Sunday, July 10, 2011

Laser North Americans

I am in Brant Beach, New Jersey for the Laser North American Championships. Racing runs July 12-15. Results can be found at http://www.bbyc.net/LaserNAC/

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Sunday, July 10
Today was my first day of sailing in Brant Beach. I did a 2 hour session to check all my gear and to get a feel for the sailing conditions here. It was quite hot, and there was lots of seaweed. I have a little bit of boatwork to do, but other than that I am ready to go for racing on Tuesday.

Monday, July 11
Day off

Tuesday, July 12
Today was the first day of racing. We had an offshore westerly which made for very tricky racing with big differences in pressure and big shifts. In the first race I had a good start near the middle of the line, but with the pin end being favoured, some of the boats were able to tack out and cross. I was forced to work my way back to the top of the fleet. I rounded the weather mark around 10, passed 4 boats on the reach, a couple on the run and another two on the last beat to finish 3. In the second race I had a nice start at the leeward end and was up on the main pack on the left. A big right shift came through and never came back and I rounded 20ish. I made a couple of gains on the first reach and run, but went the wrong way on the second beat and lost a few again. I passed a couple of boats and got back to 16. In the last race I again started near the middle of the line, and again some boats were able to tack and cross from the leeward end. I rounded around 15, passed boats on the first run and played the second beat nicely and was 4th to the second weather mark. I passed one boat on the last beat to finish 3. After 3 races I am in 3rd.

Wednesday, July 13
Today was a very tricky day on the water. With light and variable winds it was very difficult to to figure out what part of the course was favoured. I had a tough time, and managed to combine not sailing too well with getting unlucky a couple of times. I sailed an 18,23,31.

Thursday, July 14
Today we had a strong northeasterly breeze in the morning. In the first race I had a decent start and picked the last two shifts on the first beat nicely to round the weather mark first. I lost a couple of boats on the run but held on to third place. In the second race I had a poor start, but was able to quickly get back towards the top of the fleet. I made the wrong gate call at the bottom and was stuck behind a pack of boats at the bottom of the second beat. I was quick on the run and passed a couple of boats to finish 7th. For the last race the wind had gone to the east. The race committee did not adjust the course enough which made for a very skewed start line and first beat. I was able to get out and rounded the weather mark around 10. I made a good move on the second beat, but tried to take my gain and bank it to the right where the wind had been coming from, but I got out of phase and lost a few of the boats I had passed. I was quick on the last run and finished 7th. Tomorrow is the last day of racing. Two more races are scheduled, and with one more race we will get a second drop.