I am in Hayling Island, UK for the Laser World Championships.
The Canadian Team is training here August 20-29 and the Worlds run August 30th - September 5th.
Click on read more for daily reports.
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Monday, August 30
Today was the first day of racing. We had a medium offshore wind with significant pressure and direction changes making the racing quite tricky. In the first race I had a good start and was able to get myself cleanly out to the first puff on the left. I hitched back out left near the top of the beat and missed out on some pressure and lost to a pack on the right. I had a good first run and second beat, and passed 3 boats on the last beat to finish 20th. In the second race I did not do a good job of identifying the favoured end and started in the middle of the line, and was significantly behind the group of boats that started near the pin. I did not have a good first run and leeward mark rounding, but was able to make gains on the final half of the course to finish 33. Racing continues tomorrow with another 2 qualifying races scheduled.
Weather: Partly cloudy, 18 degrees, 5-10 knots
Tuesday, August 31
Today was a tough day at the office for me. The wind was quite light and we had a strong current making the racing very tricky. I did not account for the current well on the starts and did not get off the line well. In the first race I came out in okay shape but went up the wrong side of the course and lost out when the wind went right. In the second race I did not have a good start but was able to get clear quickly. I missed a few pressure lines near the top of the first beat and faded throughout the race. I posted a 48,46 today dropping me to 124.
Weather: Sunny, 20 degrees, 5 knots
Wednesday, September 1
Today we had a nice gradient wind with decent sized waves. In the first race I got a clear lane to the right and came back nicely with pressure to round the top mark in the top 20. I did not have a good reach, but made up 10 boats on the second beat and finished 18. In the second race I got out nicely again and rounded in the top 20, but did not have good pace on the reach. I lost out a bit on the second beat, but was able to make some gains on the final beat to finish 27th.
Weather: Sunny, 20 degrees, 12 knots
Thursday, September 2
Today I had to sail a solid day in order to remain in the silver fleet. I started well today and rounded the weather mark in good position but got run over on the first reach. In the first race I was able to make some gains on the second run and finished 24. In the second race I was higher up to begin and dropped a few throughout to finish 22.
Weather: Sunny, 20 degrees, 12 knots
Friday, September 3
Today's conditions were quite similar to Wednesday's, but with the current a bigger factor many boats were black flagged (a total of 39 BFDs in the senior fleet today), including myself in the first race. In the second race I had a clean start at the boat end. I didn't play the first beat as well as I had hoped, but rounded the weather mark in the top 20. I did not go the right way on the run and found myself back in the pack at the bottom, but was able to make some gains to finish 28 in the race. Two days of racing remain.
Weather: Sunny, 20 degrees, 12 knots
------- Training -----
Saturday, August 21
After sorting out my charter equipment I sailed out and joined the training group for a short session. I did a few races with a large group before heading back in.
Weather: 20 degrees, partly cloudy, 15 knots
Sunday, August 22
Today the wind was lighter with some swell left over from the day before. We ran through some practice starts and races and had a good downwind back against the current.
Weather: 22 degrees, cloudy, 5-10 knots
Monday, August 23
Day off
Tuesday, August 24
Today it was quite windy with winds in the 30-35 range and big waves. We did several races and I spent a fair amount of time swimming but it was good to get some practice in this amount of wind and some good pointers on what I was doing wrong.
Weather: 22 degrees, partly cloudy, 30-35 knots
Wednesday, August 25
When we first got out today it was quite light so we got some practice in light air. The wind picked up throughout the session and by the end we had nice hiking conditions.
Weather: 17 degrees, cloudy, 5 knots increasing to 18
Thursday, August 26
It was quite windy this morning with big waves, but by the time we got out the wind had come down to around 18 with the big waves left over. Again we ran some practice races.
Weather: 17 degrees, partly cloudy, 18 decreasing to 8
Friday, August 27
Day off
