NA's Update Day 3

I improved my boatspeed today, but failed in some other departments. In summary, it was a poor showing on my part and the results show it. I hit the weather mark in races 1 and 3, and had a late start in race 2 that I compounded into a back of the fleet finish. I think I have learned a few things though, so here they are:

• No wishful thinking when you are approaching the weather mark!
• When approaching the stbd layline on port, ask myself 1 tack or 3? Check out who is ahead of me on the left and the right.
• Avoid the bad air at the weather mark - I know this is obvious, but I spent some damaging time in bad air today thinking that I was on the layline when I wasn't. Being conservative doesn't mean avoid the layline forever. It might be more conservative to accept your position in the race, and get out to clear air on the layline.
• When you do go to the (upwind, stbd) layline, overstand by about the number of boatlengths equal to the number of boats ahead of you on your left, as they will each overstand about a boatlength more than the last.
• If you lee-bow a boat on the stbd layline and they hang there, don't get pinned if you can't make the mark. If you think you might not make it, foot for speed and separation so you can tack and duck at full speed. If you weren't sure if he was making it in the first place, then you should have ducked in the first place!
• Don't forget about the port tack lift behind the fleet off the start line - if you have to bail out.
• If you are going to cross a pack of boats upwind, go at least 5 boatlengths before tacking to weather of them. Give yourself the freedom to sail your best vmg without putting pressure on yourself to stay above a pack that could be pinching. This is especially important in light air, heavy air, and waves.
• In waves, do not depower too much! Keep some fullness in the outhaul and cunningham, when the pressure builds, use more vang to allow you to play the main. Push against the blades and try to climb with constant pressure. It does not feel loose and fast - it feels loaded. Push as much weight as you can. Also pay attention to angle to the breeze, it can need to change a lot. Sometimes you can coast right up to windward, but sometimes you have to really turn down to get the pressure on the sail and blades to build back up.

I am not meeting my expectations for this event, but the primary goal is to learn. Tomorrow, the focus is to put together what I know and have learned today. Goals are: stellar starts, clear lanes, stay tuned in to speed, conservative mark roundings.

Laser NA's

Qualifying is over for the Laser NA's in Long Beach. Gold Fleet racing starts today.

Day one was a very windy sea breeze with medium, steep messy waves. My results were decents - 6,7,7.  Held a clear lane all the way around the long courses. I wished my upwind boatspeed was a little better, and don't know why I was slower than the leaders. It took a couple races to figure out the wave technique for downind here, but downwind speed was not bad. The waves push you right, they are very skewed to the wind, so you have to turn farther than you think by the lee to get enough speed to catch them.

Day two I was hoping to improve my scores, but dropped way back. The breeze didn't fill in until late and we sailed two races in the same big messy waves, with only 6-10 kts of breeze in the first race and maybe 8-12 in the second. Again I was way off the pace upwind, and I'm not sure why. Need to spend more time in these conditions. The downwinds were fun! I am starting to figure it out, surfing a lot and catching some boats.

I'm trying not to be discouraged for the next two days. Going to pay more attention to how the leaders are sailing and see if I can improve my speed. - Can't forget to keep my head out of the boat though.

-Christine

Olympic Campaign

I am excited to announce my campaign to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in the Laser Radial!

I will be training hard over the next two years, and I look forward to seeing you on the water.

The Plan:

2014
- train hard at home
- compete at North Americans, Nationals, and CORK
- finish top 20 at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Santander, Spain

2015
- compete in a full schedule of World Cup events (4 or 5 total)
- pinpoint weaknesses at events and focus on overcoming them with practice at home
- finish top 5 at the Worlds
- adjust plan accordingly to peak for Olympic Qualifiers (tbd)

2016
- prepare for Rio


Check out my fundraising page to raise money to go to the ISAF Worlds in Santander, Spain

http://www.gofundme.com/Santander

A slow end

Friday was another day of floating around with no wind. After hours on the water, they sent us in to wait on shore. They cancelled racing for us late in the day. It was an anticlimactic end to the regatta for those of us not in the top ten.

I am quite happy with my result of 12th place and spot on the US Sailing Olympic Development Team. I know I can do better and am eager to practice more! Midwinters East will be a great place to work on executing and striving for perfection.

Yesterday I went out to watch the medal races, and lucky enough to ride with the Brazilian Laser coach. Robert Scheidt capsized before racing trying to re-run his mainsheet. He saved his sail from getting wet but lost his hat and jumped in the water to get it. Some people would be flustered by that type of chaos, but he went off to do his pre-race warm up and then won the medal race. Then he broke his tiller extension on the coach boat. I noticed a few things about his rigging. He uses even less purchase than the common low purchase set up, and he uses very skinny lines. I learned that even though the left appeared to be good at first glance, the info gathered from doing a split before the race suggested that upwind right might come in. I noticed that Robert was still above the line looking upwind with 1:30 before the start.

My biggest lesson this regatta is to really look hard at what is happening around you, and look far away, at the clouds, the water, the other boats. Ed Baird even suggested standing up in your boat for a second when the wind dies just to see what is happening.

More Ed tips:

• You can use a cruising boat to show you a lift, but not a header.
• Red-Right-Returning - If you are sailing to a downwind gate, and the race committee is holding a course change with a red flag, go to the right gate.

A good day today

We had squally conditions today. Some good hiking combined with lulls and big slow hard to predict shifts. I managed to call it right on two races, and wrong in one. Scores were 4, 22, 5. My best day of results at a world cup event! That moves me up to twelfth place with a shot at making the top ten and the medal race.

Goal for tomorrow, continue to get good starts and keep my head out of the boat.

No racing today

With an approaching front, we had very little wind combined with rain squalls all day. After waiting around in some intense heat and humidity, they sent us out to sit and wait for some wind. After an hour of getting poured on, they sent us back in. I did get some time to practice lee to lee gybes in almost no wind, definitely going to keep working on those!

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow and hope I get to use my hiking pads.

More light air, hanging in there.

Only one race today in less than 4 knots. Similar to yesterday it was hot and steady light breezes coming from the ocean. We have been sailing late in the afternoon since there has been no wind in the morning. I am happy with my speed most of the time. Today I had a very good for me light air race. 12th! I had a good start, and focused on maintaining a lane, looking for pressure, and staying on the edges of the course. Upwind I was pulling my mainsheet harder than yesterday, which seemed good. Downwind I have been focusing on clear air, flow over the sail and feeling pressure. I tried doing a couple lee to lee gybes which I learned from a video that Ed showed us last night of Luke Ramsay. Looks like more light air tomorrow, and then finally some wind on Thursday.