Laser Nationals - San Francisco City Front - Day 1

Conditions today were kind of typical San Francisco, but the wind was a little late to develop.  Racing started at noon when we had around 12-15 knots of wind from the WSW. I'm guessing it was 15-17 for race two, and 17-19 for race three. We are sailing near the shore in a full flood tide, which means that the upwinds are long and the downwinds short. Starting near Fort Mason, with a windward mark near St. Francis, it is important to go hard left and get into the current relief below the marina. The race committee heavily favored the boat (right) end of the starting line to balance out that bias. I watched the full rigs and the yellow fleet start their first race, and it seemed to me that it was worth it to start by the boat, even though you had to sail farther to get to the current relief. It might have been a good plan, but I was not able to hold my lane off the start and tacked away. That was a bad decision I think. In retrospect I think it might have been better to sail in bad air all the way to the left side. This course is hard since current plays a very important role, but the wind shifts are big and the puffs and lulls are dramatic enough to outweigh the current sometimes. The hard part is knowing when. Race 1 finish - 21st

But the most important lesson from race 1 - Getting a really really good start is essential! Not just a goal. Might as well not even be here if I'm not going to get stellar starts.

The other things I learned about this course today were to really look for pressure downwind. Sometimes the pressure was on the left and that was good since there was more current out there taking you down, but sometimes there were blasty puffs coming down from Crissy Field - especially late in the afternoon - and getting to them first was good. Also, make a good call on which gate was favored - most people went to the right gate since it was closer to shore - but I think that the left was better since it was farther upwind.

So race two I had a good start at the boat, sailed fast to the left, played the shifts and current next to the break wall and found myself chasing Haddon Huges who had started farther to the left of me and managed to cross me on port once she got to the current relief under the marina. Stayed in second for the whole race, sometimes gaining on Haddon, but then I would lose it again. Ander from Mexico in 3rd place was pretty far behind so I wasn't worried about him, but on the last two reaches to the finish he made big gains and rounded the last leeward mark right behind me. I let him split from me on the last little upwind, and as we came back to the finish line he crossed right behind me. In retrospect, I should have covered him up the whole beat since he caught me by inches finishing at the favored end of the line.

So lessons from race 2 - Do not let your guard down when somebody fast is behind you. Don't leave things up to chance that you can control. At the end of the race, make sure that someone close behind you stays behind you.

Race 3 - I had another good start near the boat and sailed fast to the left. I dueled it out with the top boats as we tacked up the shore and I think I rounded the 1st windward mark 3rd. I went left downwind and caught a big puff and managed to pass the boats on the inside. Rounded the left gate mark in 1st - sailed to the wall - looked for puffs downwind and they were coming from Crissy this time. It felt great to win the last race of the day, and once I got away from the pack it was easy. So I'm keeping this one in my brain for tomorrow!

Goal is to keep guaranteeing myself top 5 finishes for the rest of the regatta. No leaving things up to chance.

If you would like to find out more about my Olympic Laser Campaign and help me get to the World Championships this September, Click here

Stuff to remember - lessons learned and re-learned lately

Pre-race homework: Do a drift-off test before the starting sequence to measure current and how much it pushes you while you are holding your place on the line. 1 min holding your place either at the boat or the pin is good. Repeat the tests if the current is strong.

When you want to go right after the start, but you can't quite tack and cross, force the issue by tacking and lee bowing.  Don't forget that the tack and duck can be a totally valid option - maybe better in windy conditions.

Upwind tactics: You may choose to cross a pack of boats instead of leading them back. If you cross them, you must go at least 5 boat lengths past them. This eliminates the possibility that you lose your lane due to a shift or the other boats pointing higher than you. this is especially important when racing against people who are lighter than you, and even more important if it is also light wind.

Be more routine about clearing mainsheet in approach to windward mark.

Windward mark bear-aways. Initiate with mainsheet dump, and move weight back, ready to move to leeward.

Downwind wave surfing: initiate the down turn with mainsheet ease. Often this means easing the sheet as soon as you are finishing your up turn. Easing sheet early allows you to move your body more over the centerline of the boat so you are ready to press to leeward as soon as you reach a by-the-lee angle. Finish the down turn with a reverse pump and press to leeward to accelerate down the wave.

Leeward mark rounding tactics: When approaching the mark overlapped outside of another boat, know which way you want to go upwind. If you want to go left, slow down and round behind in a high lane so you pin them from tacking, and you can tack freely. If you want to go right, it can work to force them in to a tight slow rounding while you maintain great speed and round low, blowing through their lee. This can only work if you get up a huge head of steam and are bow forward on them. If you can fake them into doing a defensive, tight, slow rounding, then it is better. Works best if it is very windy or very light so the inside boat stalls. When you are the inside boat, pay attention to what the outside boat is trying to do and don't let them get the advantage.

If you would like to learn more about my Olympic campaign in the Laser Radial, click here:

Laser NA's Wrap Up

The final day of racing started with fog and a southerly in the morning. Local knowledge calls this the 'Catalina Eddy' and indicates that the sea breeze will fill in late or not at all. This proved to be true, and we sailed two races in very light air and some waves. The sea breeze filled in in full force at around 3:30.

I was proud of myself for recognizing that it was a light air day, getting to the edge of the course for clear air would be important, and looking for pressure would be important too. At the top of the first beat, I didn't go far enough though, and lost a lot to boats on my hip that were in better pressure. I took this lesson to heart the rest of the day, often passing boats by sailing on the edge of the fleet. My boat speed was not great however, and I often lost my lane and had to do two extra tacks, or let boats cross me so I could get out to the edge. Another humbling day!

Another thing that I learned about is how wide the upwind laylines are in waves. I was constantly amazed at how much farther I had to sail to get to the layline after I had thought I was on it. In flat water, boats travel basically the direction they are pointing, but in waves - especially skewed ones, you can have a lot of leeway.

My number one resolution for the next few months is to spend more time sailing in ocean waves, in both light and windy conditions.

I ended up in 20th out of 102 boats. Not exactly the performance I was hoping for, top ten would have been more like what I expected. This regatta was a great learning experience. It was an extremely difficult event and just reinforces that I need to spend as much time as I can sailing!

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.