds, short bay chop, and a little bit of current-it was basically Biscayne Bay Light + really cold for us Floridians. A good measure of a regatta's quality is the average points of the winner - the more points the more competitive the regatta. Competition and shifty conditions netted the following averages for the 5 worlds qualifiers:
Stephan Baker: 3.82
Justin Callahan: 4.18
Liam O'keefe 6.63
Charlie Leigh 7.09
Mitchell Callahan 7.46
Think about that: you could average 7th place with the top competition split into 3 fleets and still make the Opti Worlds! Thats really competitive and I think also indicates the tricky conditions.
The thing to understand about Opti first beats is that the favored side will always be able to get across. If you start pin in a lefty the whole pin third of the fleet will try to tack on to Port and cross the rest of the fleet. Part of this is the kids yelling "tack" and part of it is the great size of the line compared to an Opti boat length. If the boat end is favored you better get a lane on starboard quickly and be able to cross the fleet. The RC's are good - in oscillating conditions, the favored end is extra favored because it is the "in Phase" end.
In the final race, Justin, Stephan and Liam were all within a point of each other for the regatta. 5th place was also no sure thing. Justin won the pin, about four boats up from the line boats and able to tack immediately in a ferocious lefty. Stephan was ten boats to weather of him and tacked too. Liam was 3 boats right of Stephan and started just a hair better by virtue of being OCS - I was watching and videoing and it appeared he stuck the nose up a little too far trying to create a hole to leeward wit the black flag. The shifts were fluky, coming of the warming westerly shore. Justin felt a momentary header on port and dug back left, rather than continue to consolidate on the fleet. The right wind eventually came and Liam was sitting pretty. Stephan and Justin both flew on the downwind gaining about 8 boats each with Stephan 6 boats in front of Justin. At the finish line Liam crossed first, but Stephan in 2nd got the gun - signaling Liam was OCS (he would have tied for 1st losing the tie breaker). Justin was 5th and Mitchell sailed an all around conservative, fast, quality race to finish 9th and clinch a worlds berth - credit too to Lior Lavie who coached the Callahans.
Hanging with the other coaches was also a fun element of the regatta. On the penultimate day rainstorms led to the cancelation of racing and flooding of Long Beach Island. I drove the LYC truck through puddles to hang out with the Argentinians and Manny made the best Avocado toast for everybody. I watched Sophia and Libby Redmond horizon job a race at High School Nationals at MIT on the live broadcast with Ken Legler commentating. The next day they would win A division at HS Nationals and it was pretty surreal checking the scores on the coach boat while watching the aforementioned last gold race.
Left: Sophia and Libby off to the races. Right: final head-screwed-on-straight check from Pilo to Stephan before he Won Team Trials.
The night after trials Lior came over and Pilo he and I shared a nightcap. While there are always sailors that underachieve when you coach a large team (Kaitlyn Hamilton lost a he-said-she-said protest to knock her out of Gold Fleet), we were happy to see the year of work for this regatta pay off for Justin, Mitchel, Stephan and others (12 of our sailors qualified for international regattas or the National/Development teams.) The next day I helped the Callahans evacuate their regatta housing and we drove through 1 mile per hour traffic to JFK with their black 2 Opti "horse trailer." We got ripped off paying for blue wrap-a-round the Rizzotti trophy case we had been charged with bringing to Italy on behalf of 2016 Champ Lakewood Yacht Club. We had drilled and added spectra hadles to the plywood box as we hoped to be carying it a lot.
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| Lior and Arthur with 'The Cup' at LYC, Dec. '16. Its long been said that the coach who's kid doesn't make Opti Worlds will have their head take the place of the lost Cup... but we never felt any pressure! |
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| The Rizzotti Trophy passes TSA |
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| Biking through the Camping de Venizia |
We landed in Italy and suddenly became tourists at one of Europes largest summer attraction camping grounds. Alissa Callahan insisted we get bikes and we possied around on them to the ferry to Venice and the regatta camp on ensuing days. We schlepped around venice and took a minute to relax in one of the churches and ponder the fire and brimstone images we saw on the ceiling. The parents asked for so many pictures we became increasingly docile to get it over with. The second day I met Massimo by chance (I was biking and saw a van with an Opti on top) and got our 4 team Optis and Charter RIB squared away. The kids came back from a second trip to Venice for an evening practice and we laid down most of the footage for the underground sensation "Mitchell Callahan's Light air Roll Tacks." Musical credit due to Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
[Video experiencing technical difficulties]
Mitchell is one of the most intentional sailors I have seen in his practice habits and he was by far the most consistent in smooth, legal tacks. Everything done with the mainsheet and body weight relates to the apparent wind. For the 'apparent water' angle of the rudder angle re-entering the water you should 'knife' it to leeward as you flatten the tack and Mitchell makes this change wile the rudder is in the air so he is not propelling the boat. Mitchell was almost penalty free (just one in the pre-start) for the Rizzotti with these tacks under some pretty intense and qualified international judging. We had two great days of practice-the aforementioned sunset boathandeling shesh and the next day with technique/speedwork and some new team race stuff. We innovated two drills - one was to try to go as far by-the-lee as possible on starboard jibe running downwind. You let your sail out really far, let put the board down to reaching angle and press into the boat. Then you go as low as you can until you are on the edge of Gybing: the flow telltales point to towards the mast (reverse telltale flow) and the leech shows you she wants to jybe. You go surprisingly fast doing this and I think getting on to Starboard and using your arsenal of angles is the best way to play it in boat to boat situations on the run in team racing. The second new drill was a repeated reach leg drill and we tested a few things. For example, in light winds we found it best to push high on both the weather and reward reaches. If your opponent moves to luff you aggressively, you can do the "whip and dip." Connor Bolland shows off the move and thoroughly mind tricks Jack Redmond:
When it came time for the regatta we were ready. With 4 active sailors on a 5 sailor team it was hard to know who to sit as everybody was sailing soo well. We beat the Italian National team and LISOT Black, achieving a 1,2,3 combination by Mark 4 in both races. Our team race approach has been detailed in past blogs but basically we try to win pairs, then use passbacks, pair switching, and balancing to reach a solid play. If our initial position doesn't allow a play 1, OK. If we are solid with our play they will give us a better one. Everyone is trusted in any position within the system and free to heed Future and "call da play."
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| Who should cover X on the white team? A is the correct answer. "Switch to the advantaged Pair." |
One night in Venice we didn't get to meet the Mayor but we did meet the Deputy! She gave us all gifts next to the prison. Venice was the Mediterranean port to central Europe and helped ignite the renaissance. With the discovery of America, as her centricity and thus power declined but the wealthy families devoted fortunes to the arts. We took the elevator up the tower where Gallelo proved Copernicus' theory that the earth orbited the sun and looked out on the red brick roofs.
| "Call-purnicus was Right!" |
Why is Justin bandaged? He wiped out on his bike with the assist going to Connor Bolland. He was lucky to be in sailing shape. The last day of the regatta we didn't always execute perfectly but we generally outsailed and out team-raced some really good Italian teams to go undefeated. The closing ceremony was one to remember standing on the stage of LYC's comeback in 2013 - Alie and Liza Toppa, Sophia Rieneke, Mack Fox and Calli Lewis coming back from 2 races down to stun Coral Reef. Taking back the Rizzoti trophy to Lauderdale Yacht Club was special and our upgrades on the trophy box cam in handy as our driver took a 45 minute detour refusing to ask for directions, and we almost missed the flight back to America, running through the airport.
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| The once and future Champions: LYC in '13 and '17 at the Marco Rizzotti Awards Ceremony . |
The next week I drove to Annapolis with 3 Snipes for myself, Peter and Ernesto and raced in the Colonial Cup. Though we split expenses I got the short straw: Erenesto 1st, Peter 3rd, me 5th. I'd go back 2 weekends later and finish 2nd by 1 point in the Under 30 Invite/ACC's to Grahm Landy-It was good to get some sailing in and I felt like we really improved in the boat getting 3 bullets on the last day of the U30 invite (my last year of eligibility). Also realy cool to see the youth movement in the Snipe fleet led by LYC Legend Jensen McTizzle qualifying for the U21 Snipe Westerns berth in 3rd place. Ernesto and Kathleen have established themselves as the boat to beat in the Snipe class but I look foreward to Nationals on Mystic Lake and great competition going into the Pan Am Trials.
The National/Development team practice was a great excursion to seaside Connecticut and was well organized by Opti coaching legend Sott Norman. He and Peter Strong laying it down for the kids was pretty cool. I've worked with a lot of sailors in the past two months; I think its important to thoroughly check everyones equipment and make sure everything is rigged right and any chance you can teach how something works in the boat you take it. Seeing a lot of poorly rigged sails the first day I taught the group the way we rig at LYC: top corner-ties, then cunningham (the preventer), then vang then sprit until the sail is taught but free of wrinkles. Then you can tie the luff ties evenly. Here LYC's Kevin Goselin demonstrates his sail pre luff-ties:
This was my first practice with Connor Corgard and we began to develop the synergy we would need for North Americans - overall a great call by the USNT putting this practice together.
Opti NA's sailors get special team race practice with Arthur and Connor at the USNT Clinic, Stamford, CT.
Lauderdale for a couple clinics - rising Green Fleeters while the LYC G/S Sailors were at the St. Thomas Clinic then Team Racing for 3 days with 6 sailors before North Americans. I wiped out on my bike and got pretty much the exact same temporary facial disfigurement as Justin (for all the mothers out there I was wearing a helmet). Pilo was at the St. Thomas clinic - a growing staple of the Opti calendar, and the LYC sailors had great regattas in big wavy conditions like we practice in every day. Mitchell Callahan was 1st, Justin 2nd, Stephan 3rd Sara Schumann 9th and Kaitlyn Hamilton 12th. In the Team Racing element, the Worlds team got some practice all together for the first time and beat the USVI worlds home team in the finals, although the USVI food its ground, winning the first race of the best of 3 series.
Connor B and I caught a flight to Toronto for North Americans. The USODA practices and efforts at IODA regatta have a common theme- cohabitation by the sailors. We stayed in dormitories built for the Pan-Am games and occupied by George Brown college that Coach Connor and I both agreed were much nicer than our college dorm rooms. Everyday we had to catch a bus to catch a ferry to the Royal Canadian Yacht Club which was underwater. A 'hundred year flood' had hit lake Ontario and the precipitous rise was a challenge for sailors and organizers. Over 4 days of practice and 4 days of a regatta under these conditions I think our sailors grew as friends and as a team in a way they didn't expect coming in -adversity and boredom are powerful glues.
Team USAers on the be of the 1895 built ferry to RCYC. Tony Slowik teaching everyone his Gang Signs from the suburbs of Texas.
I find the practices for the top regattas are almost the most fun part. For team trials, Berlin, the Rizzotti and NA's we had a 1:1 or at least a 1.5:2 practice-to-regatta days ratio. Getting there early enough to get the lay of the land (coffee place for the coach), adjust your sleep schedule, be meticulous about your equipment, and practice is really important. Stephan Baker usually shows up a day later than everyone else, but he is probably the most meticulous with rigging and tuning - he was the only one to de-rig his new "111" worlds sail completely when we had sail sheds available to us and has multiple times stopped practice to go over his luff ties and tension.
The kids took advantage of 4 days training to hone their techniques - sailing with the hips inboard of the shoulders so you can work the boat. We watched a lot of video of them as well as some drone video of a practice race that Connor shot from the coachboat. Pretty sweet:
The conditions were mostly light with small but brickish chop. Starting well, being patient, and smootly driving the Opti through the water were all prerequisite to success.
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| Aussies prepare for the Opening Ceremonies. |
*The measurement was pretty comprehensive: hulls weighed and sails/sail numbers meticulously measured by an international team of experts. While I generally love everything Sturgis does in the Opti the carbon wind indicators a couple of our kids had were ruled illegal - the "exotic materiels" ban intended to keep costs down prohibits anything carbon.
*On the water, there were over 50 yellow flags thrown at competitors for Rule 42 infringement. The international jusdes don't care if you have already had a yellow flag and you might cry or your parents might be angry - if they see an infringement (pumping, sculling, rocking, ooching) they flag it regardless if it is a second infringement (that foreces you to retire). It was educational for some of our sailors, and I was proud that our top sailors have refined their technique within the rules and stayed flag free. On the start line, good boathandleing can usually take the place of sculling - for example: if you pump the rudder once or twice to turn down then pop your weight outboard, you can get out of irons just as well as pumping the rudder 3-4 times with your weight doing nothing.
*The regatta will do whatever it takes to try and meet its races target - having us tow out in fog and wait for breeze on the last day, leaving us on the water for 7 hours to sail 1 race each on the team race day, or putting the optis in harms way of a gigantic rubber ducky while waiting for breeze. I mean this actually as a compliment to the RC and PRO - they took no crap from the coaches and were determined to decide the Championships with as many fair races of possible - Americans should adapt with some longer practice days and never giving up on light air practice. The 4kt threshhold for racing in the US does not exist in the IODA.
*Coachboat quotas!!! While in the US you can have as many coaches per sailor as money can buy, we were only allowed 1.5 coachboats for 24 sailors at NAMs. Pepe and Connor coached tighter while I shared a boat with Aikira, the Coach for 6 Japanese Sailors. While each kid can get a word and a snack with one coach between each race, it puts a premium on sailors being able to break down the course on their own - something my colleague Pilo has been teaching all year. Fellow Argentinian Pepe showed his genius at this regatta as the senior member of our coaching staff - keeping the kids focus through a long, taxing event, and empowering Connor and I to do our best. There was no LISOT,LYC or AYC this regatta just Team USA and we all did our best to get everybody coaching.
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| Despite not speaking the same language Aikira and I were able to take a selfie. |
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| Duck Toronto! |
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| Mobbin' the coach boat at Team Race NAM's. |
*Parents have less access. You are not sleeping in a room with your kids then driving them to the regatta- they have to pack their own bag and account for all their own stuff as well as their sleep schedule and timeliness for meetings. Team leader Jane Walsh along with Ms. MacNamarra did a phenomenal job feeding and clothing (doing laundry), supervising, checking in and out and generally looking after the entire team. Everyone returned to the States in one piece and some traditionally involved parents marveled at their kids newfound self sufficiency (who knew kids could figure it out when you trust them?!)
*Measurement after the race is the same as US Team Trials - any rigging or safety violations for the top 10 come with a penalty. Like the USNT practice, Connor and I spent a lot of time going over sailors rigging and they were super receptive. For example, we had every kid with an ease-outhaul knot in the perfect place for the run. A couple kids took my obsession with rigging to play a practice joke - after Peter Foley won a race he sailed over to me and deadpanned: "all my boom ties were over 1 cm and I failed my measurement!" I had begun to flip out on him for his costly carelessness when he stopped me: "just kidding coach." Peter is a super talented sailor who, when he improves his consistency to have only 1 throwout per regatta will be winning sailing regattas for years to come! Thomas Kerrigan later got me in the same ruse. Really funny guys.
Of the North Americans, Peter finish 3rd, while Thomas sailed incredibly consistently to cruise into 2nd overall. Stephan Baker had a disappointing 2,7 the first day, before going off and winning 4 of the next 5 races to win the regatta. So 1,2,3 for Team USA vs the North Americans, and 1,2,5 overall with a Greek and a Brazilian edging Peter. The Americans took 3 more places in the top 15 with Tony Slowik 10th, Samara Walsh 11th and Katherine Doble 12th. Overall we had 16 of our 24 sailors make Gold Fleet and were incredibly proud of the group. Consistent, light air conditions over a cold lake magnified any first beat mistakes in a competitive fleet, and the sailors who sailed relaxed, had good boasted and started consistently well excelled. In the team racing, the USA went 1,3 with USA1 (theres aforementioned 3 top sailors plus Owen Hennessy and team race ace Vanessa Lahrkamp) again coming back from down a race to best the USVI. USA 2 limped into 3rd place after escaping a tie with Mexico - limited time to prepare together stopped a team of great team racers from fully gelling. Pepe and I on the coach boat were excited but also suffering vertigo from a missed opportunity: USA 3 had beat the USVI 1,2,3,6 but lost on an OCS - it could have put USA 1,2,3 in team racing. Credit to Jonathan Siegul for perfectly executing the "get Mia Nicolosi in trouble" start strategy we gave him as a leader on team 3.
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| Team USA 2 with great Album cover synergy they would be unable to match on the racecourse. They still had enough raw talent to take 3rd. |
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| A Triumphant Team! |
Watching fireworks for Canada's 150th birthday (sort of.. sorry!) from the Royal Canadian Yacht Club after racing was a fitting end to a memorable week. The Next day Connor and I flew back to Ft. Lauderdale and Stephan, Justing, Mitchell, Charlotte and Liam began their journey to Thailand for the Opti Worlds - the top rock starts completing their World Tour. This is not some extravagant vacation - the sailors work 13 hour days putting their bodies and minds on the line in the purest form of One-design sailing. The fact that they are earning their place at the top of this internationally competitive meritocracy is a testament to something special going on right now across the US and especially in South Florida. Their coaches, teammates, parents and organizers have all contributed to this level of local competition and training that is incubating the World's best Opti sailors. I am privileged to work with this youth movement and ecstatic to see the US dominate International Optimist competition at perhaps a higher level than any other area of the sailboat racing sport.
Arthur Blodgett
