Days 4 and 5 of the OCR saw not much change in the results but a lot of great racing.
The top 3 (ESP, Team MB, AUT) have distinguished themselves from the rest of the fleet and continue to dominate with only some occasional challenges from other teams. On day 4 we had lighter conditions of about 6-10 knots. We scored a 2-1-2 which sounds great, but the Spanish scored a 1-2-1. We only put points on 3rd and had to look forward to day 5.
Day 5 forecasted big breeze sailing, YES! Race 1 was shifty and puffy, and generally difficult sailing. We sat in 6th for most of the race with all the top guys close together in the front. We made a big play on an error of the fleet to slip into 3rd and made a brilliant last downwind play to finish 2nd. Between races the cold front and rain pushed through and we briefly had 30 knots on the course. Once things settled down we made some adjustments and got ready for a pretty breezy race with winds in the 20s. We had an okay start and worked the fleet as well as we could and rounded 3rd. We had a blasting reach and sketchy downwind but managed to hang on in 3rd. We had a tight battle with the Spanish the rest of the way around the track and just held them off to the bottom mark to stay even with them on the day.
Medal Race:
With tomorrow’s medal race scenario, heres where we stack up:
ESP -10
Team MB 0
AUT +6
We are guaranteed a medal because we have more than a 20 point lead on the remaining teams, so if we can put 6 boats between us and Spain and keep less than 3 boats between us and the Austrians than we win! Wish us luck but a top 3 finish is certain!
Day 2 was forecasted to be windier than day 1, but it ended up being the same, but with more puffs and shifts that made for difficult racing. We struggled a bit in the puffs, possibly to flat in our set up to really get going. Unfortunately for us it was a 3 race day. We scored a 6-3-6 and were not happy at the end of the day. We had slipped into 3rd place.
Day 3 we came out wanting to climb back up into winning contention. Forecast was supposed to be windy again but it turned out to be very light. We got a great stat at the pin 3rd and worked left to the breeze. Unfortunately the guys we need to beat got a good start near the pin, and were a bit bow out on us and first into the breeze. We rounded 3rd, and stayed there until the finish. Not many passing opportunities as it was a go left race course.
Race 2 we got an okay start, but not quite perfect. We worked the left side again as a righty proved to be better, and rounded about 5th. The breeze really started to drop out so we started making some pretty drastic calls to keep the boa moving. We gained on the run and off the bottom mark spotted all the breeze to be back to the left. We took a chance and winged it out right as the bay began to glass off. Somehow we had like .5 a knot more than anyone else and we sailed ourselves into 2nd with our competition caught deep right in glass. Unfortunately the RC decided to abandon the race as we rounded the top mark instead of finishing us. It was disappointing considering how much we had just raced, and not to receive a score. Oh well, another opportunity today. Wish us luck!
Sorry for all the delayed reporting, we’ve had a bit on preparing for the OCR. Where to start!?
Our new high performance director Kenneth did a great job organizing a pre OCR training camp with a lot of quality coaches. Unfortunately for me i showed up with an ankle injury that turned out to be a mild sprain i was walking on the last 5 days! Oops! Good thing for the expert PET services of Shawn down here, totally saved me for the regatta. As it turns out i have a loose tendon on the outside of my left ankle after i knocked it real hard last friday. Some exercises and lots of tape have held me together but it still hurts thru tacks occasionally. Should be good as new by the end of the regatta. Now i know what football players go thru.
I’ve also spent a bit of time messing around with a new toy, a pretty sweet helmet cam. I’ve already got some great footage and i cant wait to get it posted for everyone to see. A nice 20 knots with the cam would be awesome to.
Day 1
For race day 1 we had decent breeze, 8-12 with some difficult conditions.
After a few generals and a black flag the fleet managed to pull it together for a start and we were off. Our fellow Olympians from Spain decided to shut us out on the start and we ended up having to do a few tacks to find another lane. After a few minutes we looked up course and saw the Spanish a mile in front… We worked our shifts the best we could and managed a top 10 rounding. We passed 2 boats on the reach and closed on the lead pack. Downwind we threaded our way thru the middle to round 3rd, and remained there to the finish. Great way to open up a series.
Race 2 we decided right was the way to go and we had a great start near the boat end. We played the fleet only to make one small mistake to round 2nd at the top mark. However, with an inner course we were reminded pre start (Thanks Molly!) of an off-set. We watched the Spanish guys round and set immediately to a run while the rest of us headed for the off-set. As we took the lead on the downwind we continued to extend to the next mark. The lat upwind got a little funky with big puffs and lulls. Our pre Olympic training partners turned it on and pushed us super hard all the way to the finish. We had a really fun but intense battle with them, and in the end got the best of them to take a win.
At the end of the day we stand in 1st with 4 points, tied with our fellow Americans Charlie and Hans. Great work Team USA!
On Saturday night Anna Tunnecliffe, Chris Rast, and myself attended a panel style discussion at the NSPS here in San Diego. With Dean Brenner leading the session, we had a lot of fun sharing some stories and our experiences from the Olympic Games.
Shortly after the session Anna and I were rounded up by SailGroove, a new online media publication for sailing. Here you can check out my interview.
In other sailing news, i’ll be up at the ISAF Youth World Qualifier supporting our junior sailors in the mens I420 class. No, not as a coach but as a boatwright! Should be great to be able to watch and enjoy the racing, and hope there aren’t many breakdowns.
In moth related news, i’m bummed that i’ve missed a few opportunities to sail with still no boat, but hopefully that should change soon. There was a shipping mix up, and it’ll have to be put on a container ship to arrive in LA in 2-3 weeks time. Time is already being pushed on me for worlds with all my skiff and 470 sailing coming along as well!
