Regatta Debrief - Naples Cup - Pilo and Arthur

A recent record 27 Optis from LYC competed in the Naples Cup! This was remarkable given that 4 of our top RWB sailors were competing in Bermuda Nationals (Congrats to Justin Callahan on winning that event, with Mitchell Callahan 3rd, Stephan Baker 5th and Bella Casaretto 13th). We want to thank our Naples Towers  - David Kronrad, Kelly Pullar, Joel Meshel and Sharon Johnson, and the 4 families who car-topped their Optis so all could attend - the Meaghers, Dixons, Burgesses and Bollands. It was a difficult logistical event and we are indebted to your help in making it successful!  
      LYC was led by Sara Schuman in 6th (3rd in Red Fleet) Connor Bolland 8th (5th in Red) Giulio Zunino 9th (4th in Blue) and Jonathan Siegel 11th (5th in Blue) Full results are here; the fleet of 105 boats was won by Noah Zittrer from Lakewood, TX. LYC's Green Fleet had a good showing with KJ Hill 4th and Will McDermot 11th out of 73!
    The regatta featured two types of conditions, Land breeze to start each day, followed by Seabreeze. Overall, the LYC sailors did much better on Sunday in both conditions. At the beginning it was hard for them to make a plan because of the shifty conditions, and they were not able to predict and adjust to the shift during the last four minutes before GO. Sailors needed to look further up the course than the short upwind mark, and keep re-checking their angle on starboard tack, and the angle of their wind pennant. All of these things should help the sailors find the end of the line that is favored - and they should keep a flexible game plan between 4 and 2 minutes.  Two races on sunday where this was the case: the second race on sunday there was a big left shift at about 3 minutes. There was a huge cluster at the boat, so sliding down to the pin was a big opportunity to outsmart the fleet. Sara, Giulio and Kaitlyn were the only ones who took advantage of this, but Giulio got an OCS! In the final race of the regatta, there was a big right hand shift at 2 minutes. In this case, the race committee helped tip what was coming next - just before the 5 minute gun, the windward mark boats got on a full plane with the marks moving them to the left. Because it was a sea-breeze with oscillations always back and forth, and the race committee had demonstrated all regatta that they were "reactive," not "proactive" to wind shifts, this indicated to me that the next shift coming was from the right.
     In the land breeze, it is important to prioritize what you see, where the next puff is, and once you are on the edge of it, get on the tack that takes you closest to the mark. While playing the percentages by sailing the long, lifted tack is important, the shifts will not be regular in timing or size. Pressure is king and you need to stay in the pressure!
     In the Seabreeze, the shifts are not as big, but you do need to notice what tack has a better angle, because the wind will go back and forth in a regular pattern. Starting well, having good boaspeed and doing all the little things well is whats important!

In choppy conditions - which we faced in all 4 seabreeze races,  minimizing tacks is key. Kaitlyn, Sara and Libby all and races where they couldn't stop tacking, with disastrous results! On the right side of the course, Sara kept thinking she was on or close to the layline, only to have another boat tack on her air, forcing her further right. For Kaitlyn it was more an issue of not holding a narrow lane - having a boat close to leeward and loosing just a little hight until they became an issue to her having clear air. In light/medium air and choppy conditions, you should try to pick lanes that are more "sustainable" - bow out on opponents when you can, and when you do tack on their hip, give yourself an extra couple boat lengths.
    Another move to minimize tacks is to get in the habbit of "laying up" to the mark - approaching from 5-10 boat lengths below the starboard layline so that you:
*Avoid the layline parade and all its bad air.
* Can benefit from a header or a lift.
Here's a picture:

When you do get to layline, put a little extra distance in the bank so you get around safely. Sara used Laying up to go from 5th to 2nd in the race she eventually won - the other 4 boats were all tacking on each other around the layline! On a side note, it was neat to see MY coach who taught me this -Robby Brown - out dropping his knowledge on the Sarasota opti team.
    Speaking of tacks, they can get better! The two widespread issues for this regatta were sailors not flattening into the boat in light air (its easier to land on the rail, but you over flatten/slap the boat on the water like a breaching whale) and not moving the mainsheet through the tack. Here's a Bella tack from Germany where she does all these things well - trimming into the tack, easing a lot on the flatten (when your apparent wind shifts back) and smoothly landing in the boat.

Downwind, our sailors did a pretty good job finding clear air - I was pretty happy with their tactics. Speed was not as good as it could have been due to sail trim. In light/medium air, you have to have the boom out exactly at 90degrees. Lets check in on how some of our sailors were doing Saturday:

Simone (left) and Lulu (right) have their sails trimmed in too much - stalling the airflow on the sail. Nice kiting and keeping the weight forward by Simone - the daggerboard should be as high as Lulu's.

Libby's sail too far out - spilling too much air!

 

Sara (left) and Kevin (right) with their booms about right - parallel to the mast thwart. Kevin can pick his board up more and scoot forwards. As a side note, we only allow the smallest sailors to hang off the daggerboard, larger sailors should kite with both hands free! 

We are going to keep enforcing that the kids follow a routine, on land and on the water. We detailed this in our last debrief (which is getting published in the next issue of Opti News) and encourage you to re-visit it! We will be making some adjustments to how sailors do the split tack course test, and sailors need to be more diligent/take more time and attention on their sail-ties and mast rake on the beach! The next regatta is the midwinters/spring team qualifier in New Orleans, so there is no time to lose!

LYC Takes Opti Team Race Invite

Call me biased (its been said), but I found "Team Race Week" to be one of the most fun times at LYC. The 4 coaches at the USNT practice, lisot head Pepe, lima head Pete Strong, world team race and college ace Adrienne Patterson Kamilar and yours truly led 26 sailors who competed with true corinthian thirst amongst each other in drills and races for 2 days. The umpires showed up Friday and gave the sailors the most lifelike practice possible - they were also kind enough to share some important insights before after the USNT Practice. For the regatta, 24 teams of 4-5 sailors each competed in the LYC Team Race Invitational, with sailors from the Virgin Islands to San Francisco to Newport and 21 sailors from LYC racing! New sails and some great competition (I estimated before the regatta that 9 teams probably expected to make the top 5 playoff) and some important people to thank: the teams who attended and the parents who made it possible, event coordinator Bobby Meagher, PRO Patrico Sly, Start/Finish Mike Redmond, David Gosling, the Cassarettos, Marks: Kevin Bolland, Francesco Zunino, Scoring: Jorge Agnesse, Boatswain Brett Moss and assistants Anna and Mackenzie, Dock jefe David Smith, Housing coordinators Wanda Cassaretto and Robin Meagher, Commodore Commette, Fleet Captain Morley, and GM Nadine Rockwell for giving us the run of the facility to provide great visibility, access and hospitality.  Apologies to the scores of contributors I have doubtlessly omitted!

Most of the team racers from LYC teams 1-4, Coaches Pilo and Arthur.

The kids! LYC 1 went undefeated and won the regatta. This was particularly gratifying given our finals loss from last year and makes us 2-0 going into the Opti Team Cup in Germany this coming weekend (I am making final edits to this post from my Hotel in Germany!). LYC 2 finished a respectable 6th - just out of our goal of the top 5 finals. LYC 3 also exceeded its pre-regatta coaches ranking, but felt like it left some wins on the water with some mistakes and missed opportunities - part of learning! Full results to come. The highlight of the regatta was provided by LYC 4, which beat the USODA 1 team, comprised of USVI aces and National team sailors. The LYC 4 team's strategy was simple, 3 sailors (Simone Moss, Kevin Gosslin, Yanni Brooks, Steven Tate on Sunday) go fast! Use your best instincts, focus, and fleet race skills to get around the Digital N course as fast as possible. The team captain, LYC newcomer Sara Shurman was responsible for all the team racing. On the last leg against USODA 1 she helped spring her teammates to sail beautifully to the 1,2,4th.
 

Simone Moss and team on the 1st beat against USODA 

The regatta Saturday was light and shifty from the Northwest. Sunday brought a slight persistent righty, but the breeze didn't really kick until the playoffs when the puffs on the last leg reached 15kts. In some ways the regatta provided a case against too much "team racing." I would estimate that 50% of the passback attempts made resulted in the slowing boat getting passed by the opponent. Slowing/hooking/covering someone requires matching their speed, and so many times a boat would attempt to make a "team race" move with insufficient speed and end up "swinging and missing" on a boat that had greater speed. I always coach the kids to Team Race as little as possible, and in lights air use "passive balancing" - use ones wind shadow to slow opponents from further ahead without risking an overlap and the windward-leward situation it entails.
 

LYC 1 claiming their 1st place trophies. From left: Regatta Chair Bob Meagher, Joey Meagher, Connor Bolland, Mitchell Callahan, Justin Callahan, Bella Cassaretto and Commodore Peter Commette. 

Beyond overcoming the psychological defeat of last year, there are some things that I think our LYC 1 team race team has improved at, things at that can be instructional to aspiring team racers:
    1. Play/Phase recognition. We have only 3 base play calls: 1, 2, 78 (not to be explained here, there is an opti news article upcoming, with play 78 called "Four"). We have 3 phases of a team race: Winning, Converting, Chasing. We recognize the phase quite quickly - it answers the fundamental team race question: should I be slowing down my opponent or going fast myself?? If we are "Winning" we have a play and are going fast; if not a play 1, using the "pushing" strategy from the lead teammates. If we are converting, its business time! Time to team race - take the opponent out you need to get your mates up, then "release" sail ahead of your pair to get to the next mark/finish. We converted successfully in both races of the finals. If we are chasing -  this happened only once when LYC 1 had all 4 boats over the start line -  go as fast as possible and unbalance to catch 2 pairs. Then 78 them! Our team was the quickest to realize there was a problem, call "78" and bring the fight to them as a team. It was how we won the ultimate race of the finals. Justin pinned his pair  to the left of the finish line, while Joey and Bella helped move Mitchell out of last. Justin then released; tacking away and breaking for the finish line just in time to beat 2 boats.
    2. Starting. Practice = perfect. We run a hybrid scheme: attack the teams you expect to match up with you anyway at 2minutes, then break for your designated zones and start on time. This regatta was our best team starts - in the finals we won both starts and it was only mistakes/umpire initiated penalties on the first leg that made it a contest. On a side note, I think starts are where we have benefited most from other coaches: Pilo/Happy/Lior's coaching on winning 1 v 1 matchups and Joakim for my favorite start drill. For my part, I just to trust the sailors to do what they say they will do and scout the other team a little bit!
     3.  How we interact with umpires. 2 concepts: Win without umpires, and help umpires see your 'last point of certainty.' If you can control your pair or win the race without a call you should keep clear/give the time and opportunity to avoid contact. We only want a protest when we are Chasing. if we are Controlling, putting a call in the hands of the umpires is lower percentage than our ability to convert/balance/win. We do our best to keep clear, be clear with umpires and avoid the needless shouting so many Opti sailors sadly succumb to! In the end clarity builds trust and you get a fairly umpired finals.
  4. Communication! As I said at the USNT practice, communication should be 1-3 words. We call "Ride" when  a teammate should tack and duck. We call "Switch" when a teammate should tack and take my pair. We call the play number and repeat it. We work to pump up the volume while keeping it concise: trust of teammates over micromanagement.
 5. Boathandeling. In addition to being advised to loose cover their paris using mainly wind shadows, LYC 1 was able to stay and get ahead with tacks up the course. The tacks were never illegal, the advantage came in two areas: carry up the course at ones pre-tack speed - these kids are great at riding the 'chine' with a long smooth roll ; and mainsheet play on the flatten that adjusts for the apparent wind changes caused by a good flatten .
  6. Understand and Execute. Critics of our team who think we just win because we have three of the best team racers in the country (and they are partially right) saw an evolution of LYC 1. The best compliment an opposing coach paid us what that we "looked like a good college team race team." Much of our terminology is the same as college and should serve our sailors well down the road, and we did shift instantly into he "Converting" phase whenever the combination was less than ideal. Germany will be a test for us in the starts against better comp, boat speed/handing on longer courses, and a radically different experience; I still trust that our sailors ability to run our american system will help in races that start without a clear winner. We know that we can be successful by bringing the fight to the other team and trusting each other.
   Thanks to all for a beautiful weekend.

US National/Development Team Practice at LYC
 

Regatta Debrief - SE Champs - Arthur Blodgett & Pilo Rocha

This past weekend 15 sailors from LYC traveled to Jacksonville, FL to compete in the Southeast Champs hosted by Florida Yacht Club. The event was a USODA Qualifier with over 160 boats competing. Mitchell Callahan won the regatta by 4 points over Justin Callahan in 2nd! Stephan Baker was 6th and first in Blue fleet, and was winning the race on Sunday by a 1/4 leg before the breeze shut off! Giulio Zunino was 11th overall and 3rd in Blue - his best showing in blue fleet to date. Congratulations as well to Jack Redmond who emphatically qualified for the 2017 Team Trials with a finish of 24th. The top 40 qualified - Ryan Konrad had already qualified at this summer's nationals but made the cut in his 2nd straight regatta finishing 29th (click here for full results) LYC now has 4 TTQ'd sailors in Silver Fleet and 14 overall- great improvement for the program!
    The conditions were among the trickiest we have seen at an major Opti regatta. The regatta was held on an oxbow of the St. John's river with a lot of current - over 2kts at times. On Saturday, the current was flowing from the Top Left to the Bottom Right of the course for the first 3 races, before switching for the last race. Overall, the fleet didn't do a great job adapting to the current: in 2nd race the entire `1st Fleet got swept to the left half of the course - not a single boat on the right half! In the 4th race on Saturday with the current switching, over 60 boats were penalized for being OCS with the "U"Flag in effect! Furthermore, a bunch of boats overstood the Port layline and had to reach down (against the current) to the windward mark! We practiced the past 2 Wednesdays and last weekend in current, and would have liked to see more sailors apply this in the regatta!
  When analyzing the current, sailors need to:
       - Know the exact angle at which it is flowing (you can luff next to a mark or committee boat, observe the wake, or do the bottle check).
      - Feel the speed relative to the wind.
      - Account for it on the start line: should I set up high or low? Is the boat or pin "up current."
     - Consider how it will effect every leg of the race - lay lines? -Long Tack to the mark? -pushing up or down on the reach? - effect on the run?

Wind: 
The wind conditions for Saturday were 10 to 12 knots out the E/NE. It was really shifty with big oscillations that were random - you couldn't time when a righty or lefty was going to come. The breeze went right about 20 degrees over the course of the day, but there were plenty of races where the left paid! There was land closer by on the right, so when it went right it got especially shifty! Some of the right puffs were only 3 Opti lengths in diameter and didn't last very long. The final race of the day saw some boats becalmed while others were almost planning on the reach leg!
    How could kids make sense of this? Well the most important thing was to start in phase with the last shift before the start - to start in the favored 1/3 of the line and then get across the fleet. Sailors needed to stay flexible and tuned in to the wind shifts while they were in sequence. For the 2nd start, Stephan was on my coach boat when we observed that they were moving the pin up, but we didn't think it was enough to be favored. Then at about 3:30 to the start, the wind shifted further left, he recognized it, and won the pin! He was able to cross most of the fleet, only for an even bigger left shift to drop him out of the top 5 - good process but tough result! In the first race Jonathan staked out the favored boat end, and led the race wire to wire. Unfortunately he was over by a foot and scored OCS, but the lesson remains - the boats that start well at the favored end will be able to cross the fleet, control the race, and sail the wind shifts to the best of their abilities.

Routine:
A big thing we stressed this regatta is the routine that sailors need to follow on land and on the water.

Before the Regatta:
-Make sure your boat is fixed.
-Research the venue - google maps with the Geo overlay, forecast, tide forecast, and talk to your friends who sail there regularly! Our online tide info proved to be wrong, but the locals (Snipe sailor Hal Gilreath) set us straight on the water.
-Read the Sailing Instructions online before you get to the venue.
- Be fit, hydrated and rested!

The morning of the regatta:
-Plan a good/healthy/early breakfast.
-Re-check the forecast.
-Give yourself ample time to rig and check over equipment. Always check your mast rake, as things can move while trailering. Before Saturday AM, Michaels rake was 109" while Bobby's was 114" both should be sailing at ~112." No trash/water in the boats!
-Check in with your coaches (we are happy to  check sails once you think it is perfect).
-Hydrate!
-Team Meeting
-Skippers meeting
-Check out (different policy at each regatta - your responsibility to have read SI's and know it!)
-Launch ASAP.
-Find coach for tow - our sailors did this Sunday and Gold/Silver were 1,2 getting to the racecourse - we were the most prepared team!

On the Water:
1. Get with a partner and start doing split tacks from the middle of the course. Check your sail settings (Sailties, sprit, vang, outhaul, luff tension - make sure your cunningham is on correctly especially with new sails!!!) as you go and start to develop feel for the conditions.
2. Make necessary adjustments and keep checking the course! Always make sure you are checking from the middle - between the start line and 1st mark.
Note: this is different that group rabbit starts we did last year - we think it is better for giving the kids more information and getting them to analyze for themselves. 
3. Sail fast downwind getting a feel for the waves and wind. Make sure your vang is good!
4. Start checking the start line - linesight, current, length, favored end. If you have time sail from either end with a partner to determine the favored end. You should also have a really good feel for your angle off the line, (repeatedly sheet in and go up wind for 10 seconds)  so you know when it changes and can recognize a late wind shift. When I plan to start at an end, I do at least 2 30second practice starts for myself.
5. Check in with your coaches - discuss your strategy and get feedback and give them any trash! See if your research on the line, wind and current coincides with theirs. Make a plan for each leg of the course!
6. Have a great race! After finishing self evaluate your Start, Strategy, Tactics, and Speed. If you were deficient in any of these areas you will need to fix it quickly and have the mentality that you will improve the next race.

Thank you to the parents who towed: the Morleys, Meaghers and Goslings, and to all who suppled food for the kids and coaches and supported the event! We look forward to seeing you at the upcoming practices as we get ready for our next regatta: Key Biscayne on October 1st and 2nd.

Opti Pre-Season Meeting

Next Wednesday, August 24th, from 5:30pm-7:00pm we will be having our Opti Fall Orientation and Cookout that is mandatory for all Opti sailors and their families. Come meet our coaching staff and learn the ins and outs of our Opti Program. We look forward to seeing returning sailors as well as some new ones!

LYC Wins Team Race Nationals - Regatta Debrief

A year of team development, team-race immersion, and tough close calls finally came to a resounding conclusion and we are National Team Race Champions! It was a weird regatta, with storms interrupting the middle day of racing, and the 2nd round unable to be completed - not to mention all 5 of our sailors, having raced internationally this summer fighting through varying levels of burnout /intercontinental jet lag. The expectations were sky high - anything short of winning the nationals would have been viewed as a huge disappointment to all the sailors and myself, and the stakes were real: a trip to Germany to compete in the Optimist Team Cup for the winner only.
     The competition was good - the number 2 seed CRYC spectra boasted 2 eventual top 5 finishers in the Fleet Race nationals, including winner Stephan Baker, had team raced together at the preceding North Americans, and were overall probably the fastest overall team. LISOT Black was the 2 year defending champion, and had Justin and Bella's World's teammate Thomas Hall.
   Still, we managed to stay in control of the regatta throughout every stage. We went 11-0 in the qualifying round for a share of the lead, began Day 3 by beating Coral Reef  in the race that would have decided the regatta had the nearby storms moved in (as had been predicted), and ended the races that ultimately counted with a 14-2 record and the win for the team of Mitchell and Justin Callahan, Bella Cassaretto, Joey Meagher, and Connor Boland. The Trophy returns to LYC for the first time since 2011.

     The Coral Reef Race was by far our best "Team Race" of the regatta. After getting boat speeded by the pairs going up the left of the course, we came into Mark 1 desperate to slow down the race. Justin followed Stephan into the mark, and tried to draw a Rule 13 (While Tacking) foul on Stephan as he crossed head to wind to round the mark. But the Call went against Justin! I believe the umpire interpreted the situation to be the following, as described in "The Call Book for Team Racing:"

Justin had studied the call and felt that he was not altering course immediately before the contact occurred (this would put him in the right), but one still had to appreciate the call book knowledge displayed by the Umpires! The saving grace in the midst of all this was that Joey was able to get over the top of Stephan, roll him on the reach leg, and perform the "Move of Death" - cranking in ones sail on a reach leg for maximum blanketing effect - while Bella and Mitchell sailed by. The teammates then gave help "Playing back" until Justin was out of 8th, and we approached mark 3 with a Solid 3,4,5,6. When the CRYC sailors leading the race had to come back and give us the 1, we converted to first a 2,3,4,6, then a 1,2,3,7, with Justin keeping and Gaping the ace to take the drama out of the race even as Stephan threatened to pass Joey on the last leg and Bella had to re-do the passback. Incredible team racing, a refusal to loose, and commitment to one of our team race mantras: "If we are solid with our Plays they will give us a better one!"
     More races were sailed that did not count in the final standings - Team Race Appendix P states that races in incomplete rounds shall not be scored - here Iv added all the races sailed to the final results.

1. LYC 1                 18-2
2.CRYC Spectra     16-3
3. LISOT Black      15-4
    LOOT Blue         15-4
5. LIMA Red           14-5
6. CERT Blue          10-9
7. LYC 2                  9-9
8. CERT/SCYC       9-10
9. LISOT Cayanne  9-11
10. BCRP                8-10

It was really gratifying to see the LYC 2 team of Jonathan Siegel, Giulio Zunino, Lucy Meagher, Bobby Rielly, and Ryan Satterburg compete soo well - they beat Coral Reef in on of the last races of the regatta, and took LYC 1 down to the wire in both our races with them! Its a testament to the work we have all been doing with team racing this past year that they could execute the team race moves (passbacks and Mark-Traps) with the best, and a credit to their coach Chris Williford that they were able to jell and improve throughout the regatta - they had never sailed together as a team before the practice day! Having 2 LYC teams do so well portends great practices to come!

Full results, tables, team members etc can be seen here. 


Team History 
This approximate iteration of LYC 1 began team racing together last fall at the LYC Team Race, and two specific individuals deserve recognition. Garret Dixon, who as one of the original team members was instrumental in developing the team cohesion, and the teams initial success on the water. Having been coached by me longer than most of the sailors he knew my playbook the best, and helped us develop a system where everyone understood what the other was going to do based on the situation, and trusted them to do it. He was our self appointed "Chief Synergizer" or "Synergizer in Chief" and deserves credit for the championship. Pili Callabresse introduced the concept of "Team Synergy" to the group, counseled us (all of us) through that first finals loss at the LYC Team Race, and was the kids primary fleet race coach through the fall. Id also like to thank the sailor's parents and other coaches: Lior, Lucas, Joakim and others for their help and support!
    Given the kids busy fleet race and regatta schedules, we probably practiced on the water a total of 6 days over the year and sailed 2 regattas before the Nationals. To make up for this deficit, we scheduled extra classroom time, which often took the form of "Distance Learning" conference calls with shared materials in front of all of us - wether it was our playbook or pages from the Call Book. We improvised - when we had people in only 2 locations we could Skype, but when it was 3 or more Alissa Callahan would set up an interface that allowed 1 group to be viewed by everyone else - it allowed me to draw pictures and hold them up to the screen on our last call from Newport.
    The meetings unfolded in 2 ways: I would ask questions of the sailors on what concept to apply to a given situation and what they should do, and the sailors would have input on parts of the system, as well as goals and what they wanted to work on. The former was not so much about answering questions correctly for me - it was about demonstrating to ones teammates that one was deserving of trust and the kids for the most part (minus Joeys unannounced 10min bathroom breaks) took it seriously. The area the kids had the most formative input was on the start strategy they wanted to implement.
   Just before the Nationals, I had all 5 team members take a written Playbook Knowledge Test. They crushed it - all scores above those of our 3rd skipper at High School Nationals the past 2 years and Bella aced it! Chris Williford, a past Opti Team Race Champion was really impressed by the kids knowledge - the game of 4v4 team racing seems to be evolving!
   
Team System
Our system of team raced system is a concept based approach that I adopted from College team racing for Optis. While to some "Play" is a verb, to us, "A Play" is a noun denoting an achievable, stable finishing combination. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, anything (team wins regardless of 4th boat's finish) is the most stable combination, and we call it "Play 1." When we have achieved the play one, our accompanying concepts are "SZCB" - Speed, Zone, Cover, Balance. If the Play 1 is not achievable because the other team is winning the race and winning more pairs, we always have the fallback of "Play 4" - 3,4,5,6 where the other team is held in 7th and 8th and thus looses the tiebreaker. Other teams call this play "Suicide" or "Forcing the Tie" and we actually don't call it Play 4 but I can't tell you everything! The concepts for Play 4 are different - not everyone sails fast! Instead, we run a Gap/Push concept, where the pushing boats know to go Play 1 as soon as they can. We have a couple weaker plays that we can utilize on our way to Play 1, but the basics of 4v4 team racing is the Play 1 or the Play 4. In numerous races, our kids did a great job of figuring out quickly if they had a Play 1 opportunity, and Balancing it. When we lost the start and didn't have it, we would start aggressively slowing whatever 2 pairs we could get, sometimes even on the first leg!
    There are 2 basic start systems for team race starting: matchup and zone. In a matchup start, each team member starts trailing a specific opponent at 2 minutes, with the goal of pinning them away from the start (like a match race). The goal of beating your pair supersedes the goal of starting on time. The zone start by contrast calls for limited engagement, and assignes each team member an area of the line to start on. We ran a unique hybrid of the two systems, the specifics of which the kids designed so I won't reveal!
     At this regatta, we encountered some very unconventional opposing starting strategies - from CRYC -  "Build A Wall" approach, to BCRP - "always lead back," to LOOT's always help out a teammate even at your own expense move. Before each race there would be a dialogue with and amongst the LYC 1 sailors on both the strategy and personnel we were expecting from the other team on the start and how we should attack/defend it. For example, we went into the CRYC with a strategy for beating their Wall (which might have worked better) but a game plan of making them match up with us on our terms. They never built the wall, but still started pretty well playing our game!
   One idea I try to reinforce with the starts is the idea of spacing. We never want one of their boats to luff up 2 of ours! While we didn't win as many starts as we probably should have during this regatta, I think spacing allowed us to avoid catastrophy so we could always team race back. Connor figured out how to help this on his own the first day and it really got our team's starts going. Even though he was supposed to start somewhere on the line, he would hold his pair above and to the right of the committee boat, giving all his teammates more room to operate and control their pairs. Then at about 35 seconds, he would leave his man, speed reach under the committee boat, and start on time. Connor sailed exceptionally on Day 1, being part of a 1,2,3 in almost every single race, including the win vs LISOT Black.
     It was by no means a perfect regatta - many of the mistakes CRYC made against us we allowed ourselves to do in our loss to LOOT on Day 3 (we had already beat them on Day 1) - namely, not solidifying the Play 1 (1,2,3,X). The boathandleing, starts, and general repetition are all areas we need to improve on if we hope to Place in Germany. But for now, we are happy to have reached a goal long awaited and fully strived for.

Arthur Blodgett

LYC Dominates Opti Team Race WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!

It is with great pride in our sailors, coaches and our program that we can announce that two LYC Opti Sailors, Bella Casaretto and Justin Callahan, just won the International Optimist Dinghy Team Race World Championship with their teammates in Portugal.  On this Independence Day Weekend, the U.S. Team was undefeated against teams representing the powerhouses of Opti sailing around the world.  The team also won the Nations Cup, awarded to the group with the lowest combined score from all nations.  GO USA!!  GO LYC!!

Summer RWB Clinics @ LYC !

2016 Spring Banquet Photos

Thank you to everyone who attend our Spring Banquet. It was a great success!
Below are some photos from the evening.

Spring Team Race Clinic @ LYC May 19, 21-22

To get sailors excited for Summer Team Race Nationals, LYC will be hosting a Team Race Clinic open to all RWB Sailors. 

Schedule: 

  Sat.-Sun May 21-22 10am Rigged and Ready to 5pm

  Thursday May 19 is a 3-7pm after school practice - if you can't make it thats OK!

    

Open to drop in sailors & LYC team members - sailors rsvp as individuals (no need to register as a team!) and will be put into practice teams/skill groups. 

rsvp to: arthur.blodgett@lyc.org 

    

Cost: $150 (member discount applies). 

    Clinic will cover: 

         *Team Race Skillbuilding: Passbacks, Marktraps, Decelerations, Gap/Push Skills.

         

          *General Team Race Strategy:

                  - Converting to plays

                  - Winning in Zones

                  - Chasing effectively when the other team is winning! 

          

            *Effective communication with teammates.

          

            *Common TR Rules situations (taught through the callbook) 

                         and how to sail well with umpires. 

         

            *Each sailors will receive a copy of the updated LYC Opti Team Race Playbook.

 

Coaches: Arthur Blodgett and Bobby Noonan. 

Learn from 2 coaches with extensive backgrounds in high level College Team Racing!

Arthur has coached 2 different High School Teams to podium finishes at Team Race Nationals in the past 3 years. He coached LYC1 to 2nd Place the LYC Team Race and Opti Midwinters, where the team went 23-0 going into the finals. Arthur was selected to coach the first USNT Team Race Practice. 

Finally, Here's a throwback LYC Team Race Video from LYC Coaching Legend Patrick Rynn, as well as current LYC Laser and High School standouts Jensen and Max! We look forward to covering this situation and more! 

Thank You Julia, Welcome John

Good Afternoon,

I wanted to advise the group that effective May 2, 2016, LYC has a new Sailing Director. After 2 ½ years of service Julia is moving on from her position here at LYC. Nadine and I have both wished her well on her journey as she expands her professional horizons, her last day will be May 20, 2016. Julia will be moving to Chicago to pursue a new position as Sailing Program Manager with the Chicago Yacht Club.

Please join me in welcoming Mr. John Casey to the club as our new Sailing Director. John is very excited to be taking on the position and brings with him a wealth of sailing and coaching experience. John will also be taking over our Laser Program as the Head Coach and will be heading up the Fitness Program we are initiating this year for all of our junior sailors. John has been a guest coach this year at LYC and is looking forward to expanding his role within our program and working with our outstanding cadre of coaches.  

A brief bio for John:

BA, International Affairs from Rollins College (Magna Cum Laude)

Strength & Conditioning Coach Certification

Firefighter/EMT State of Florida Certification 2005  

US Sailing Team Sperry- Nacra 17 Olympic Campaign

#1 Worlds, Gold Medal Miami Cup, 2 North American Championships, US Championship

Sailing Manager for Oakcliff Sailing Center

High Performance Coach Oakcliff Sailing Center

Fleet Manager, MRF

Nacra 17 Olympic Class Coach

LYC Laser Coach, HPT and Ocean Team

US Sailing Fitness Award 2014

Melges 24 2010 & 2012 Gold Cup Winner

2013 Gold Medal World Cup Nacra 17

3^rd Place Formula 18 National Championships

Guest Coach 2015-2016 International Olympic Development Clinic

    

John brings with him a skill set and a reputation that will take our already incredible sailing program to new heights. New guest coaches and new guest speakers will give the junior sailors unprecedented access to world class Olympic level training. His organizational skills and can-do attitude will be a welcome addition to our club, especially in these times when we need every department to keep a close eye on their budgets. John will begin work this Saturday and will work with Julia the following week to ensure a smooth transition. John and I will schedule a staff meeting to review the status of the program and develop a plan for the fall season so we can hit the ground running after the summer. We will also be meeting with all of our Fleet Chairs to establish clear communications with everyone and to get their take on the needs of the program(s).  

A few of the key initiatives that I have tasked him with are:

• .       Improve the communications and general awareness of the Sailing Program and the rest of the Membership. This will be accomplished through an expanded Mainsheet presence and working with the yachting group and Fleet Historian to get our sailing accomplishments out there for everyone to see. Increased social media presence and increased feedback to our Media team will be vital.  
• .       Work with the Head Coaches for the various fleets to develop an updated curriculum for all fleets with measurable and defined training objectives for all fleets. This will help the sailors, coaches, and parents understand the specific goals that we are trying to achieve at the different program levels and help them understand where the sailors fit. Identifying key regattas and events that we can use for both development and assessment are key components.
• .       Work with the LYC Race Management Committee to be better stewards of LYC assets and the Mark Room. Ideally the coaching staff and the RC staff will have different sets of equipment so as to ensure there are sufficient resources for our sailing program and for our regattas.
• .       Work with the Coaches to develop a fitness program for all fleets. Sailing is a strenuous sport and all of our junior sailors would benefit from this. Consistency in fitness training and core conditioning will be a huge help to our sailor as they progress through our fleets.

I am excited to have John onboard and look forward to working with him this year. Never before has LYC seen the successes across the board that we are experiencing right now; from Optis to the Olympics!! The Board and the Membership are completely behind the Sailing Program; be on the lookout for expanded marketing and branding around the club that will celebrate our successes!

I want to thank everyone for their efforts this year and let everyone know that great things are coming! At the next YC Meeting I will articulate a few new requests that I have for the group; I encourage all coaches, staff, committee chairs, and members to think about ways to make our program even better. Commodore Commette and I are committed to LYC sailing and are eager to help make long-lasting impacts to the program. LYC has one of the best programs in the country, let’s work together with our new Sailing Director to make it the best.  

I will be reaching out separately to our IOD Committee and our Green Fleet team to discuss suggestions for a new Green Fleet Coach. This is a vital role here at LYC and John will be working to fill that slot quickly.       

KR
Ted Morley

LYC Fleet Captain

Capt Ted Morley MRIN, AFNI

USCG Master Unlimited
Chief Operations Officer
Maritime Professional Training

An ISO 9001:2008 Company
TMorley@MPTusa.com 
1+954.525.1014 office
1+954.296.8994 mobile

 

Final East Coast Training Fun

With our Opti Gold team en route to the USODA Team Trials in San Francisco, CA (I'm writing from a truck stop 3.5 hours south) I wanted to post a few videos of the great last training weekend we had at LYC. Big breeze Saturday and Sunday morning and we had huge waves! Shrinking iPhone storage is preventing me from sharing a couple more videos I shot but here is a sampler. The kids are doing a really good job with their technique, and with "moving out" on each wave to counteract its heeling, sweeping motion.

Safe travels and good luck to our sailors as they compete in a 230 boat fleet with a chance to qualify for a plethora of international and national teams!

Arthur Blodgett

Important Upcoming Dates + Information

This Saturday, April 9th is Spring Series #3 for Gold and Silver Fleet.

Next Sunday, April 17th is Spring Series #3 for Green Fleet.


Trophies for the Spring Series races will be presented at the Spring Banquet on May 5th.


If you have any photos from the season, please send them to Niki Hill at ncurryhill@yahoo.com

Ariel Casaretto on the USA I420 Worlds Team

A huge congratulations to Ariel Casaretto and Maddie Rice from New Jersey for being selected to represent the US at the I420 World Championship in San Remo, Italy this July. They are one of seven female teams selected nationwide to be part of TEAM USA.  We are so proud of all her diligent training and hard work both on and off the water.  Ariel's success is a testament to our Opti program. Ariel joined the sailing program very late- a summer camp, a fall season in green fleet- then spring in Red fleet then straight to HS sailing! This proves that our Opti sailors shouldn't feel discouraged if they feel too big or too old. The basics learned in the Opti will help in every other boat our sailors choose to sail later.

Texts from Coach Bobby - a review of skills from last weekend's Practice

As I was off Sniping, I asked LYC Opti coach Bobby Noonan for a synopsis of last weekends Gold/Silver Opti practice. As we didn't have time to talk, he sent it to me as a text message (definitely not while he was at work!!) that I think should be helpful for sailors to review as well! Enjoy!

We worked on:
1) Downwind sailing in big breeze and huge waves (using body weight to surf, and steering across the wave to stay surfing as long as possible without smashing into the bottom of the trough).

2) Also worked on sail trim, Daggerboard height and hiking on long reaches. As Pili (Opti Coach Pilar Callabresse) said "on reaches, we want Daggerboard up as much as possible --just to the point where the boat keeps from slipping sideways."  Having the Daggerboard up will keep the bow from Plunging!

3) Making sure you have plenty of boom vang and sprit tension for reaches will also help a lot! We told the kids to make sure they were paying attention to the leech of their sails. If the boomvang is too loose, the leech will flop open and dump the wind out. AB Note: Also more twist leads to a downward vector for the top of the sail that can submarine the bow! 

4) Starts. Too many of the kids were worried about being the leeward boat and trying to draw a penalty on the windward boat, but not focusing on their starting position and keeping a hole to leeward. At the end of the day, you have to be able to accelerate. AB: Agree completely (see my last regatta debrief). At Wednesdays practice we had 16 boats on a line and I called the Black flag rule. 3-4 Gold and Silver Fleeters were getting DSQ'd every start. We will continue to practice the black flag rule, using line sights, and keeping time. 

5) If you do get a bad start, you need to focus on getting a clean lane as quickly as possible. That  means tacking out if you are getting covered -- BUT sticking to your game plan! (If you wanted to go left don't duck the entire fleet to go right).

6) Being a Sportsman (or Sportswoman). If you foul, Spin! No questions asked. Spin right away and get back into the race as quickly as possible. At the end of the day, your reputation is all you have, and it is better to finish mid fleet by being a good sport, than to finish first by being cheater.


Looking forward to practice Saturday, we are off for Easter!
-Arthur Blodgett

Team Photos

Gold and Silver Fleet

 

 

Lime and Green Fleet

 

2016 Summer Race Team Clinic Dates and Sign Ups!

The sign up sheets for the Clinics are up and linked below!

Race Team Clinic #1

Race Team Clinic #2

Race Team Clinic #3

State Champs Debrief - Arthur Blodgett

10 minutes before the start of the biggest race of their season to date, I got some final words in with Lucy and Bobby. We all knew the stakes - a trip to USODA Team Trials in San Francisco - where all sailors who grow up in this South-Florida hotbed of sailing talent hope to one day make the National Teams representing the US in international sailing competition. Both Bobby Reilly and Lucy Meagher had risen to the challenge throughout the day, posting mostly good finishes off of safe starts. We had both gone about our homework and were ready for a discussion - they reported that the boat end was favored...but only by about 5 degrees. I had done a current check - tossing a water bottle into the sea next to the committee boat, timing it for a minute, and noting the distance and direction it had traveled before carefully retrieving it (to avoid breaking the rules and sinning against the environment). I found some surprising information: the current was still running strong from left to right, despite it being scheduled to change at the present time, 2pm.

    We knew both sailors had to have a good race, but didn't know how good - the scores on my iPhone had not been updated since 3 races ago. Given my initial prognostication for the regatta -that an average of less than 40 (in the 2 one-hundred boat fleets) would net a top 67 (qualifying) finish, I told them they just needed a top 25. We thought Lucy still had a throw out- to spend, but were not certain of this. Bobby had been Black Flagged in the 3rd race Saturday, and had no such room for error! Given that it was their conditions - light/medium wind with lots of waves, I urged them to start at the downwind, but up-current pin end, get off the line with a lane, and play the left side that had been paying all regatta. Lucy had been pursuing this strategy all day, and was very comfortable with it. Bobby had disagreed with me before the previous race, saying "I think I can start nearer the boat end," but after getting buried in the second row (again, he had to avoid the first row if there was any chance of the fleet being over) was ready slide down the line. Lucy started a little late, but had enough of a lane to go left and came away with another solid finish. Bobby was set up for a great start at 15 seconds - he was 2 boat lengths below the line with a hole to leeward. Then the boat to windward accelerated first and as it began to roll him, Bobby thought he could get to the next hole to windward...and jybed. He wound up ducking most of the fleet on port before fining a lane in which to work back left. Undeterred, he passed 5 boats each on the reach and the run through sheer effort, and benefited from 10 boats being black flagged (I began to feel better about his chances when I heard this on the radio) to finish 57th and take the penultimate qualifying spot overall. Not the regatta he is capable of having, but the result he needed, and once you get into the dance anything can happen! 

    

Strategy should always be a discussion, and the best sailors will always think for themselves - after all they can't talk to coaches for the 5 minutes before the start, so blindly accepting a coaches strategy can be a fools errand. The boat being favored by more than 10 degrees, or the current switching (as it did halfway through Saturdays racing) were both great reasons to slide towards the boat end. However, I really liked the pin third start all regatta for a number of reasons:

1. The left was mostly favored. Key Biscayne was too far to windward to give us much of a shoreline lift, but the bend in the breeze it induced created a "convergent zone" where more breeze came together above the left of the course, resulting in more pressure. Oh, and it was the same breeze direction and course location as Orange Bowl, so we had had experience with this! 

2. The line was too short for the size of the fleet. This made starting in a "thinner" area a much higher percentage move. Also, the short line minimized the advantage of the favored end. When a couple pairs tested the line on Sunday they found that the right boat crossed the left by 3-4 boat lengths. We felt like the advantage of getting left was at least this much. 

3. Most of the boats getting Black flagged (and there were a lot at this regatta) were caught in a mid-boat end line Bulge. The current was pushing boats over the line - from the lee bow when the tide was flooding, and from behind when the tide was ebbing. This coupled with the habitually boat favored end (why they did this I could not fathom) meant it was risky starting in a pack. 

Illustration: when the boat is favored sailors are always over  - the boat to leeward tries to gauge off the boat to windward, and is over: 

4. Experience! While I personally love the thrill of fighting to win the favored end (I'm pretty good at it and can usually recover ok when I don't), I still won't try it if the current is going to plaster me to the committee boat!  And my two top J24 skippers (Robby Brown and Rossi Milev) have really shown me the virtues of starting cleanly down the line when the boat is favored. Here's a picture of J24 Midwinters - same situation, boat slightly favored, Left side of the course paying.

That's us with 799 barely visible on the Jib, 3 boats up from the pin, and just getting clear air! While John Molicon/Tim Healy in the Blue Helly Hansen boat won this particular race, we finished 3rd and took the regatta. We incurred zero risk, and were able to use our speed to hold a lane all the way to the left corner. This was basically Lucy's strategy the entire State Champs Opti regatta and she had the speed for numerous top 25's! 

A couple more things on starts: its come to my attention that Opti Kids really have no frickin clue where the start line is. While we can blame the Race Committee for the plethora of black flags at this regatta, here's a picture of a practice start with the LYC and CERT teams from Friday:

With the current sweeping us under the line in this case, everyone is late! My solution is always 'get a line sight!" Connor asked me at this regatta: "why should I get a line sight when I don't usually get to use it." Here's why:

*Even if you can't see it in the last minute, you can usually see how over/under you are when initially setting up with a group of boats, and extrapolate based on breeze strength and current.

*If the current is pushing you under the line, you can use it to start ahead of everyone (free top 10!)

*If you are over the line on a prep flag start, you can use it to know when you are clear. 

Thus, I get to use my line sight only about 50% of the time, but get one every time. For the picture above, I would say to myself: "My line sight is the middle of the small island just below (downwind of) the small bridge to the key. If I am under, the pin will line up with the bridge or the main key. If I am over, I will see all of the tiny island."

5.) For Ryan:

6.) With the inappropriately short start line, sailors this past weekend had to "set up" - make their final approach to the line on starboard - EARLY. If was too difficult to sail through 3 layers of boats and get in the front row. My colleagues Pilar Callabresse and Bobby Noonan took special care to discuss the maneuvering nessicary in this final approach with sailors. The key is to protect your "hole" to leeward - the space needed to bear off and accelerate. With a leeward boat too close (they have rights on you!), you can never gain the speed and flow on your foils to explode off the start line. 

   *Once you set up (2min to 45 seconds to start), protect your hole from trailing boats trying to take it by bearing off, letting your luffing sail out, physically and verbally discouraging them from sailing in to leeward of you. 

    *When there are no prowlers sailing by to leeward looking for a hole, look to work your boat to windward (make your hole bigger at the boat to windward of you's expense). Do this by:

1. Trimming the sheet and heading up to get a little speed 

2. Shooting head to wind.

3. Quick backwind to stop you (also slides you a bit to windward). Stop before you get too close to the line! 

4. Tiller to windward, then scull back down to a close hauled course (no more than 2 pumps on the tiller should be necessary, although unlimited sculling is allowed to "turn the boat down from above a close hauled course." 

5 Let the sail out as you turn down so you don't accelerate (at least not yet). 

Through all these steps the skippers weight will need to be further to windward than when luffing.

When you think its time, accelerate by sailing as fast as you can on a close-reaching course. In light air, rock to leeward one; in heavy air, just hike! 

 In most boats the only danger is the boat to leeward, but in Optis the boat to windward is a real concern, as most sailors have only a general grasp of the Windward/Leeward rule (RRS Rule 11). In most situations, if the boat to windward goes, GO! Don't let them roll you, and role the boat to leeward of you. Make them pay for sailing down on you by pinching them out AFTER the start and AFTER you have MATCHED their speed. 

Results (click here for full results) : LYC regulars and drop ins (we had a number of talented sailors joining our group of coaches and sailors for this event) had a number of awesome finishes: Justin Callahan 2nd, Hayden Earl 4th , Mitchell Callahan 5th, Bella Cassaretto 8th, Ryan Satterburg 15th Jonathan Siegel 19th, Giulio Zunino 28th, Connor Bolland 31st in a 209 boat Fleet!!! We (by which I mean the coaching staff; sailors will have the opportunity to  consider their own goals this coming weekend) hope these top finishes will be a prelude to all these rock stars making the National Team. Current National Teamer Garret Dixon probably belongs in this group -  Garret's scores which counted were 4,6,6,10 - averaging between a 7th and 8th place finish overall - but were bracketed by 2 Black Flag penalties. Bella was BFD'd on the same start as Garret Sunday, and though she had led the regatta up to that point, had to be too conservative from there on out. 

The top 10 overall finishers ordered from left to right. 

Qualifying for the team trials were Lucy Meagher in 43rd and Bobby Reilly in 74th and they join a second group of LYC sailors who all can realistically can make the Development Team!

Regatta MVP's:
*The Judges. I saw very few yellow flags for 42 Infringements, and I think the judges exhibited an enlightened view that in steep chop and medium wind, a lot of body movement is a necessary part of guiding boats through the waves. Downwind and on the start line, competitors seemed to be pretty good at pumping just once per wave and sculling only to turn down to close hauled from above.

Note: WE WILL BE HOSTING A Gold/Silver "PROTEST CLASS" WITH JUDGE MARTY OTTENHEIMER after sailing practice the next two Wednesdays! Please RSVP to Bob Meagher if you want to attend!

*The Winner, Mia Nicolosi, from the USVI. She closed the regatta with 3 bullets and showed some really impressive upwind technique, flicking nicely on each wave.

*Former Eckerd College coach (among many other things) Scott Norman for supplying Hayden who arrived on the race-course bailorsless, with his bailor for Saturday.



Pili and Bobby coaching practice this weekend while I go sailing (50th Don Q Snipe Regatta on...Biscayne Bay!). Hope you have a great practice and I look forward to this month of training looking to peak at Team Trials.