North Americans Update

North Americans, Miami Florida
Racing went underway yesterday in a solid 15-18kts with gusts in the low 20s in the 2nd race. The Biscayne Bay chop was sharp and steep in the southeasterly breeze and made for very challenging 9er sailing. The tacks and gybes are way harder in the waves because it bounces as you run 'cross de boat from wing to wing. Overall we were pretty pumped with our performance. We managed to finish 2 of 3 races (numerous people went in early because the building breeze and breakdowns) and had moments with some of the seasoned guys. It was also a little comforting seeing the top guys having their fair share of trouble with the breeze/chop combo. I guess with these boats, no matter how much experience you have, it is always going to be tough and you need to stay on your toes! After day 1 we were in 10th place out of 22 boats.

We landed a few gybes in the big breeze and had some near pitch-poles with our feet in the straps. All and all it was an awesome day of practice and was tons of fun. Our freestyle move of the day was waiting between races, dodging 470's and board sailors, when Jesse started "Supermaning" 15ft out to winward from the wing. It all started because we heeled to windward broad reaching and Jesse got swept off the wing and started getting dragged with only his harness keeping him attached to the boat. It was kind of like trolling at high speed! When I realized what was happening I jumped to leeward and saved the death roll and then grabbed the tiller and headed the boat up. With the boat coming to windward, it leveled off and Jesse levitated back to the wing. Jesse stayed calm the whole time and knew as long as I saved the death roll, he would land back on the wing as soon as the boat returned to a more natural trim. It was an amazing sequence that would have been cool to see on video and my description does not do it justice.
-Zander

Day 2 at NA's
Today's racing brought a south-westerly of 8-14knots in some sizable chop. In the first race, with the Committee Boat favored, we managed to have a good start at the boat- though we still can improve on the final 5 secs to get the boat up to max speed. After some unfortunate luck (getting slammed by two boats and forced to tack an additional couple times), we ended up rounding the mark in 12, right behind the front pack. After rounding the leeward mark, I misjudged the trap and ended up breaking the tiller extension, forcing us to capsize.

The race had a disappointing ending, but there were definitely some highlights for most of the first beat when we were battling with the top 6. To single out a specific instance, we had equal speed with the NZL team(finished 15th at Worlds and winning NA's) for a long port tack. At the conclusion of the race, some ominous clouds rolled into the Biscayne Bay forcing the 49er fleet to head back to shore for the day. Tomorrows forecast is for 8-12knots, and we are hoping to put together some good races to end the regatta.

-JESSE

links to results:
http://www.mycyouthsailing.org/calendar.php