2003 spa regatta- Holland

I arrived in Holland several days before the start of the SPA regatta to get tuned up with the racers who have been on the circuit for the last few months. It was apparent, that my speed was a bit off from the start but I hopefully after a few days, I would be able to find my speed.

Wednesday May 21st: 8-14 knots with small chop, wind offshore, oscillating closer to shore at the windward mark. Puffs were coming in from both sides so it was a gamble either direction up the first beat, I choose a conservative start at the pin and went to the left side but took a hitch back to find a clear lane. I was feeling really good on port and was able to climb on boards below me but when I tacked back to starboard, my pointing was completely off. Later I determined that it was the mast that was giving me problems and that I was sailing it somewhat differently than before. There were several large shifts at the top of the beat which I got caught on the wrong side of and had to tack 2 more times to fetch the mark. Downwind I was track forward most of the time with some of the lighter sailors getting their tracks back and passing me. Back upwind I held my position, sailing to the right middle. On the top reach I was also able to hold my own but blew the gybe and let the 2 guys close on my tail pass me. Downwind I worked hard and caught one but on the last fetch to the finish line he caught a puff from behind and went track back to edge me out.
Race 2: I started ½ way down the line and immediately tacked over to find a lane with a few boards on my leeward hip. I was able to get good speed and actually climb on the guys but again when I tacked back I had no angle whatsoever. Something really felt wrong with my mast and my rig on starboard tack. I tacked back to port hoping that the right side would be favored. Luckily it was and I made out well rounding in the top 10. Downwind though was another story as I struggled track forward while the majority of the fleet was track back and passing me in great numbers. Upwind I went to right side but it didn’t pay off as much as first time but I was able to hold my position relative to the rest of the fleet. Another slow downwind and I finished 24th.

Day 2: Lighter winds but just as shifty at the top of the course. I tried adjusting my mast but never really felt in the groove in the light stuff.
Race 3 I was over early. Not what I needed at this point in the regatta. My pointing off the line was really suffering. Once I got to the top mark I saw my number on the board with the other 7 boards that were over early and immediately dropped out. I was able to observe the rest of the race and really see how the top guys in the fleet are working hard the entire race. Even the bigger guys were able to get their track back and stay planning the entire downwind.

Race 4: Despite the mental imaging of getting off the line and having a good first leg, I managed to find myself on the wrong side of the course again. The right side was not the way to go. Downwind I really worked hard and was able to pass a few people. This was about the only good point of the race but I will take what I can if it means I am learning something along the way.
Day 3: first race 12-15 knots, shifty offshore breeze. I was really slow off the line and got worked out to the left side. I made a really big mistake and overstood the windward mark, thinking I was going to the other fleets mark. I think I lost 5 or 6 boards this way but never really got the chance to get back in the game. The only really good feeling I had today was off the start in race 6. I was able to squeeze out 2 guys immediately after the start and maintain a lane to the left. Unfortunately I was getting sandwiched in by footer above me and a pincher below me. I had to tack to get clear and thus missed the last 2 shifts up the beat.

Saturday May 24th: no racing due to light wind.
Sunday May 25th: probably the most important thing you can do at a regatta is to read the race instructions. I managed to get out to the course later and miss my start by 2 min. I decided it would be best to race and see how many boards I could catch. I did get a few and but learned the biggest lesson on my own with failing to get the correct start time.

Overall, I made some stupid mistakes in this regatta and never really felt like I was in the game. It is really important to train with the fastest guys in the fleet weeks before. Nonetheless I did manage to learn some things and will be better prepared for the next major regatta.

2003 Friday May 16- SF

First Friday night race of the season! Overall I had really good speed and angle tonight on most of the fleet as I’ve been on the water for the past month or 2 getting my gear tuned up for the SF Formula season. Tuned equipment makes a big difference in these short races, as speed is probably the most important thing here in a 7 min race. I was sailing my Mistral Devil 2 with R-12 Debocheit 70 cm fin with a north warp 9.8 in 15-20 knot breeze and flat water.

Race 1-Good start as I got popped out in front and got the inside shore lift while most of the fleet below me footed out to the breeze outside. I saw 1st 2 boards tack for layline and followed but flood was strong on inside and most of fleet including myself had to tack an extra 2 times to make it around the Anita rock. Downwind I sailed to the shore while breeze was still there. At leeward mark, I was right on US 882’s tail and tried to sail higher than him but with flood tide the better option was to foot. We both tacked at the same time but he got planning sooner and just crossed the finish line in front of me tacking 3rd.

Race 2- Good start with Bill Wier just ahead and the leeward. I had to duck him at layline as he tacked first and was on starboard. Rob Hartman was right up there as well but somehow sailed himself into a hole on the downwind and Bill and I rounded leeward mark close and both sailed on starboard towards the shore. Rob rounded right behind us and immediately tacked, getting out of the flood and managed to beat me across the line for 2nd.

Race 3-Again Devil2 and R12 fin upwind in flat water and medium wind was key. Ben Bamer on same setup as me rounded top mark just in front of me but I was able to get him downwind by sailing deeper and faster and once around the leeward mark covered him to the finish line! Finished 1st

Race 4-Exact repeat of race 2 with Bill and I battling it out. No major mistakes. Finished 2nd!

Race 5- The breeze was dying on the inside strong. The key in this race was going to be to remain in the breeze. My start was way down at the pin end of the line with as much speed as I could get. I immediately popped out in front and stayed in the breeze the whole race, gibing immediately at Anita and tacking back to the outside at the leeward mark.

2003 Evestrom Regatta- SF

13 competitors in the formula fleet choose to give their Easter for 2 days of course racing on the San Francisco city front. I was a little worried as I only had a 9.8m2 rig to sail with while the majority of the fleet had 11.0m2 sails in the light to medium wind. Despite this I had a great regatta finishing first overall, and learning a lot of rules in the meantime!

Day 1: 3 races on SF city front with 4k flood tide entire day! Winds were 8-12k and built to 15k by the end of the day. First race I got off the line a bit slow but managed to work my way up the fleet by staying out of the current and tacking up the shore the entire beat. Downwind it was a race to get out to the middle where the tide was flooding strong. I rounded bottom mark in 3rd behind Chris Radkowski and Bill Wier only to be passed by Alan Prussia later up the beat when the wind fell to below 10k. Nonetheless I finished a close 4th. The 9.8 m2 rig just wasn’t big enough in the light stuff nor does the Formula board respond to pumping like the IMCO board.
Race 2: After a collision with Bill Wier on the starting line, I was able to get untangled and use the same strategy of staying out of the flood upwind to get ahead of the pack and maintain a decent lead. I managed to stay ahead the entire race and finish 1st. The biggest lesson here was to avoid collisions at all cost, no matter who’s at fault. After a debriefing with the R.C. after the race we came to the conclusion that a protest would have been disallowed,it was unclear who was at fault and that we both sailed into the wind shadow of the R.C boat and lost control of our steerage. The rules for windsurfer can be a bit different than that of traditional sailing and thus need some better interpretations.
Race3: Tight battle again between Bill Wier and I the whole race. Our speed was almost identical and I made 1 small mistake that he capitalized on and beat me by 10 seconds. Breeze was filling in from right side and flood diminishing. I sailed to right corner and rounded top mark in 1st with Bill hot on my trail. Downwind he called the layline perfect and gybed leaving me to gybe a few seconds later. Rounding the leeward mark 10 seconds back I immediately tacked to get back to the right side. I was hoping for some separation but he tacked to cover and never let up to the finish.
Day 2: 10-12k with 3k flood tide. Later in day the breeze built to 15 but still shifty. My pre race strategy was to the right side. Somewhere up the first beat of the first race I got stuck over to the left where the breeze was dying. Another interesting rules incident on the 1st beat with Alan Prussia and JK. I went to duck Alan as he tacked below JK on starboard but in the process clipped the clew of his sail-knocking him in the water. Did he tack too close or did I fail to keep clear of a leeward boat sailing his proper course? The definition of a sailboard tacking is not clear in the rules, again it applies to boats that luff! Regardless it was slow and collisions need to be avoided at all cost. 2nd upwind leg I was able to gain some of the ground I lost by sailing out to the breeze and finished 3rd behind JK and C-Rad.
Race5: Good start with C-Rad right above me. Sailing in SF city front brings on some interesting rules with the sea wall acting as obstruction and calling room to tack. Sailors on port tack actually have the right of way over starboard for a few moments after they tack to keep clear of the wall. Fortunately there was no contact and we sailed on. I was able to get out in the lead again and maintain the lead to the finish by staying in the breeze the entire race.
Race 6: Interesting situation developed after 2nd upwind mark. I was leading and turned to go back downwind to sail remainder of race but the rest of the fleet sailed to the upwind finish line. I was either dead wrong or the one person sailing the course right! I would have to wait to sail what I thought was the right course till I could find out. Luckily my instincts were right and I was the only person to get scored for the race.

Overall my speed and tactics felt good, it was just a few small mistakes that other people capitalized on where I lost out. Good reassurance in the beginning of the season. Great regatta and thanks to St Francis Yacht Club for invited formula fleet at last minute.

2003 Midwinters-

I've just returned from a bit of cross training in Florida where I competed in the Calema Midwinter Championship in Merritt Island, FL on the first weekend in March. The event was sailed on Formula boards, a bit different from the Olympic class windsurfer, but the same tactics and board handling! The wind was lighter than expected over the 3 days but we got 6 good races in to complete the series with 82 sailors in the formula fleet. I had some new sails and a fast Mistral board thanks to a sponsorship from NorthSports and help from Micah Buzianis.

Day One: 3 races in light rain and wind at 10-12k. My starts have improved much and I was able to get off the line with speed and in front row. Up wind I was just behind the main pack but speed seemed to suffer some downwind with a 10.9 m2 sail-just not big enough in the light stuff. We sailed Olympic trapezoid course with 3 upwind and downwind legs so my position was going back and forth with each leg by a few positions. Only one major mistake the first day at the end of race 3 where I fell on a gybe on the last downwind leg- losing 10-12 boards in the process. Overall my finishes were decent with a 18, 13 and 30.

Day two: the wind never developed to anything steady over 6 knots so they called the racing for the day at 4pm.

Day three: With the wind back, racing started at 10:30. First race of the day saw another good start at the pin end and good upwind performance. I was able to hang in there downwind with the big sails as the wind was around 12-15 k. I finished 20th in a fleet of 82 boards. The next race the fleet was quite anxious and we had 2 general recalls with the black flag up. This means that who ever is over the starting line before the start automatically get thrown out for the race, Needless to say I was a bit more cautious at the start but managed to get off the middle of the line with speed. I played the shifts upwind and was able to squeeze around the first mark in 10th but caught my fin on the anchor line and went over the handlebars, loosing more than a few boards in the process. It was catch up from there and I ended up finishing deep around 30th. By the next race there were more holes in the course than steady wind but managed to pump and sail consistently to finish 22nd. This was good enough to get my 3rd in the lightweight class-as most of the sailors in the formula class outweighed me by 20 or more pounds! Overall I finished 19th in the fleet and was happy with my results.

2002 IMCO Worlds- Thailand

I left San Francisco on Friday, November 22 for the 2002 IMCO World Championships in Pattaya, Thailand. 16 hours later I arrived in Bangkok. Needless to say it took me a few days to get adjusted and comfortable in my new surroundings. Like most of the other westerners, I got sick after a few days and was out of commission for close to 36 hours. After a quick recovery, I was back on the board ready for action.
My goals for the regatta were to get as much experience as possible for future races. This was my first major championship in over a year, and I knew results would only come after months of competition and training. There were 3 other members of the US Sailing team in Thailand vying to qualify the US for the 2004 Olympic regatta. Our coach, Pierre Jeangerard was also onboard for the training before the regatta. For 2-5 hours every day, we practiced speed and tuning and well as pumping drills. Towards the end of the afternoon session we would line up against sailors for New Zealand, Australia, France, Canada, Mexico and Japan to test our skills. At the end of each day we would review the video that Pierre shot and analysis out sailing technique to see what we could improve on. My light air sailing technique was improving but I felt as thought my board speed wasn’t up to par at all with the majority of the fleet. This could have been my weight-at 170 lbs I am one of the heavier sailors in the fleet-but I tried to think that if I worked harder I could keep up the pace.
For 5 days, this routine continued. Off the water, I was able to see and experience some of Thailand. One of the best things Pattaya Beach had to offer was the resort like setting. There were probably 20 spots along the beach to get a massage, and for $5 an hour, I took advantage of it afternoon.
Nov. 28: 1st day of Siam Cup-a warm up regatta before worlds. The breeze so far had not gotten much above 12 knots in the week and a half since I arrived. Light wind was in the forecast for the next week. With 5-10 knots on the water, a course was set not far from shore-with more breeze in the open water but a geographical lift near shore. What to do? I chose to sail towards the land in hopes that the lift from the land would pay off, but it was apparent that speed would be the dominating factor in these marginal conditions.
By the third race the wind finally came up to 12-15 knots and I was rounding in the middle of the fleet with finishes much better. I was trying to focus on maintaining a positive attitude despite my lackluster results.
The first day of the world championship bought with it a magnificent thunderstorm that caused a delay to racing.
Race 1: 3-6 knots. Current was with wind. Wind was filling in from right side but sometimes patchy there. Off the line I was really slow in a fleet of 60 boards, it took 2 tacks to get clear air. I tried to play the shifts up the middle right and got to the starboard lay line too early and a big left shift came + the combination of an adverse current; I had to tack 5 times to get around the windward mark. I lost a lot of places here and realized left was the way to go. By that time I was way behind the fleet and sailing through the dirty air trying to catch up. The R.C had shortened the race to finish at the next top mark with the dying wind. I went to the left side but not far enough as the boards who went further finished in front of me.
Race 2: Wind 8-12 knots dropping to 5-8. I started at pin end of line heading to what I thought was the favored side of the course. Somewhere upwind I got caught out of phase with the oscillating breeze. Downwind the wind really died and I lost a few more boards that gybed inside and caught a breeze near the shore.
Race 3: Better start and I kept working strong up the beat. I rounded in the middle of the pack but again lost several boards downwind sailing through the adverse current. The most important part of the race is the pre start preparing and the 1st 5 minutes of the beat. It is you can gain or lose the most in a relatively short period of time.
Race 5: 12-14 knots. Better conditions for me. Start was close to favored pin end. I tacked 30 seconds after the start to get over to right side. Right shift arrived and I was 20th at the windward mark. I wasn’t able to keep the same angle downwind as most others around me. Upwind the left side paid off again but downwind I was realized that I would have to work harder and more efficiently.
Race 6: Wind was out of the NW with current more or less the same. I felt as though I could point better on starboard tack but was getting killed on port tack. I didn’t get to the breeze line soon enough and boards 100 meters away were walking away with double my speed. The wind finally settled to the right side with me on the left corner-not the best place to be but I got to see the whole race unfold in front of me. A special thanks to the St. Francis Foundation for their generous grant which helped me cover the cost of traveling to Thailand.

2002 Olympic Pre-Trials

2000 trials

October 25th-I arrived at the US Sailing center in Marin county several days before the event so that I could become familiar with the site as well tune up against my competition. My first observation was that this was going to be a light and shifty regatta. After a few hours of tuning it was apparent that the lighter sailors had a real advantage in the light wind. This is because they can rail the board sooner –by hanging their weight off the rig and plane upwind. But on the other hand, I had a good advantage of strength and leverage with my height. I was able to get some good video of myself sailing upwind as our coach Pierre was filming in a boat behind us. Later that night we analyzed the video and found what worked and what didn’t. My light wind sailing skills were improving but I had a lot of work to before I could get to the top of the fleet in these conditions.

Race1: light winds 6-8 knots and shifty. A thunderstorm was moving in from the south. At start, I didn’t have sail trimmed correctly and suffered by not getting off in front row. I kept sailing to the left side, thinking it was favored but now I realized in the light stuff, clear air is more important! Somehow I never managed to get back into hunt and finished 5th.

Race 2: After a brief rainsquall, the R.C. started the next race. I had a much better start and got off the line clean. I choose the left side, which was the right thing to do since the first shift was coming from the left. Immediately I tacked over and was in good position rounding the top mark. The gains made by the shifty winds were very apparent with the positions changing on each leg. The next upwind leg, I had the unfortunate experience of sailing on a lift that kept going. It became apparent that Id sailed myself into the corner and had to sail the on the lay line for 10 minutes…not the right choice in this race. Again finished 5th
Race 3: wind is up a bit from previous races at 8-14 knots, still shifty. I get off the line good and into clear air thinking life is good. I round top mark in the top bunch but somehow got out finessed downwind and slip back to 5th. It is becoming apparent that I’m right behind the top 3 guys but still making some stupid mistakes and finding myself stuck in 5th place. I give it my all the last up wind and am able to slip back into 4th by catching the last upwind shift at the top mark. Smart sailing! Still I’m off the pace...hope it blows tomorrow!
Race 4: I’m just a few points out of 4th and only a few more out of 3rd. Wind is like yesterday, light and shifty, nothing over 12k! Good start and play the shifts upwind to the right side where I’m able to round in the top bunch again. I hold my position strong and finish 4th.


Race 5: Things are really starting to lighten up. The wind must have been at 8 knots and really hot. They give us a 30 min break in between races but to no avail. The heat is taking its toll. I start off strong but wasn’t able to hold my momentum through out the race and struggle to finish in 5th place again.
Race 6:Exhausted from the previous 2 races in non planning winds, I was hoping they would call it a day but the R.C. ran another race I started cleanly at the pin end and got to the breeze on the left hand side first and tacked and was a clear shot to the first mark in the breeze. I rounded 1st and kept going strong downwind with the fleet on my tail. At the downwind gate, I had the choice of going left or right. I choose the right side. Wrong decision as I got stuck in a hole and let the top 4 guys sail by me. Somehow I manage to stay in 5th. A lot of up and downs this race.This was the end of the regatta as the wind never materialized on Sunday.
Overall impression-A lot of work to do especially in the light air. This would be a good tune up for the World Championship next month in Thailand