Ups and Downs of Sailing 49ers on the International Stage

Our first start! A little buried at the middle/pin, but we got a line soon after!

Watch this video to hear me talk about our goals for the event:
http://www.sailgroove.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236197-2010-49er-world-championship/248648-zander-kirkland-bermuda

Want the good news or the bad news first?
Lets start with the tough stuff:
Day 2, Breeze NW, 15-25+, powerful gusts
Well, right now it is in the low 50's in Freeport and everyone is all bundled up after a very cold (for Bahamas) and blustery day 2 of racing at the Worlds. It was at the top end of racing breeze for the class (with reported gusts to 27kts) and the day was shortened to only 2 tough races. We struggled even to get down to the starting line, as it was a broad reach from the beach, which made for a powerful 2-sail 'sled ride' down to the line. In both races, we were only able to make it up and down once before capsizing too many times to continue racing (not only does it tire you to the bone, but you get in the way of the top guys).

We were happy that we went out and pushed our comfort zone, but at the same time frustrated we couldn't hang in the races. If only DNFs could be scored better than DNCs! Regardless we need much more time (and work our way up to this amount of breeze in a much more linear approach) in the boat before we can contemplate legitimately racing in this amount of breeze. We were watching top Americans and other seasoned 9er sailors flip over in the powerful blasts of air that would charge through every 5-10 mins or so. The thing we singled out as our weakest link was our spinnaker douse (when we take it down); it seemed every time we were getting the kite down, the boat would load up because of the dramatic lose in speed and then get unstable and flip. We talked with Zack about it and he recommends Jesse not to bear away so much (to save the boat speed and keep the apparent wind lower) and focus on keeping the boat on a plane, all the while I have to be quicker at getting the kite down and then getting back onto the wire as we head up....ahhh. sounds way easier said than done!

Now onto the Good News from Yesterday!
Day 1 Report, Breeze NW 8-15, puffy and offshore
We started off the first race of our lives together in the 49er with some flair in a stacked fleet, when we rounded the 1st weather mark in 10th and then gained on the run to round the 2nd weather mark in 8th! We ran into trouble in our second downwind and lost some boats, but after 8 legs still managed to hold onto a very respectable 17th place. Jesse showed great driving ability and windshift management and I was hanging in on most of the important crew work to get us around in good shape. The thing I really like about Jesse's style is that he is not intimidated by anyone out there, sure he has plenty of respect for the guys that have paid their dues and at the top, but he is not afraid of mixing it up with them when he can. I think this will bode well for us in the future as our boathandling comes together.

Our two other races were tougher because of poor starting (really hard to maneuver these things downspeed and to know when to accelerate), poor spinnaker work, tiring muscles and our rig was too tight for the dying breeze. But regardless, it was an amazing practice day as we rounded 12 winward marks and did 12 spinnaker douses. The other thing we were pleased about for both days was working on our downspeed boathandling (you have to keep on your toes during the pre-start and between races). No rest for the weary in these boats!

Below are some pictures of our 1st Race and us up with people we probably shouldn't be near!

That's us (red kite in the foreground), right after our first spinnaker set in the Top 10 at the World Championship in our first race!

Action at the 1st leeward mark

The rich get richer...Kirkland Brother's launched in the top 10 on our 2nd run

All for now,
Zander

Hopefully the breeze and temperature will moderate tomorrow!
Thanks to coach Zack for his cool pics of our memorable race.