Yesterday i had a photo shoot for “Ranch and Coast Magazine.” Or as a friend put it, a mag for people with horses and boats. Never thought i would be featured in a mag for such posh living. I dont know how exactly i’ll fit in with the magazine but hey, press is press. Sponsors US Sailing, Kaenon, and vitaminwater will be pleased to know they were in full frame. 

The last 2 racing days at Hyeres week went extremely well. We had only 4 finals races and we finally stepped up our game and finished just shy of the medal race. In the final 4 races we scored a 31-1-8-9 to bump us from 31st, then to 19th, then to 15th, finishing only 6 points from 10th. We found some new speed in the light stuff finally and are looking forward to the designs Kei will make for us to train with in Poland. Aside from not making the medal race, we had a great time in Hyeres, concluding with another awesome night with friends at the local SAX bar. Today we spent all day lounging around our chateau and watching the medal race. We found we got a great view from our roof as the course was just off our house. We cheered on all of our medal racers from our roof. Next up is a nice little “vacation” at home for a week before going back to work in europe. 

Racing was slightly delayed due to the high Mistral winds this morning. However, the race committee still decided to send us out in hope to get a race before the Mistral built, and so our qualifying series can conclude with a drop. Heading out to the course it wasn’t as windy as we had all expected as the Mistral hadn’t filled in completely across the bay. They favored the pin end of the line heavily, and we weren’t able to take full advantage of it. We had a poor start in bad air and when we finally got a lane out, we were tacked on again. We struggled up the first beat in breezy conditions where luffing both sails was necessary at times to keep from tipping over. While rounding the top mark we noticed the abandon race flag so we sheeted in and continued back to the harbor. I guess the rest of the fleet forgot to take notice as they continued to race down the reach and then onto the run setting their spinnakers. We were 2nd back into the harbor struggling against the conditions including one knock down puff that flipped us as it hit. All in all, nothing is broken, and we’ve made the final cut for gold fleet. Also a congrats to our Polish training partners of Patryk (21) and Kacper (17) who are still standing 2nd after 4 races. They must now finish top 26 to win their Olympic selections as their competition unfortunately didn’t make the cut for gold fleet. Stay tuned for some racing as tomorrow is supposed to be sailable.�

Day 2 of racing brought great breeze again but from the opposite direction. After a few recalls and a postponement, we finally got our first race off. We had a decent start at the pin end, and sailed off into clear breeze on the left side. We hooked into a nice left shift and sailed across most of the fleet. However we missed an even bigger left shift just before the mark and lost all that we had gained. Fortunately on the first reach we set low and took the low road in the breeze, and passed a huge group putting us right into the top 10. We sailed a great 2nd beat and made a great move inside on the run to pass a few more boats to take 5th at the line. For race 2, the breeze built a little more. We didnt get a great start off the line but were able to exit into a nice lane going right. We made a great initial gain, and tacked at a good time. We were looking very good but then missed another big shift before the mark to put us back. We pressed hard around the course, and had a few opportunities to pass a lot of boats, but somehow our speed seemed to be off which effected our decision making. We did make a great move on the last downwind to pass a lot of boats and we finished 18th. Tomorrows forecast looks really breezy. Hope we actually get to race!

Day 1 of racing brought big breeze. We were all set to go having Kei, the North Sails 470 sail designer riding with Nigel. We got a great start near the boat end in the first race, and carried our lane across the fleet. About when we were ready to tack, a big waved popped up out of nowhere and pulled Stu right out of the boat. We struggled around the rest of the race course trying to catch up, but the course was small. In the end we finished 26th. The disappointing thing about the race was the boat crossing us when we flipped finished 3rd, and the boat below us finished 4th. At least our tactics and speed were all set. Race 2 brought even more breeze and waves, with puffs into the mid 20s. We had a decent start near the pin and then found a great lane across the fleet. We rounded the first mark just outside the top 10 and caught a few on the run. Our next beat didnt go so well and we lost a few a big left shift. We did however keep the mast upright which seemed to help in the end with most of the fleet capsized or broken. We managed a 12th. Tomorrow is to be more of the same but from the opposite direction. We currently stand 40th/81.�

Its day 3 or 4 now, i cant really remember of being stuck in the house with a cold. No sailing, just internetting out all day and watching everyone else train in the classic Hyeres conditions. Jealous you might ask? No way. We had 6 days of nastiness and 2 days in Hyeres. We have all our settings dialed and fell good for Hyeres week. In the mean time coach Nige was smart enough to trailer the boat to the backyard to do gasket and mast work. Tomorrow i should be all good to go, and we’ll simply pull the boat across the yard, across the road, and launch from the beach. Classic late rockstar entry. Until then its back to oj, Rob & Big, and sleep.Â

Today while waiting for our sail designer Kei to arrive from North Sails Japan, the breeze was increasing. By the time we were rigged and ready to go we were kinda second guessing ourselves with a new mast up and slightly new sails. We went out deciding maybe just to go upwind and then not put the kite up. Thinking about the conditions on the way upwind, 30 knots, flat water, it was pretty enticing to break the 20 knot mark… So as we turned down after our tuning runs i let Stu know we were gonna do it. So we set off and immediately got cookin’. With too much spray for Stu to see where we were going, i was having to call puffs and lulls so we wouldnt wipe out. We only decided to drop as the rudder was on the edge of stalling the entire time. As we made it back to the dock we had wondered if we had actually done it. As soon as we got onshore i whipped out our VELOCITEK and found our top speed to be 21.0 knots and our best 10 second average to be 18.6 knots! Didn’t know these speeds were capable in a 470! Proof

While taking our mast down at the spring cup our goldspar now dubbed the black spar for its dark anodizing, we noticed it had a slight bend around the hounds. Dont know how this could have happened. I figured nothing was wrong as the section always seems to straighten under load. Stu and Nigel were convinced it affected our speed and we have now thrown up a new goldspar dubbed the silverspar for its normal silver anodizing. The mast has been tuned, and i spent a good 2 hours doing misc boat work this morning, so we should be almost all set for the week.

The 2008 Spring Cup finished rather uneventfully. The last 2 days were completely blown out and unsailable. Nigel and I even tried to take out the coach boat to check it out, and almost managed to flip backwards off a wave even at half throttle. After our near catastrophe we turned around and decided to pack up. All in all it was a great event. We managed to find our new breeze speed with a different version of the Goldspar, and are happy moving forward to Hyeres next week. We finished in 8th overall which was a good result considering the 4 days of 20+ racing we had!