Wow, that was a fun day of racing in 15-20kts!
First off; I'd like to apologize as the tracking map I posted in the last blog post didn't function correctly... Here is the link to the working map http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0Ea7IPHh6XfhvRF1WgDLR2ak2BhgbRQHb.
Yea, so today was pretty much the funnest day of racing I have ever had at a local regatta. The wind was perfect; 15-17kts out of the ENE; with gusts as high as 20kts. We had 19 boats on the water, which made for some great Laser sailing, and the trapezoid course (which I think had never been run in the Bahamas before) were a great success.
I'm really not too sure what to think about my performance today, so I'll just state the facts and let you guys decide how you want to interpret it.
-Results: 4th, OCS, 5th, and 6th (in that order).
-In every race that I finished, I was the top Radial sailor.
-I was mixed in with the full rigs; meaning that in some races I finished ahead of full rigs who may have finished ahead of me in other races.
-The gap between myself and the other radial sailors was substantial.
-The gap between myself and the first full rig was substantial.
-I would be in contention for the top 3 on the first upwind beat, but get rolled by the full rigs on the downwind and be forced to fight hard to catch up on the following upwind beat.
-My ankle was really hurting; which significantly affected my hiking style and game plan.
One thing is for sure though, this was the first windy regatta where I was actually excited to get on the water and not nervous about the conditions- and this led to me having a great mindset on the water which kept me focused and fighting. So to you younger sailors reading: stay focused.
My ankle (which I sprained last week), proved to be an issue as it really starting hurting during the 2nd race. I really did not realize just how significant your ankles are in a Laser sailboat- they really are your connection to the boat. My high point of the day was rounding the top mark of race #1 in 2nd overall, this really proved to me that I could keep up with the full rigs even though I was in the radial rig; unfortunately I realized just how slow I was on the downwind in comparison to the full rigs and that I had a lot of ground to make up on the beat. My low point of the day was completing all of race #2 (in which my ankle was really starting to hurt and lock up) just to find out I was OCS.
My sailing definitely reflected my not going out in the Laser for about the past 2 weeks, and my mark roundings were particularly sloppy. Fortunately, I was able to make up any ground lost on roundings during the long reaches.
I made some stupid mistakes (such as capsizing on a mark rounding) and I made some injury related mistakes (staying on starboard jibe throughout the entire downwind so I can keep my right ankle in a straight position). Basically, this is how I sailed the race: I would fight hard until the last upwind beat (which was the sprint to the finish line), if I started this beat in contention for top 5 or with boats fairly close to me, I would fight hard. However, if I started this last beat way out in front of the boats behind me, but too far away from the boats in front of me, I would take it easy and let my ankle rest.
One thing I learned early on and helped me out significantly throughout the day was that a long starboard beat straight off the line really pushed you out in front of the other guys- and this remained consistent throughout the day.
So, definitely a beneficial day of racing, and a fun day of racing.
Goals for tomorrow? Keep in front of all other Radials and finish within the top 4 overall.
3 races planned for tomorrow, first one starting at 1000. As for now, I have my ankle wrapped and I will just be chilling out tonight, resting up for tomorrow.
On another note; I just want to mention the following quote:
"If in the process of winning you have lost the respect of your competitors, you have won nothing at all."- Paul Elvstrom
(No, this has nothing to do with today's racing)
SailFast, Live Slow!
I think that your results were good, especially with a sprained ankle. Plus you haven't been practicing so mark roundings being sloppy is expected. I think that the OCS really hurt you. So for tomorrow, don't be over. Ice, elevate, and excedrin or advil is what you should be doing right now. Also, maybe take some excedrin or advil out on the water with you just incase and have your ankle wrapped up under your boot for support when you're hiking tomorrow. Good luck!!
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