It would have been difficult to have ordered up a better day of sailboat racing today. Conditions were virtually perfect with the breeze ranging from probably 8 to 18 knots with plenty of shifts thrown in for good measure.
Flip Wehrheim from Rochester, NY dominated the day with excellent starts and great speed around the course.
We had a pretty good day and felt better as the day went on. My starts were mediocre and we had some pretty nice rallies to end up with a 5-8-1-4 putting us in third place behind Wehrheim and Terry Flynn in second. Finishing in the top 10 in this fleet is not easy!
They key to success today was having the ability to get on to port tack pretty quickly after the start and get up the lake. If you were pinned and unable to tack, you were forced to sail through a couple of shifts and relegated to being in the "pack". The race we won, we felt pretty strongly that the right side of the course had more pressure and decided not to fight it out at the pin end (it was favored) and started higher up the line with a strong emphasis on tacking to starboard immediately.
As we had hoped, the right did fill in stronger and we were able to round the weather mark narrowly in first and extend our lead from there.
It was also key to be able to "change gears" and to keep the boat moving through a variety of conditions. It was important to not have the rig too tight for the lulls yet still be able to de-power in the stronger puffs.
Tomorrow's forecast is for stronger breeze pumping in from the south in advance of a cold front that should come through tomorrow night. We have a lot of room to continue to improve and if I can do a better job of getting off the starting line, I am optimistic that we can potentially do a bit better tomorrow.
The J-22 class is awesome! Great competition and great sportsmanship on and off the water.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
J-22 North Americans, Dallas, TX
Sorry for the long delay since my last post. Things have been pretty busy around the Young household and sailing has had to take a backseat for a while. After a couple of month sailing hiatus, I am very excited to be competing in the J-22 North Americans which begin tomorrow (9-30) and are being hosted by the Rush Creek Yacht Club outside of Dallas.
I taught sailing during my high school and college summers at Rush Creek and the place and people have a special place in my heart. Rush Creek offers one of the best one-design racing venues of anywhere in the country and the hospitality and the quality of the race management is unmatched.
My good friends, Mark Salty and John Morran are sailing with me and as usual, we are kind of jumping in at the last minute and are hoping for the best. Mark owns the boat and has generously offered me the opportunity to drive. The three of us have been friends since we were teenagers and it is literally all we can do to stop laughing long enough to race. Needless to say, we have a lot of dirt on each other!
The economy and the long distance from the larger J-22 hubs of the mid-west and east coast will likely keep the fleet number at close to 40 boats but the depth of the competition will be great.
The fleet includes former World Champion Terry Flynn, Kelson Elam, Marvin Beckman (who recently won the Etchells 22 North Americans), Rob Johnston, Jeff Progelhof, Chris Doyal, Max Scott, Eric Faust....just to name a few. I am sure there are plenty boats from other parts of the country that I haven't had the pleasure to race against that will be super tough as well.
I love the J-22 for the simplicity and the overall level playing field it provides. Older boats are equally competitive with newer boats and they all go about the same speed. It really boils down to tactics and crew work and the ability to change gears as the wind velocity dictates
The weather forecast is for perfect sailing conditions with temperatures in the mid 80's and a solid 10-20 mph for the next couple of days. The regatta is scheduled to be a nine race series with one throw-out after five races are completed.
From my experience with racing on Lake Ray Hubbard, it is key to stay in phase with the wind shifts, sail what you have and don't try and chase shifts. Good, mid-line starts will work fine and if you can get yourself in a position to tack on the first shift to get in phase, your chances are good that you will be in the hunt at the first windward mark.
The key for me in any series with a lot of good sailors is to just try and be consistent and not make any major mistakes. Usually, over the course of three days on shifty lake sailing, the team that avoids the major meltdown will be there at the end.
Hopefully, I will be able to shake off the rust and get us a few good starts and let Mark and John will drag me around the course from there. I will keep you posted!
I taught sailing during my high school and college summers at Rush Creek and the place and people have a special place in my heart. Rush Creek offers one of the best one-design racing venues of anywhere in the country and the hospitality and the quality of the race management is unmatched.
My good friends, Mark Salty and John Morran are sailing with me and as usual, we are kind of jumping in at the last minute and are hoping for the best. Mark owns the boat and has generously offered me the opportunity to drive. The three of us have been friends since we were teenagers and it is literally all we can do to stop laughing long enough to race. Needless to say, we have a lot of dirt on each other!
The economy and the long distance from the larger J-22 hubs of the mid-west and east coast will likely keep the fleet number at close to 40 boats but the depth of the competition will be great.
The fleet includes former World Champion Terry Flynn, Kelson Elam, Marvin Beckman (who recently won the Etchells 22 North Americans), Rob Johnston, Jeff Progelhof, Chris Doyal, Max Scott, Eric Faust....just to name a few. I am sure there are plenty boats from other parts of the country that I haven't had the pleasure to race against that will be super tough as well.
I love the J-22 for the simplicity and the overall level playing field it provides. Older boats are equally competitive with newer boats and they all go about the same speed. It really boils down to tactics and crew work and the ability to change gears as the wind velocity dictates
The weather forecast is for perfect sailing conditions with temperatures in the mid 80's and a solid 10-20 mph for the next couple of days. The regatta is scheduled to be a nine race series with one throw-out after five races are completed.
From my experience with racing on Lake Ray Hubbard, it is key to stay in phase with the wind shifts, sail what you have and don't try and chase shifts. Good, mid-line starts will work fine and if you can get yourself in a position to tack on the first shift to get in phase, your chances are good that you will be in the hunt at the first windward mark.
The key for me in any series with a lot of good sailors is to just try and be consistent and not make any major mistakes. Usually, over the course of three days on shifty lake sailing, the team that avoids the major meltdown will be there at the end.
Hopefully, I will be able to shake off the rust and get us a few good starts and let Mark and John will drag me around the course from there. I will keep you posted!
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