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:
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:
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!
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