The last day of NA's saw the Race Committee fit in 4 races (with only 3 counting because one was abandoned at the end because of a wind shift) before the 2pm deadline. The conditions were extremely difficult with the breeze ranging from 4-12knots and shifting all over the place (WNW to NNW). It was a great day of practice for us between the tedious light air boat handling/shifting gears for the pressure and the actual racing. With all the sailing we did yesterday, we had numerous firsts:
- first 360 for fouling the Japanese (we were stoked to be near them, they were 8th at 2008 Olympics)
- first gybe set(successful) into a nice righty, where we passed a few boats.
- first start where we were full speed at go and both trapping on the line(permitted us to hold our lane)
- first race day without capsizing!
In looking back on the races, we had some great moments, but inconsistency and some bad luck plagued our overall results. For example, after a mediocre start in the 1st race, we were able to fight back to mid fleet by the windward mark, and by the second windward we were in 7th. However, the second last downwind was our demise. First, our spinnaker touched the jib/forestay of the Japanese as we attempted to roll them during the hoist - Zander will try in the future to not put the kite up in competitors' faces! Slightly fazed, we contained the loss to only a couple boats, but were again bombarded with bad luck at the leeward mark as our spin halyard got tangled in the mainsheet preventing us from dousing the kite for a couple minutes (essentially ending our race). We will try in the future to ensure that everything is in order before drop the kite, but as always in this boat, easier said than done.
In the race that was abandoned, there was confusion among the fleet as to where the windward mark was because of the shifty breeze and R/C error (they put our inner loop winward mark to the left of the 470's outer loop winward mark!). We were one of the leading boats on the right (and in more pressure than the guys on the left) and were looking top 5, but soon realized we were screwed when we saw the guys from the left rounding the other mark that was out of position. We grounded back in the great sailing skiff breeze (8-12kts) and finished close to the middle of the pack, only to find that the race was all for naught. We didn't mind at all, it was great practice and proved every now and then we can defy the 49er "boat-time caste system" equilibrium (think the Matrix) and jump up for a gander of clear lanes and boats to our rear - only just enough to tease us and keep us working hard towards the top of the class, before we are unpleasantly reminded of our novice experience in the boat and slapped back in the fleet. But in all seriousness, the journey is a blast, the learning real, and the people fun and it makes eating all this humble pie pretty tasty!
Results can be found at: http://www.mycyouthsailing.org/calendar.php
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| 01/15/10 | The 470 North American and The 49er North American Championship Miami Yacht Club |
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