For more of Shawn's photos click here
Most of the fleet had their 9.0's or stayed on the beach. There was no shame in using the chicken, double chicken and even super chicken straps to get around the course in one piece.
With only 2 more races needed for a throwout I was ready for anything and ready to give everything.
Race 1 started with Seth and I getting off the line well on starboard and carrying it into the seawall in front of StFYC. As we tacked and headed up wind, I had a slight advantage with my height and was able to climb on Seth. We rounded the top mark overlapped- well in front of the rest of the fleet who was struggling to stay upright in the challenging conditions. Off the breeze we rode it into the beach as far as we could- going deeper with each puff. I had a slight advantage here as well being able to go deeper and faster with the double chicken strap on the Mikes Lab board. I rounded just in front of Seth but soon realized we were on the same tangent as on the Blue and Gold ferry. We were forced to tack and split from the fleet who was rounding behind us. With a small hitch to the middle it was evident we didn't lose much to the rest of the fleet.
I put the pressure back on and by this time we were overlapped again at the top mark.
Coming downhill was a wild ride through the voodoo chop just west of crissy field and a careful gybe in front of the beach- full of spectators. Again I was able to carry it longer and go deeper getting better position for the next rounding. Seth was still inside with the overlap and I had to give him room at the rounding. With just enough to spare- I had a smooth rounding while Seth was still transitioning from his rounding. I got the jump and was able to put some distance on by the top mark. I rounded a good 10 seconds ahead but went for a quick dip trying to find the chicken strap while rounding.
We again were overlapped with only 1 more leg to go. Only 1 move left to make and that was to split tacks. I immediately gybed and had better angle in the middle of the course while Seth ran into some lighter stuff near shore and got lifted. As we crossed again at the bottom of the course- I had enough to cross and finish in 1st.
Wow what a great feeling- I was visualizing myself in this position all week and now was finally able to put it together.
Back to the beach for a quick break then 1 more race. After a quick breakdown of the scores- I was now ahead of Eric by 1 point for 2nd overall. All I needed to do was finish not worse than 1 point behind him for a tie and I would win the tiebreaker. To be safe I needed to stay in front of him and sail a conservative race.
Race 2 started with just as much wind but noticeably less sailors were on the line as the weeks racing had taken its toll. During the prestart another sailor fell just in front of Eric and I- who I was trying to keep careful control of. Eric got a bit ansy to clear himself from the tangled mess and jumped the gun and was over early early. Maybe I wouldn't have to do much at all.
After a quick dip he was back pushing in 3rd at the top mark.
I got off clean was even inside and climbing on Seth during the first beat. I backed off a bit- knowing that I didn't need to risk it all to win- just to stay in front of 3rd place. With that said. I sailed conservatively the rest of the race just staying alive in 2nd place. On the last beat upwind I thought- barring disaster Ive got 2nd wrapped up. With that thought I felt a slip and looked down only to see my harness bar has literally folded in half. Well at least I was still hooked in- not pretty with a dangling hook at my waist but manageable. Eric was a good distance back so I kept my composure on the last upwind and downwind - trying not to load up my bar too much. One last gybe to the finish and to cross in 2nd and take 2nd overall.
Finishing on a high note really made me happy. Earlier in the week I was just trying to shift mental gears and get over the broken mast on the first day. I knew it would come down to the end and there wasn't much I could do about it except give it my all.2nd place earns me a spot to the worlds later this year in Brazil as well as the other guys in the top 5.
Heres the overall results:
U.S. Windsurfing Nationals and North American Championship
Series Standing - 10 races scored
Pos Sail Skipper 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Total
Points Pos
1 USA 64 Seth Besse 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 [2] 1 9.00 1
2 USA 4 Steven Bodner [41/DNS] 4 4 4 5 2 5 5 1 2 32.00 2
3 44 Eric Christianson 6 7 [12] 2 3 5 2 2 4 3 34.00 3
4 S 3 Steve Sylvester 3 5 3 6 [13] 8 4 4 3 5 41.00 4
5 22 Ben Bamer 2 2 2 14 2 [41/DNF] 9 9 6 4 50.00 5
6 46 David Wells 5 3 7 3 [9] 7 7 7 5 6 50.00 6
7 USA 882 Al Mirel 8 6 [13] 7 6 4 3 3 7 10 54.00 7
8 USA VYV Mike Perecy 4 9 5 5 8 6 6 6 10 [11] 59.00 8
9 G- 42 Andreas Macke 10 [13] 8 9 4 3 11 11 8 8 72.00 9
10 K Ron Kern 7 10 9 8 [11] 11 8 8 9 7 77.00 10
11 42 Fernando Martinez [41/OCS] 14 10 10 10 10 10 10 11 9 94.00 11
12 a Soheil Zahedi 12 11 14 11 7 9 14 14 [41/DNS] 16 108.00 12
13 USM 9 Uwe Dreyer 15 12 6 18 18 20 13 13 [41/DNS] 19 134.00 13
14 P Tavis Perez 13 19 18 [22] 14 15 17 17 13 12 138.00 14
15 US V Gabor Vagi 11 16 27 15 23 12 19 19 16 [41/DNS] 158.00 15
16 AP Alan Prussia 9 15 21 12 12 [41/DNF] 16 16 41/DNS 17 159.00 16
17 US 51 Alex Ioanide 18 17 [22] 19 21 14 20 20 17 13 159.00 17
18 USA 86 Royce Yen [24] 23 11 17 19 16 23 23 14 14 160.00 18
19 US 552 Derek Nielsen 16 8 25 21 15 13 15 15 [41/DNS] 41/DNS 169.00 19
20 BEL 29 Christophe Waerzeggers 14 18 17 16 17 17 18 18 [41/DNS] 41/DNS 176.00 20
21 US 1166 Jon Ernst 29 20 24 13 16 18 12 12 [41/DNS] 41/DNS 185.00 21
22 Mac Jim McGrath 17 21 28 27 [29] 22 26 26 12 18 197.00 22
23 246 Lyn Preuit [28] 24 23 23 25 21 28 28 15 15 202.00 23
24 223 or 11 John Davenport 27 22 20 26 22 19 30 30 [41/DNS] 20 216.00 24
25 USA 314 Bryan McDonald 22 [29] 29 28 27 24 24 24 19 21 218.00 25
26 FIN- 196 Lasse Uronen 23 26 26 25 26 26 29 29 18 [41/DNS] 228.00 26
27 VHV David Hop 19 [41/DNS] 16 24 24 25 25 25 41/DNS 41/DNS 240.00 27
28 JK Jim Kiriakis 20 [41/DNS] 19 20 20 41/DNF 21 21 41/DNS 41/DNS 244.00 28
29 US 213 Myles Borash 26 [41/DNS] 41/DNF 29 28 23 22 22 20 41/DNS 252.00 29
30 US - 188 Alex Morales 25 [41/DNS] 15 30 31 41/DNS 32 32 21 41/DNS 268.00 30
31 US 8 Gary Peer 21 27 30 31 30 27 31 31 [41/DNS] 41/DNS 269.00 31
32 988 Richard Adam Darriau [41/DNS] 25 31 34 32 41/DNF 34 34 41/DNS 41/DNS 313.00 32
33 21 Lynn Olinger 30 [41/DNS] 32 33 33 41/DNF 41/DNF 41/DNF 41/DNF 41/DNS 333.00 33
34 940 Bill Martinson [41/DNS] 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 27 27 41/DNS 41/DNS 341.00 34
35 US 54 John Stienstra [41/DNF] 28 41/DNF 32 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 347.00 35
36 USA 82 Robert Montgomerie [41/DNS] 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 33 33 41/DNS 41/DNF 353.00 36
37T Bill Weir [41/DNS] 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 369.00T 37T
37T TXN Kirk Simmons [41/DNS] 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 369.00T 37T
37T Z Jean Rathle [41/DNS] 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 369.00T 37T
37T USA 45 Michael Gebhardt [41/DNS] 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 41/DNS 369.00T 37T
Below is a video from OOTO Paul with some highlights from the course racing:
(credit Paul Buelow ooto.com)
Shawn Davis photos http://www.picyourshot.com/keyword/nationals%20day%205
Chris Ray photos at www.printroom.com/pro/crayivp
More photos from Chuck Lantz @ www.chucklantz.com
Check out the video coverage from KTVU here
8 comments:
congratulations steve! job well done and what an excellent way to finish up nationals...strong! even after a FULL day of slalom the day before...you are solid man!
nice picture of usa 34 (should be 314) getting air on the city front :-)
Congratulations indeed on that excellent result! The conditions were harsh on that last day, so it seems, and BEL29 was eating humble pie in the Bay because he was out of range with his sails. But nevertheless judging from all the coverage it must be a great place to surf. Hope you will have as much fun in NL + neighboring countries. Good luck!
Way to go. Good sailing, good reporting. It must have awesome to beat the nearly-invincible Seth Besse that one time.
Something is a little "funny" about that picture with the broken harness!
Yes -for sure getting 1st in race 9 was a highlight for my regatta!
Little Paul was on the beach when I came in and took a great photo capturing full emotion- Ill post it as asap.
Seth always makes it interesting to race against.
Harness bar disaster on last 2 legs of race 10 was indeed another lesson on how to stay calm in the face of disaster. The photo show me breathing a sigh of relief just to have finished.
humble pie- yes I remember my first 3 seasons in SF being like that. It was great Chris came to the event- Im sure he'll be a better sailor when he returns to Belgium later this year because of the super chicken and SF voodoo chop!
Im looking forward to sailing in NL again (after sevreral years ago @ the spa regatta) and Im sure will be tasting some of the same humble pie in a foreign fleet.
30 knots on a 9.0. That is mind boggling. Wow!
Hi Steve,
Good effort man. Are you still doing the RSX thing?
Catch up sometime.
Cheers Ray (NZL 0)
Hey Ray- good to hear from you again. Im trying to focus on just 1 or 2 things at a time now with formula and slalom making the top of the list. Hopefully will see you down at the Formula Worlds this December in Brazil!
Steve
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