Failed to Mention.....

I guess I failed to mention in my post earlier this morning that if there were no more races today, I would actually finish in a tie for 1st and lose on a tie breaker. Peter Vessella from San Francisco Bay was able to throw out a 28th in the 3rd race to my worst race of 6th place. On a non-throw out basis, I would have won fairly easily......but a throw-out came into play once 6 races were completed. Peter won two races to my zero which gave him the tie breaker. I guess I just assumed we would get at least one race in on the final day today and the tie breaker issue probably wouldn't come into play.

Well...with thunderstorms eminent, the race committee decided to end the regatta around 10:30 this morning. Even though it ended my chances to potentially win the regatta, I certainly understood their decision. It could have been disastrous for 90 plus Lasers to be scattered about the Atlantic Ocean in a big thunderstorm.

In retrospect, I got a big boost in having a relatively light air day on Friday which took the downwind speed issue a little out of play. Had the winds been strong every race, I realistically would not have had a chance to win with my downwind speed so I really can't be too disappointed with the outcome.

While I certainly would have preferred to win, I had a blast and actually exceeded my expectations on how I thought I might do. I honestly thought it would be a stretch for me to win this event in open water conditions. You just can't expect to compete against the best in North America in conditions that you aren't familiar with.

In hindsight, I underestimated my upwind speed. I underestimated my tactical ability. And...I underestimated how important it is to go fast downwind in a Laser in waves.

What my experience now tells me is that sailing a Laser on Lake Travis can help you with your fitness and sailing tactics but it just isn't going to provide the conditions to be competitive open water venue that the Laser Worlds will be held later this summer.

I think a few weeks of practice in such a locale would absolutely be necessary to have a chance to compete on an elite world championship level. I am not even sure that just sailing down wind in waves is enough. I think one must simulate real race conditions (i.e...sailing between two buoys with a bunch of other boats to contend with) to really get better at it.

It is really an art form to sail downwind well and I learned a ton over the last couple of days and I am kind of excited to try and get better at it. I really need to sit back now and decide whether I have the time and fortitude to get this serious about improving. Without this dedication, I don't think it will be feasible to do really well at the Worlds. For me, going to the Worlds so far away is a huge time investment and means a lot of time away from my kids and loved ones and I really have to decide whether it is worth it.

In the meantime, the Laser Master's NA's was a blast! You will never meet a friendlier and more talented group of sailors. Wrightsville Beach is an awesome little beach town and the Carolina Yacht Club is just fantastic. I am really glad that I was able to make this regatta and am overall pleased with my performance.

Here are the final results: http://www.carolinayachtclub.org/LMNA.html