Congratulations to all 15 LYC sailors who braved the consistently confusing wind patterns and air temperatures of Eastern Wisconsin. In the following paragraphs I plan to outline what we learned as a team each day we spent in Pewaukee. I will also address specific issues that affected specific sailors, but plan to keep if vague enough to not embarrass anyone. So if you think a particular comment applies to you, it probably does.
Sailors who missed out on the sailing capital of the MidWest, please read on since many of the things team LYC learned last week are relevant to most/every regatta.
Sunday, April 28th- hot, sunny, windless. Good day to test the quality of our drysuits.
Monday, April 29th- Full day on the water taking note of the patterns in geographical wind shifts coming off the low points of the lakefront. Special attention to smaller, dense puffs shooting off the points, compared to the longer wind lines moving down the open water. After many rounds of windward leeward rabbit starts and several practice races the geographical smaller puffs may not have been as reliable as the longer shifts, but the angle of the breeze gave those in the right spot the best advantage to the mark. Conditions - breeze from the West South West 5-9mph 65 degrees and partly cloudy skies.
Tuesday, April 30th- Similar geographical shifts as Monday's session. Sailing farther into the west end of the lake and more towards the center made the geographical shifts less significant than the day prior. Playing shifts up the middle of the race course and looking for the last shift (LIFT) to take towards hte mark was the winning combination. The wind shifting from the South West to West today, you could feel the shifts because of the change in temperature. The left or Southerly shift coming off the farmland of Iowa was 5 degrees warmer than the persistent Westerly chillers coming off of Minnesota. Conditions- South West 15mph dying off to 5mph 60-70 degrees and clear skies.
Wednesday, May 1st- Last day of practice before the regatta. We put in a short session this day and sailed for about 2.5 hours and sailed 3 practice races with LISOT, Sail Strong, CRYC, FAST, and KBYC's teams. The direction today out of the South South West put us in a strange spot on the lake. With the top mark in a light wind spot shadowed by the lake's midpoint and the starting line hugging the north shoreline, the wind conditions varied across the course and lighted as sailors progressed upwind. The starting line was choppy and breezy, gusting 15-20 mph while the top mark was a cool 5-8 mph. Conditions- South South West 5-20 mph 50-60 degrees and cloudy.
Thursday, May 2nd-First day of racing and who knows what to expect out there. With the wind shifting 45 degrees at the top and bottom of the course the race committee had to leap frog marks across the race course. 1 race in 55 degree clear skies and 5-8mph shifting North East to North Westerly puffs. What did we learn from this day of racing? Keep looking upwind, look for darker water and the wind lines moving down and keep looking. The best thing to do is connect puff to puff and stay lifted to the mark. And drink more water!
Friday, May 3rd- 3 races in 45 degree rain and 8-12 mph from the North West. Did you say "rain"? Well done sailors! This was by far the worst day of conditions I have ever sailed in. Many of us were dressed in 5 layers for the lower body, 5 layers upper body, hats, gloves, wool socks, and boots. AND STILL COLD. Three races put our bodies over the edge and nutrition and hydration was key in staying warm and focused. The breeze was a bit more steady than the day before but the gaps between wind lines were a bit larger. Looking farther up wind for the next next wind line was important so sailors could stay lifted to the marks. We also learned that the axis from start to mark 1 was much different from the gate to mark 4. This geographical shift was a moneymaker for many sailors who picked off 5-15 boats on the final leg. The most important lessons learned from Friday were connecting puffs and dark water, sailing the rhumb line on the reach and looking back on the down winds to stay in the pressure. Tough day.
Saturday, May 4th- 4 races in 60 degree cloudy and clear skies 5-10 mph from North (East?) Again wind shifts from North East to East to East South East to North East. But at least we were dry and warm! Geographical wind shifts coming off the gate played a big role for sailors looking to make up or stay on top of the fleet and not lose a few corner banging boats on the other side. Connect puffs, look upwind, and stay in pressure (I'm starting to notice a pattern here). Overall the best day of racing for our team. Many sailors having their best performances of the regatta. But but but adding on the penalty point for silly mistakes *(see notes below).
Sunday, May 5th- 3 races in North North Easterly 10mph and a cloudy 65 degrees. By day four of racing and our 8th day in Wisconsin you could tell we were getting tired of zipping up those dry suits. Most of the conversation between races was to answer the question of "what happened?" Well here's what happened. The winning route from the start to mark 1 was different for each flight. Pink start (#1) the left top was working great for angles to the mark and the pressure was there too. Yellow flight (#2) saw a phase to the right side and a slight geographical shift coming off the right side's point. Green start (#3) had a significant geographical shift coming in at the top of the course.
This wasn't a clockwork reliable shift to the breeze with each start. To be more accurate, I think the sailors who pushed to the left side off the line and sailed on port tack toward the top middle of the course took advantage of their position and vantage (view upwind) to decide if the top right or left was going to come in. By the end of the day, if you weren't in the top group you weren't lifted to the mark and had to eat the header all the way back. OR (and this is an important 'or') you ate the header until you were positioned in such a way that you could take that final lift to the mark and pass all those boats that were previously on your flank.
Lots of sailors on this day were throwing up their hands in frustration. Well done to those who continued to push and never gave up!
BIGGEST ISSUES
Not Expecting the Unexpected
In Lauderdale we sail in consistent wind patterns that we can set our watches by. (i.e. If you're in a left shift off the start, get off the line and cross the middle and tack on that righty coming in 2 minutes and thirty seconds). It's not always that easy but you get the idea. In Pewaukee Lake you can't count on those shifts to act in any sort of pattern. Instead you had to keep looking upwind and sail toward the breeze coming down. And keep looking. It was also important to remember what happened the race prior in particular spots on the race course (see above: differing axiis across the race course).
Failure to Launch
Another issue that popped up was not recovering from starts. Young sailors tend to believe that the start is everything. This is something they learn in green fleet because in green fleet the start is 75% of the race. In a 45 minute USODA trapezoid on Lake Pewauke the start is about 15% of the race. With so many shifts coming down and confusing everyone. Keep looking for those opportunities to make small gains on every leg. If you're ahead STAY AHEAD, cover those sailors who are closest to you. If you're behind, look for shifts and puffs to pass 5 boats on each leg. In a lake anything can happen and the gains can be big. Just ask the who successfully dug himself out of midfleet and into the teens every time he rounded deep in the fleet. (you know who you are)
Don't Throw your Hands in the Air
If your frustrated because it doesn't make sense out there, there's a good chance your competitors are just as confused. So don't give up. Keep working. Look for new opportunities. This isn't specific to sailing. These are life skills!
THE LITTLE DETAILS THAT ADD UP
Many of our top finishing sailors were knocked down or knocked out of races that they were leading (and really needed on their scorecard) because of mistakes like measurement penalties, yellow flags, double yellow flags, OCS (on course side) and Z flag (20%) penalties off the starting line. I can name you guys on one hand, but won't to save you the embarrassment. Instead, I challenge you to print out the overall regatta results. Circle the races you received any of the aforementioned scoring penalties and adjust your score to what you finish place you would have got had you not been flagged, OCS, measurement penalized, etc. Next add your total points and look at where you would have finished in the regatta. Big difference right?
Here's the thing-- all those minute mistakes add up and have you heard of the straw that broke the camel's back. In the end it was just a straw, but.... you get the idea. The moral of the story is don't lose sight of the little details. A great boat sailor and competitive racer is aware of everything that can affect his/her race.
Okay, time to wrap it up. All in all this past year's Team Trials was an incredibly tough regatta. Mentally and physically exhausting. It was a great test of skill. Many sailors on our team had the best and worst races of the past year in the same four day regatta. Great job to everyone. Juan, Colin, and I are incredibly proud of you all and your accomplishments. Good luck abroad and represent us well ! to those of you who qualify for international teams. Those who didn't - let's start working and training now for next year's Fall Qualifier. If you take anything from this regatta remember this, when life gets tough (or when on the racecourse) keep looking upwind, the next shift will come, and when your shift comes Take It!
