Monday, May 17, 2010
Caught in Action!
Good Form! This is a roll tack sequence from the Big Dinghy regatta. These shots are one second apart. Thanks to John Liebenberg on the chase boat for taking these photos. 
Friday, May 14, 2010
Thursday Night Fever!
Thursday Night Fever? I had a great Thursday night of racing out a Treasure Island. We had 11 boats and 5-15 knots of breeze. I had great starts, great up wind speed, insane down wind speed and great tactical awareness! I had a 3rd, a 4th and three bullets! Heck Yes! Super Special thanks to GU Energy for giving me that extra bit of energy to pull away from the fleet! I went threw two bottles of GU-2-O and 4 packets of GU Roctane Energy Gel! Man does this stuff work!
I also want to thank Zhik Sailing Equipment for giving me a spread of there new sailing gear! The "Power Pads" are freaking awesome! They took a couple days to get them dialed in and now they are a huge part of my performance gains!
Oakland yacht Club Beer Can?
Beer Can? For the past three years one of my co-workers has been begging me to go sailing on his boat. And I have always been busy racing my own boats and stuff, so when my friend John Foster asked me for the millionth time, my soccer game for the night had been canceled so why not!
We were racing on John's Non-Such 22 "Blue Berries" which is kind of like a combination of a tug boat, a laser and a windsurfer. We only had one race which consisted of sailing around several different buoys, channel makers and other obstacles that are spread through out the Oakland/Alameda Estuary.
The wind was light and shifty but some how I was able to figure that funny little boat out and we managed to win our fleet for the night. We were so far ahead that by the time we got the boat back into our slip, the second place boat just crossed the finish line just as we finished putting the boat away. Not bad for my first time driving a Tug-Surf-Laser!
We were racing on John's Non-Such 22 "Blue Berries" which is kind of like a combination of a tug boat, a laser and a windsurfer. We only had one race which consisted of sailing around several different buoys, channel makers and other obstacles that are spread through out the Oakland/Alameda Estuary.
The wind was light and shifty but some how I was able to figure that funny little boat out and we managed to win our fleet for the night. We were so far ahead that by the time we got the boat back into our slip, the second place boat just crossed the finish line just as we finished putting the boat away. Not bad for my first time driving a Tug-Surf-Laser!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Laser Nor-Cal Championships!
Laser Northern California Championships at the Santa Cruz yacht Club.
8-28 knots of breeze, shifty, 3 foot swells with a ton of chop. We only had ten boats show up, but it was solid group. We got the full range of Santa Cruz sailing, light shifty wind to nuking conditions with big swells. I t was awesome! The up-winds were challenging trying to find a groove in the chop and dealing with the random holes in the breeze. The down-winds were a blast, i sailed extremely well, at times I forgot that I was racing because I was having so much fun surfing the waves. I consistently passed boats on the downwind. I found myself in the top five 3/4 of the way threw the race , though I always managed to loose a few boats on the last upwind. I had good starts, which helped but my upwind speed was not there. We had five races, and i managed to get three 8th places, one 7th and finished up with a 6th. My consistency landed me in 8th place overall. Steve Bourdow finished in first place, wining all but one race. He was followed by Tracy Usher in second and Peter Vessela in third. Drake had a great day and was able to mix it up a bit with the "Legends" and finished in a solid in 5th place
Overall it was great day of racing! It was a taste of what it will be like for the Pacific Coast Championships that will be held at the same venue next month.
8-28 knots of breeze, shifty, 3 foot swells with a ton of chop. We only had ten boats show up, but it was solid group. We got the full range of Santa Cruz sailing, light shifty wind to nuking conditions with big swells. I t was awesome! The up-winds were challenging trying to find a groove in the chop and dealing with the random holes in the breeze. The down-winds were a blast, i sailed extremely well, at times I forgot that I was racing because I was having so much fun surfing the waves. I consistently passed boats on the downwind. I found myself in the top five 3/4 of the way threw the race , though I always managed to loose a few boats on the last upwind. I had good starts, which helped but my upwind speed was not there. We had five races, and i managed to get three 8th places, one 7th and finished up with a 6th. My consistency landed me in 8th place overall. Steve Bourdow finished in first place, wining all but one race. He was followed by Tracy Usher in second and Peter Vessela in third. Drake had a great day and was able to mix it up a bit with the "Legends" and finished in a solid in 5th place
Overall it was great day of racing! It was a taste of what it will be like for the Pacific Coast Championships that will be held at the same venue next month.
| 171314 | Stephen Bourdow | sequoia | 1 | 1 | 1 | [2] | 1 | 4 | 1 | ||
| 196139 | Tracy Usher | St Francis Yacht Club | 2 | 2 | [3] | 1 | 2 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 185557 | Peter Vessella | StFYC | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | [11/DNS] | 13 | 3 | ||
| 173931 | Martin Hartmanis | lkjkl | [5] | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 4 | ||
| 182870 | Drake Jensen | Richmond Yacht Club | 4 | 4 | [5] | 5 | 4 | 17 | 5 | ||
| 194041 | Mark Halman | RYC | 6 | [7] | 6 | 6 | 5 | 23 | 6 | ||
| 188709 | Jon Andron | duno | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | [11/DNF] | 28 | 7 | ||
| 195948 | Ryan Nelson | West Marine Rigging | [8] | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 29 | 8 | ||
| 5477 | Will Lowe | Richmond Yacht Club | [9] | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 34 | 9 | ||
| 167444 | Sean McBurney | Santa Cruz | 10 | 10 | [11/DNF] | 11/DNS | 11/DNS | 42 | 10 |
My Best Race Ever!
Elvstrom Zellerbach Regatta @ St. Francis Yacht Club
Day One:
8-15 Knots of breeze, and a strong flood tide. The first race of the day was the one of best races I have ever had! I had a decent start on the middle of the line and decide to tack on to port right away in search of stronger breeze. It worked! While the rest of the fleet was drag racing to get to the city front to get some current relief, I was sailing in stronger breeze. I did not want to get to much separation from the fleet so I tacked back onto starboard and made my way to the city front. To my surprise I was in the lead! Shortly there after I got involved in a tacking duel with Steve Bourdow (2 time Olympic medalist), in the process Several other guys caught up and began to challenge for the lead( 2 world champion sailors). Not good... Now I was sitting in fourth place and not liking it! Some how I managed to get back in the groove and was able to get back into third place by the top mark. On the run down wind I was able to stay right on the heals of the first second place boats. On the last upwind I made some good tactical moves and was able to jump into second place! On the final down wind I sailed my butt off just to stay close to Steve, only to just miss first place by a boat length. This was my best race ever because of who I was competing against, where I was racing, and how I was able to make some great tactical decisions, and keep the boat in the groove. The rest of the day I sailed consistently in the top five but on the last legs I managed to loose a few boats, to finish the day in a solid 6th place.
Day Two:
15-30 knots of breeze with a strong flood tide and a ton of steep chop. It was typical city front racing! After the start everyone would drag race over to the city front and and short tacking back and forth with in 10 boat lengths of the shore until you decide to make a break for the weather mark. It was pretty much follow the leader all day and try to keep the boat upright. In these conditions I still have not figured out how to consistently stay in the groove and I end up struggling to keep the boat going. By the third and last race of the day it was blowing in the high 20's and low 30's, after several high speed crashes while trying to avoid other capsized boats I decided to retire from the race, not wanting to risk myself or my boat. In the end I finished 8th out of 17 boats which was not to bad considering I had to use my throw out for the last race. My training partner Drake finished just ahead of me in 7th place and of course Steve Bourdow managed to win the regatta with Tracy usher in second Followed by Peter Vessella in third.
Day One:
8-15 Knots of breeze, and a strong flood tide. The first race of the day was the one of best races I have ever had! I had a decent start on the middle of the line and decide to tack on to port right away in search of stronger breeze. It worked! While the rest of the fleet was drag racing to get to the city front to get some current relief, I was sailing in stronger breeze. I did not want to get to much separation from the fleet so I tacked back onto starboard and made my way to the city front. To my surprise I was in the lead! Shortly there after I got involved in a tacking duel with Steve Bourdow (2 time Olympic medalist), in the process Several other guys caught up and began to challenge for the lead( 2 world champion sailors). Not good... Now I was sitting in fourth place and not liking it! Some how I managed to get back in the groove and was able to get back into third place by the top mark. On the run down wind I was able to stay right on the heals of the first second place boats. On the last upwind I made some good tactical moves and was able to jump into second place! On the final down wind I sailed my butt off just to stay close to Steve, only to just miss first place by a boat length. This was my best race ever because of who I was competing against, where I was racing, and how I was able to make some great tactical decisions, and keep the boat in the groove. The rest of the day I sailed consistently in the top five but on the last legs I managed to loose a few boats, to finish the day in a solid 6th place.
Day Two:15-30 knots of breeze with a strong flood tide and a ton of steep chop. It was typical city front racing! After the start everyone would drag race over to the city front and and short tacking back and forth with in 10 boat lengths of the shore until you decide to make a break for the weather mark. It was pretty much follow the leader all day and try to keep the boat upright. In these conditions I still have not figured out how to consistently stay in the groove and I end up struggling to keep the boat going. By the third and last race of the day it was blowing in the high 20's and low 30's, after several high speed crashes while trying to avoid other capsized boats I decided to retire from the race, not wanting to risk myself or my boat. In the end I finished 8th out of 17 boats which was not to bad considering I had to use my throw out for the last race. My training partner Drake finished just ahead of me in 7th place and of course Steve Bourdow managed to win the regatta with Tracy usher in second Followed by Peter Vessella in third.
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