Sunday, January 23, 2011

Miami OCR

I am in Miami, Florida for the Rolex Miami OCR. The event is a Grade 1 ISAF event and a World Cup event.

Follow results at: http://rmocr.ussailing.org/2011/Results.htm
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Sunday, January 23
Today I did a check over my boat and a quick sail to ensure my gear is ready to go. Racing begins tomorrow.

Monday, January 24
Today was the first day of racing. We had a 10-15 knot easterly with long oscillations and pretty choppy waves. In the first race I did not have a good start and rounded the first weather mark around 25. I sailed a good first run and second beat to get up to 15 but made a big mistake and sailed out of the pressure on the last run. A group of 10 boats passed on the inside and I finished 25. In the second race I had a better start and sailed a solid first beat to round 6th. I lost a few boats on the reach and the run, and finished 12. Qualifying racing continues tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 25
Today the wind was a bit further south, and around 14-16 knots. In the first race I had what looked to be an okay start, but I wasn't able to get past a slow boat to leeward and went high and slow for too long off the line. I had an uphill battle throughout and finished 24. In the second race I was to leeward of a pack of boats who were scored OCS at the start, and had to tack out. I did a nice job getting the last shift up to the weather mark and had a good run to round the bottom around 20, just behind a pack of boats, but did not have a good exit from the mark and was unable to convert on my gain. I lost a bit at the bottom of the beat, but gained it back again to finish 20th. After 4 races I am in 39th.

Wednesday, January 26
Today was the last day of qualifying. I did not do a good job on the start line today and suffered as a result. I had a few good moments, but was indecisive on my second beats and tacked too much and stayed in the middle of the course. In the first race I finished 29th and in the second race I was 27th. Despite the poor performance today, I have qualified for the gold fleet. Final series racing runs tomorrow and Friday.

Thursday, January 27
As a result of a fighting gradient and sea breeze the wind did not settle and we did not have any racing today.

Friday, January 28
Due to the lack of racing yesterday, today;s schedule was changed to allow for 3 races to be run. In the first race I had an okay start near the boat, and was able to hip up into pressure. The right side was favoured and I rounded in the top 15. I made a costly mistake on the second beat and lost 5 boats to finish 20. In the second race I had another solid start and was able to play the first beat well to round the weather mark 7th. I got a bit run over on the first run and missed out on pressure on the second beat and dropped to 28. In the last race I had a clear start near the middle of the line. The wind went a little wild, and the left side came in big, with boats that had gone right left far behind. I rounded in the middle of the pack, but did not sail a good second beat and dropped some boats to finish 36, putting me in 42nd overall for the event.