Laser Canadians

I am in Vancouver this weekend for the Laser Canadian Championships. Results can be found here.

Click on read more for daily reports.
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Thursday, July 2
Today I went for a short sail to make sure all my equipment was in order. Racing starts tomorrow. Five races are scheduled per day, with three days of racing.
Weather: Sunny, 25 degrees, west, 15 kts

Friday, July 3
Today was the first day of racing. Racing started out in a medium westerly, with barely hiking conditions. In the first race I had a poor start and was back of the leaders. I was fouled at the first windward mark and got hung up on the weather mark. I got fouled again at the second weather mark and was unable to catch up and finished 11th. In the second race I had a good start and sailed a solid race to finished 2nd. In the third race I again had a tough start and found myself back of the pack. There was not many passing lanes with the left side of the course so favoured and I was not able to come back more than to 11th. Racing continues tomorrow. In the last race the wind went light and shifty. I did not have a great start, but a group of boats near the committee boat were going quite slowly off the start so I found myself in good shape and rounded the windward in 5th. I passed a couple of boats and lost a couple throughout the race to finish 5th.
Weather: Sunny, 25 degrees, W-NW, 5-10 kts

Saturday, July 4
Today we were racing close to shore and hitting the left side upwind became crucial in order to get out of the current. If you did not have a good start and were forced to tack out you were bleeding distance. In the first race I had a good start and sailed a good second beat to finish 2nd. In the second race I lost my lane off the start but was able to come back a bit and finished 6th. In the third race I had an okay start, but came back from the left hand side too early and found myself well behind of the leaders and finished a disappointing 9th. In the next race I had a good start and good pace, rolling 3 boats holding my lane the whole way out on starboard. I called the layline correctly, passing some boats who overstood. I sailed quickly throughout the race and finished 2nd. In the last race I again lost my lane off the start, but some of the faster boats also did not have great starts. Again I called the layline correctly and gained on the boats ahead, rounding the weather mark 2nd. I sailed a quick run and rounded the bottom 1st, and extended on the second beat. I lost one boat on the final run to finish 2nd. I am currently in 3rd overall. Racing continues tomorrow, with a second drop coming into effect.
Weather: sunny, 26 degrees, W-NW, 8-16 kts

Sunday, July 5

Today was the last day of racing. Racing started out in a medium northwesterly with lots of chop. In the first race I didn't have a great start, but found a lane quickly. I tacked a little too late on to port at the top of the course, and did not have clean air, costing me a lot of distance to the leaders. I found myself trying to catch up, but was only able to get back to 12th. In the second race I again lost my lane off the start and found myself trying to catch up. The leaders were too far sprung and I could only get back to??. In the third race I started further down the line to try to get out to the left side of the course first, but lost out on a slow right hand winder, and was again behind at the first windward. I made gains on the second beat but only got back to 9th. In the last race I had a good start, but again did not have a great lane back on port at the top of the course and rounded the weather mark in 8th. Before we could get to the leeward mark the wind spun 180 and the race committee shortened the course.I was able to pass a couple of boats to finish 6th. I finished 5th overal in the 51 boat fleet. I was disappointed to have lost two spots on the last day, but I simply did not sail well enough. Now I am back in Kingston for a couple of days of down time before I go to St. Margaret's Bay for a training camp.
Weather: Partly cloudy, 22 degrees, NW, 8kts