Saturday, April 30, 2011

Laser ACCs

I am in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina for the Laser ACCs and a training camp with the Ontario Sailing Team. Event results can be found here.

Video from training:
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Saturday, April 29
Today was the first day of racing. We had 8-12 knots from 075* at the start of the day going to 125* at the end of the day, with solid swell. In the first race I had a nice start near the middle of the line, and got out clearly with options, but with a slow right winder I was a bit back of the first group at the weather mark. I was able to pick off 5 boats on the first run and another on the last run to finish 7th. In the second race I had a good start at the boat end, headed right and led at the weather mark. I lost a boat on the run, rounded the second weather 1st, and lost a boat again on the next run to finish 2nd. In the third race I didn't have a good start, and got caught in traffic on the starboard layline to the first weather mark and rounded around 20. I passed boats throughout the race to finish 5th. In the last race I was able to get out cleanly from the boat again and led the fleet out to the right. I rounded the weather mark 3rd, was 1st at the bottom and held to take the last race of the day. After 4 races I am in 3rd. Racing continues tomorrow with 3 races scheduled.

Sunday, May 1
Today started off with around 14 knots and big swell. The wind decreased to about 8 over the course of the day, but the waves stayed the same, making for tricky downwind sailing. In the first race I didn't have a great start, and was forced to tack out. The group on the left came out ahead so I found myself back a bit around the first weather mark. I had a good final run to finish 5th. In the second race I had a good start at the pin, but got out of phase and spent too much time in a spot with less pressure and lost out to the boats on the edges. I had a decent second beat and finished 6th. In the third race I had a great start at the boat and was cleanly ahead of the group of boats around me, but made a series of poor choices coming into the windward mark and was around 8 at the top. I didn't sail well downwind and held 8th to the finish. Despite the poor sailing today I was able to move up to 2nd in the event.

Monday, May 2
Today we had a 3 hour session. 25 degrees, 8-12 knots, decent sized swell.

Tuesday, May 3
3.5 hour session. 28 degrees, 8-15 knots, big waves.

Wednesday, May 4
3.5 hour session. 20 degrees, 8-16 knots offshore

Thursday, May 5
3.5 hour session. 22 degrees, 5-14 knots, decent sized swell

Friday, May 6
Today we had a slightly shorter session before packing up and heading out. 2.5 hours, 22 degrees, 8-12 knots, decent sized swell