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.

2016 Buccaneer Blast Green Fleet Regatta Report - Julia Melton

This past weekend we had 15 LYC sailors participate in Green fleet at the Buccaneer Blast regatta in Key Largo.  LYC Green Fleet was represented by Jake Burgess, Simone Moss, Stephan Tate, Rhys Pullar, KJ Hill, Kevin Gosselin, Max Maister, Luca Ehring, Skye Johnson, Ava Meshel, Graceanna Dixon, Valentina Agnese, Ana Smith, Danielle Smith, and Sofia Buchweitz. I had the privilege of coaching this group along with Coach Sharon Johnson. For some of our sailors this was their first regatta experience and the same goes for many of the parents. We had a very strong parent support group on the water and on shore and we were very appreciative of that. 

Our team focused on three things for racing in this regatta: 1.Positioning, 2. Sail Trim and 3. Direction. If you are able to master these three things in green fleet you are very likely to end up in the top 10. All it takes a lot of focus and practice to be able to consider all three things at once in a race. In this post I plan to break down each of the three topics:

1. Positioning.

Positioning is where your body should be in the boat in any given condition. I teach my sailors that you need to always be connected with your feet whether your weight is forward and in the boat for light air, or when your weight is out and the top of your feet are connected to the hiking strap when the breeze picks up. Your weight placement is essential to keeping the boat flat. Two examples of bad positioning: 1. A stationary sailors with no weight movement at all and the sailor doesn’t shift their weight in and out according to the pressure. 2. A sailor with their weight sprawl out everywhere, legs are wide and feet not together which makes the boat feel and look unbalanced and unsteady. Always keep your weight together (feet, legs, shoulders) and balance the boat to keep it flat.try to be one body with the boat, always connected. 

On Saturday the breeze died down after the first race. The fastest boats were the flattest from side to side as well as balanced from bow to stern for the entire race. When its light your weight should be in (on the balls of your feet, never knees or butt) and forward so the side of your front shin is touching the thwart. On Sunday, the conditions were windier and I think one area our team could improve on is endurance. I saw a lot of sailors not hiking hard or long enough in pressure to keep the boat flat. Body position is very important to consider in all conditions especially when sailing upwind because it keeps the boat moving forward and not dragging any sides or corners in the water. 

2. Sail Trim

Sail trim is equally important for maximizing your speed and minimizing your distance to the next mark. Upwind=sail should be trimmed to the corned. I noticed that when sailors have trouble keeping their sail trimmed correctly upwind it usually is because they aren’t holding and/or trimming the mainsheet correctly. Your grip for the tiller and mainsheet should be the same so that your thumbs are facing up around the line or tiller. To trim, feed the mainsheet from one hand to the other. Bring the line in your front hand to you back hand holding the tiller and use your pointer and middle finger to trim in the sheet. After your sail is trimmed properly, then it is time to fine tune your trim by watching your tell tales! 

3. Direction

The third main topic we focused on was direction. This was very important for this venue, especially on Saturday when the breeze direction was oscillating from the middle of the course to the left. This meant that for most of the races on Saturday it paid off to start at the pin end of the line and tack on to port in to the first left shirt. 

Direction is also important for general course awareness. You should always try to minimize the distance to the next mark. When sailing upwind you should consider whether you are lifted: pointed closer to the windward mark compared to the other tack or headed=pointing further away from the windward mark compared to the other tack. In general you want to be sailing on the tack that is taking you on a closer angle to the windward mark.  For downwind, the concept of direction is simple just make sure your pointing your bow at the next mark and set up for an inside mark rounding for the gybe and leeward mark.

Of course the more experienced you have as a sailor, the more things there are to consider such as advanced boat handling and tactics. Positioning, sail trim and direction are fundamental to learn and understand first when learning to race.

Results

Congratulations to everyone for a job well done! More important than the result is the process it took you to get there. Take something away or learn something from each race or regatta and apply it to the next one. You can find the regatta results here.

Winning Ways Continue for Gold/Silver at Buccaneer Blast - Regatta Debrief

At the risk of sounding braggadocios, I would like to point out the current run that the LYC RWB Opti sailors are on:

*1st and 2nd place at the last 3 Opti Fleet Race Regattas.

*A different LYC Sailor won each event!

While the big goal is strong finishes at Team Trails (April 19-22 in San Francisco) and we have events each of the next 2 weekends, the early results versus regional competition have been excellent. 

Jonathan Siegal scored Bullets in the first 4 races of the Buccaneer Blast to take the regatta, while Garret Dixon rebounded from a rough Saturday to dominate the final three races and finish second! Overall, LYC finished 1,2,4,8,11,12,15th, with Giulio Zunino 2nd in Blue Fleet, Connor Bolland 5th in Blue and Bobby Rielly 5th in Red. It was also a terrific showing for LYC's Green Fleet with 13 sailors in attendance, and awesome to have to RWB setting such a great example for the (relative) youngsters!

      Connor's future Christmas Card to his friends!: Connor (right) leads Giulio (center) and Jonathan (top right) 

around the leeward mark during the final race on Sunday. 

Conditions/Speed: 

Light wind on Saturday - 4-7kts,  and Breeze on Sunday of about 12-16kts. Given the shallow water of the Upper Keys, and semi-protected venue, the waves were small but choppy. This put a premium on upwind speed on the first day just so that you could punch through the chop, while big gains were made on Sunday off the wind by those who had the technique and effort to surf each little wave. 

    On Saturday the wind was light enough that maintaining flow on ones sail was sometimes difficult.  It's important to remember that if your sail is stalled, no amount of "kinetic" movement will drive your boat through the waves. When you feel a loss of speed, look first to you upper set of luff telltales, and try easing until you have them streaming. THEN when you have speed go back to watching your lower telltales and the waves. Jonathan and Connor both had superior speed in these conditions due to:

   1. Good flow on the telltales and appropriate sailtrim (.5 inch off the corner when really needing speed, 1 inch inside the corner once speed was established)

  2. Weight in the boat, but slightly back from the thwart so as not to dig the bow in. Most sailors are used to moving forwards in light air, but in the Opti chop means you must stay back.

  3. Good smooth fore-and-aft body movements (permitted under rule 42 so long as it is not an "ooch"), executed while keeping the tiller still (Bobby and Jack started the regatta with way too much rudder movement but both improved).  

Most of our sailors correctly set up with loose vangs (1/4" of sag when trimmed in upwind) and sprits after the first race. Set your sprit in light air so that wrinkles begin to show from the top of the mast towards the middle of the sail when in a puff. This will give you more twist, pointing ability and SPEED.

One Side Favored! 

Based on the vast experience of coaching one day of this regatta last year I expected and prepped my sailors for big random oscillating wind shifts. I was wrong! The wind did oscilate back and forth slightly all weekend, but the shifts were pretty small - only 5-10 degrees. Furthermore, there was a side of the racecourse that almost always seemed to pay off! - the left on Saturday and the right on Sunday. 

  

Saturday Pattern: most of the pressure filling from the left side of the racecourse. When the breeze would die, it would fill in on the left first. I don't know exactly why this was the case, but suspect that the seabreeze was trying to fight trough from down the key. On the friday Green Fleet practice, when the wind died completely, it came in hard from the left. 

    Jonathan was rarely the farthest left boat, but still made sure he covered the left and got to the pressure. Connor came back from ~10th to 3rd on one beat where he banged the left corner. There were exceptions: Bobby, seeing that the left pressure had spread across the course at the beginning of a long upwind leg, chose to stay in phase and sail the lifted tack to the right of the fleet. The wind did shift back a little bit, and he was able to cross back to the left having gained 7 boats- some really smart sailing! Giulio had his typical excellent starts and good gameplan, but like pretty much every sailor over 90lbs that day, had trouble finding the speed to capitalize - light air and chop will always be the toughest conditions for heavier boats. 

Sunday Pattern: Strong winds from the east meant a long, slightly angled shoreline to the right of the course that promised shoreline lifts. The puffs from the right weren't "fanning" or visible on the water (as you would expect from shoreline lifts), but the right paid pretty consistently. Garret was the first boat to really test this advantage, and won his 3 races by over 15 boat lengths by continuing to go back to this advantage. Libby and Connor had generally plus second beats by trending to the right side of the course as well. You still had to be aware of the shifts and what your angle was, but designing a start-->first beat strategy to get to the right was important, as was using any left shifts to get to the right. A lot of stupidity was evident in some sailors who rounded the leeward mark, tacked, and sailed under the fleet (still coming downwind) to the left! 

While the waves will be very different in San Francisco, we expect a number of races where one side is consistently favored due to current. Check the tides, forcast, and topography of your racing venue and make a prediction on what the winning strategy will be. If something is working, keep doing it! 

Skewed Line: 

The start lines were not very square - mostly pin favored Saturday and Boat favored Sunday. After Garret and Libby both picked up a Black Flag in the 3rd race, coach Step Hudson stressed approaching the line "numbers covered"  - unreadable from both ends, then getting up to speed before  go. Overall, our team did an excellent job finding the favored end and a number of sailors (Nico!) improved their starts by the end of the event. 

Downwind Matters! 

The most impressive part of Jonathan's wins Saturday and Garret's wins on Sunday were they way they extended on the downwind legs. This was due to technique and effort. With a lot of really short surf able waves, you must have the effort to pump on each of them! As you pump, the shoulders (or for smaller sailors whole body) must be back in the boat to stop the bow from burying. As you surf and ease, you must slide forwards. This is because the crest of the wave is moving towards your bow, and you do not want the stern to dig in. These movements are LEGAL under rule 42 - provided the slide forward does not end so abruptly as to be considered an "ooch". You do not want the boat to rock side to side (at least in an Opti) because this will result in offsetting rudder movements (slow). 

Sailors who weren't able to make big gains downwind were guilty of at least several of the following:

*Board down too much or sail trimmed in too much (you are too afraid of capsizing). 

*Boat not balanced for-and-aft (you are too afraid of bow plowing)

*Not enough pumping (you are too tired from the upwind leg - get in shape!)

*Too much rudder movement (you need practice!)

* Sailing in a pack of boats (you need to find a clear lane at the beginning of the run.

Overally, our team is improving downwind and we now have at least 4 sailors (Garret, Jonathan, Bobby, Mitchell) who should be able to execute the Duncan Williford-School-to-winning-regattas: Round Top 10 at the windward mark, Round Top 3 at the leeward mark! 

Laying Up to the Windward Mark

Speaking of which...sailing to the lay lines too early will invariably cost you places at the end of the first beat (was a problem we did't solve at Buc Blast). Instead, "Lay up" to the windward mark by consciously approaching below the laying. Last weekend when I was trimming on the winning J24 for Midwinters in Tampa, our skipper (and top Canadian pro sailor) Rossi Milev would use this approach every time! Ill give the sailors more of a chalk talk on this in the coming weeks, but here's a sketch of the general concept:

By approaching 5-10 boat lengths below the layline, A always gains on B because B sails in more traffic, and can't benefit from a windshift either way.

Congrats to our sailors and I'm looking forward to more tactical, short course racing at Jensen Beach this weekend. 

Arthur Blodgett 

Jack after a great finish!

  All Photos courtesy of Francesco Zunino

Summer Sailing Registration is open!!!

Buccaneer Blast Party Info

LYC families, get ready for some fun this weekend, with a good, quick dinner and raffle after sailing Saturday.  We'll all find a place to camp and hang out while the kids run wild.  The organizer of the Buccaneer Blast regatta runs a Cuban restaurant in Miami and is catering the regatta dinner Saturday night.  She wrote LYC specifically, recognizing that we're about a quarter of her fleet -- great customer service!  Her e-mail follows:

Was very pleased to see a nice big group coming from LYC.  Please help us spread the word that we will have great food and a full bar available throughout the weekend. 

We always host a Sunset Dinner with music on Saturday right after the races.  We will be serving Cuban food from my restaurant along with pasta, bbq chicken and probably meatballs too for the kids.  I've attached our menu for the weekend for your perusal.  Please encourage parents to stay for the sunset, which happens at about 6:15p in the evening.  Our sunset views from the pier and beach are truly gorgeous.  With kids fed early, there's still plenty of time to for everyone to enjoy a night out on the town.   

For those families with young siblings who like to hang around the club during the races, there'll also be food and drinks for the whole family as well. 

One last really important reminder is to tell parents to park their cars for free at the empty lot behind the Walgreens at 99501 Overseas Hwy.  It's not even a 10 minute walk to the club and we will have a free shuttle taking attendees to and from the club.  Off duty police won't allow anyone to park along the streets  and will direct parents to that lot anyway. 

Please don't hesitate to call me should you have any questions.  See you Saturday! 

Rosa Lamela

Mark Sorensen Youth Sailing Program

@ Upper Keys Sailing Club

305 747 2600

rosalamela@bellsouth.net        

Regatta Debrief - LYC tops at Valentines Regatta!

With Justin and Mitchell Callahan taking 1st and 2nd respectively, and Joey Meagher and Jonathan Siegul rounding out the top 10 with 7th and 9th place finishes, LYC had a great showing at the Valentines Regatta, held this past weekend in St. Petersburg. Giulio Zunino also chipped in a 10th in Blue Fleet. Full regatta results can be seen here.  15 Sailors represented LYC and were coached by Bobby Noonan and myself. Bobby enjoyed his first regatta back coaching at LYC. Bobby was an excellent Opti and College Sailor, and coached at Chicago and LYC before taking several years away from the sport - former coaches and sailing contemporaries were really happy to see him! I thought he did a great job reaching out to all our kids on the water, and his enthusiasm was infectious.

From Left: Coach Arthur Blodgett, Jonathan Siegull, Mitchell Callahan, Justin Callahan, Joey Meagher, Coach Bobby Noonan after the awards ceremony. Justin is sporting a nice cutting board. 

Recap/It could have been even better...
Saturday: 

In a regatta that has a reputation for being large, competitive, and...different, we arrived at the usual 3 races in an unusual way. Saturday began with a TON of flooding current (running south to North) and 10-12 kts of breeze out of the North.  The current was obvious by the anchored Race Comittee sloop being swung completely around on her anchorline to have her stern pointing upwind! The Race committee naively tried to start a race under "P" flag (you are only penalized if over at GO, and there is no penalty for anything you do on a general recall) with a EUUGE start line. Over 50% of the fleet was pushed over the line on this and the subsequent "U" flag start (Can't be over from 1 min. to go, but with an Amnesty program on general recalls) before busting out the Black flag. I honestly pushed the restriction on coaches staying in the marked waiting area to motor up to just below the line near the pin to tell as many sailors as possible to stay well below the line, and that they would have to fight the current to do so. Despite my exhortations, 50% of the fleet was again over on the next start, including Bobby, Yanni, Katrina, and Miles. Miles actually wasn't spotted by the Race committee and had the gumption to get Black Flagged again on the following black flag start, as well as the eventual 2nd race! Here's a sketch of my recollection of the 3rd start attempt (was general recalled, and 30 boats scored BFD/not allowed to sail in the re-start!):

Here's some truths about racing in heavy current against wind that I think will highlight the lack of any upside for boats that pushed the line:

*The beats (first leg) will be shorter. 

*The laylines come up faster.

*The fleet COMPRESSES at the 1st and 2nd marks as the leaders began sludging against the current. 

*The DOWNWIND LEG will be LONGER, with more opportunities for the boats behind to gain. 

*The WAVES are steeper and more frequent than in neutral current, so TECHNIQUE and in particular downwind surfing ability will be key factors. 

All these factors point to "the race will be won on the Run, don't loose it at the Start!" Many LYC sailors took the tactic of approaching the line from below the pin, on port tack, sailing below the pin end at about 45 seconds and looking for a hole to tack into. Even if they didn't get it, they could recover in the race pretty quickly by virtue of being at the favored end. I think this was a prudent approach! When starting in Current-Against-Wind, I find it conservative to:

*Set up well below the line - the current will carry you up at GO

*Skew towards the pin (easy to get cought barging at the boat end) even setting up below the pin layline.

*Use a good conservative Line sight - easy to see when most of the fleet is not on the line!

*Know that I will be sailing downind lower than a beam reach for the majority of the sequence. 

The less wind there is, the more current affects you. We endured a 4th general recall, before the wind died below 3 kts and racing became untenable. After a team luncheon on the parent's boat, the breeze finally began to build to the north-west, and Race 1, Take 5 finally got off around 2pm. 

The LYC sailors did an excellent job tuning up as soon as there was breeze, and excelled in a race of 10-12kts and slack current. Justin and Mitchell won each fleet, with Jonathan 2nd behind Justin, and  Giulio 5th, Garret 7th, and Lucy 11th! LYC sailors recognized the lack of current, and actually took advantage of a hesitant fleet, with almost every sailor (except those prevented from racing by their morning Black Flags) starting well in the front row.

Justin (far right) leading with Jonathan (3rd) Giulio (6th) Lucy (10th) and Garret (12th) on the reach leg of Race 1 Saturday afternoon. 

The next race brought slightly increasing breeze. In both races, the boat end was favored, but the wind shifts were oscillating - you had to be able to hold a lane on starboard to consolidate towards the next left shift. The best strategy was to start about a third down from the boat and stay in phase with the 3 or so shifts on the first beat. End of racing saw LYC sailors all over the leaderboard, with Mitchell in 1st, Justin 2nd, Jonathan 4th, Giulio 9th, Joey 10th, and Garret 13th. Garrett could have been even higher - he was leading the 2nd race, but a couple small errors in covering and staying with the wind shifts, as well as a sketchy tack led to him plowing the windward mark. Lucy swamped on the reach of the 2nd race - unfortunate given that she had the speed to stay in ~11th for 3 legs of the first race. 

Sunday:

Sailing out to the course on Sunday morning. The breeze built to 25kts by the first start.

A 7:45am Harbor start meant sailors arrived and rigged in the dark. Given the temps in the low 50's and breezy forecast. We did some "kinetic stretching" as a team to get warmed up and talked about the challenges of the day along with the projected wind and current. The sailors sailed out over 1.5 miles to the course in 15-18kts, which quickly built to 25kts! To de-power to cope with these near-survival conditions, the lightest sailors would, at most:

*Tighten outhaul to creat a horizontal crease.

*Pull boom to ~3" above the transom to put on boom vang - then when the sheet is released the vang
          is so taught the mast bends. 

*Ease sprit so the top of the sail sags to leeward.

*Lift Daggerboard 5"

*Sheet no closer than boom 3" off the corner.

I stress that these are the "at most" absolutely-need-to de-power settings. Keep as much power as you can handle! Some larger sailors were able to sail with sprit tight, the daggerboard only up 2" and sail 2" off the corner (still cranked vang) and do quite well! Focus on hiking extended out from the boat as far as possible, and keeping as much foot-mode as possible - it is more important to drive the boat fast forward than to point in these survival conditions. This may seem counterintuitive to those of you used to "feathering up" when hit by a gust, but the aerodynamic drag of real heavy air is soo much that it becomes inhibiting if you try to point. Light sailors can still be competitive with good technique and proper tuning. Jacob Zils was way above his other finishes in the top 9-12 when his race was called due to too much wind, and the similarly sized Stephan Baker was in 2nd. 

Oh yes, the race was called off because there was too much wind. Sailors began sailing upwind towards shore, while coach and support boats cast a wide net behind them and eventually brought all in upon the towline.

I fully believe our team was ready to excel going into the morning's racing. However, not getting to race the first try was disappointing, and having to sit on shore for 4 hours while the 27kt wind persisted and the race committee deliberated proved challenging to many of our sailors. At 12:30pm, the race committee gathered competitors and told them they would be going back out, albeit much closer to shore, to sail a final race.  Against their coaches wishes and unbeknownst to us at the time, a couple sailors had de-rigged their sails! There was a mad dash to get out on the water, and I honestly felt the kids didn't have enough time to tune up on the racecourse. Jonathan was a little overpowered, and we didn't have a chance to get a feel for the magnitude or the timing of the shifts (we were sailing just off the St. Pete Pier, with a long, low, sweeping cove to windward - The breeze was coming from North of the City) which hurt Mitchell among others.

One also has to consider the mental challenges that come with Leading. Holding a lead in a race or a regatta, is one of the hardest things to do and too often one succumbs to one of the following trifecta of mental pitfalls:

*Thinking maintaining your position will be easy

*Thinking your position is too high for you and you must do something extra to maintain it. 

*Focusing on the result rather than the process that got you there.

 
 This final point works cyclically as follows:

Good Focus on Process ---->Good initial Result ---->Pre-ocupation with Result ----->Lack of focus on Process----->Worsening of results! 

I dont purport to ever fully understand the contents of a student's brain, but have a suspicion that some of these factors may have led to inconsistencies in results. The best way to maintain a lead in a race or series is to continue to do the little things that got you there.  After this regatta, sailors like Giulio who got a 5, 7, and Bobby who had a 17,18 should see that they can race at a really high level (!) while executing a conservative strategy.  When you believe you can do the little things better than your competitors then you will have the confidence to avoid unnecessary risks. 

Practice

I took 10 Gold Sailors out to the ocean in 30kts 3 Sundays ago, and it paid off at this regatta! Championships will be raced in extreme conditions on both the heavy air and light air ends of the spectrum, and you need to make the most out of your opportunities to practice in these fringe conditions! 

The sailors really deserve a lot of credit for their practice effort on the Friday practice before the regatta. Here's a couple of the videos I shot in awesome conditions! The waves were more head on on port tack and we had a chance to do a fair amount of speedwork.  I'v voiced many and typed a few comments - sailors should look to make their own additional observations!

Lucy doing it with weight! Minimal rudder movement. Compare sail setup (lack of wrinkles) to later videos. 

Really good example of how to keep the bow in contact with the waves using body movement. Note the relaxed hand position, eyes focused on the waves.

Sailing cross chop is kind of like sailing swell! You have a long trough to build speed in, but you have to meet the wave crest at your highest pointing angle to punch through without being swept down! 

Both sailors underpowered  for different reasons - Jonathan has so little sprit his sail is twisting off and spilling air, Mitchell is just under-trimmed. Both result in not quite enough hiking (not enough drive or balancing force being applied).   Mitchell gets it together when he tacks on to Starboard, and shows some nice sailing. To their extreme credit, Mitchell and Jonathan both corrected the issues in the video (we watched on my laptop at the end of practice) and were unquestionably 2 of the fastest upwind sailors in the regatta Saturday.

I hope to resolve some technical difficulties to get the Connor video up. See you at Practice.


Arthur Blodgett