Day 3 of OCR

Today was another very solid day in the Kirkland Brother's Camp, as the moderate offshore flow continued in Biscayne Bay. Yes, we had some glaring mistakes which cost us at times, but we also had our fair share of great moments which have really helped our morale and confidence. We had great speed off the wind and did a good job hitting shifts and breeze lines up all around the course. Finally we feel like we are competing and we are slowly inching our way towards the front of the fleet. These puffy, flat water conditions suit us well; it is very similar to our college sailing background and growing up sailing in Bermuda. It is also easier to sail the skiff without waves (easier to run around the boat) and puts less emphasis on boat handling while racing, thus helpful for our relatively low level of time in the boat!

Race 1
We had a poor start under the black flag, after not finding a hole in the pre-start and found ourselves in the very bottom of the fleet off the line. We stayed positive and passed boats on every leg of the race; we did a great job staying in the pressure and staying in phase with the oscillating breeze. It is amazing how many passing lanes open up in these boats off the wind; they go so fast with the kite up and often staying out of traffic is the name of the game. Both us feel, this may have been our best race yet performance-wise because we were on top of it for all 6 legs. It just felt so good sailing around guys the whole race: Something we are not that used to in this boat!

Race 2
We slightly miss timed - we are still ironing out our time/distance in the boat, but every day it is getting better - our pin end start and found ourselves hung out on the left side of the course as the wind went right. We struggled to get back in the zone over the course of the race and found ourselves finishing close to where we rounded the first weather mark. It was a frustrating race and it left us hungry to finish the day out strong.

Race 3 "Oh de pain!"
With a slight pin favor, but a right favored beat, we agreed upon starting at the boat and working the right side (we could see the breeze out there and the forecast had it slowly clocking there all day). We did a great job controlling the boat downspeed at the boat and found ourselves leading the charge to the right side off the line. A few minutes off the line, we had the majority of the fleet on port tack aiming at our stern. We were out with the Finnish team (they ended up 4th in the race) looking great and stoked on our position. This is where the wheels feel off for a bit! At some point before we tacked onto starboard to cross the fleet, we unknowingly ran over 15ft of floating rope! We felt super slow and watched our top 5 position slip out of our reach. I looked down at the centerboard and saw that we were dragging something, it was incredibly disheartening to see it and feel it! We couldn't deal with it on the upwind and just tried to minimize the loss. On the run, as the boat accelerated, part of the rope slipped off the centerboard and came onto the rudder, thus enabling Jesse to go down and grab the problem rope. I drove and trimmed the kite for a bit, as Jesse went down to the transom and untangled our little friend. Instantly after we departed with the rope, the boat lurched jumped forward and we went on to pass boats on every leg to earn our personal best, 16th place. We were stoked to overcome the adversity and regain our focus, but at the same time it was tough to relinquish our great positioning on the first beat. We are slowly chipping away at putting together all the elements needed to put a great race together! But please remember nothing comes easy in this boat and we are doing our best!

To give you an idea how much energy we are using in these three 45 minute races, I am going to break down how much food I have eaten today. Crewing in these boats is no joke, with you constantly battling against the biggest sail (main on the upwind, kite on the downwind). I basically had 4 meals over the course of the day with snacks mixed in.

Breakfast:
coffee
2 large bowls of cereal
lots of water

On the water:
granola bar
gatorade
lots of water

after race meal:
turkey bagel sandwich
orange

5pm meal at home:
english muffin turkey sandwich
chips
lots of water

Dinner:
2 full plates of Chicken pasta stir fry
banana

And after writing this blog, I think I am going to have a bowl of cereal for a night cap.

-Zander