Game Day in Perth!

We are starting our Olympic Country Qualifier campaign today in Freemantle! We have put in the preparation and now we need to remain poised in the tense atmosphere of the World Championships and sail to our potential. With consistent starting, smart lane management, steady boat handling and solid pace, we are looking to get steady finishes in the low teens (12-15) to put us in the hunt for qualifying for Gold Fleet (top 25). Another thing we will have to remember is that there is only one drop for the event, which will put a premium on consistency in this long series.

The wind today is forecasted to blow offshore and we are sailing on Centre Course (real close to the beach), so it could largely be a case of staying in phase and managing the variable breeze. That said, the Easterly could fade and we could be sailing in the Doctor come this afternoon. The thing fighting this will be the clouds that are currenly overhead (we even had some rain this morning. Regardless of breeze we are ready to compete and commence our campaign to qualify Bermuda for next summer's Olympics!

-Zander

Final Chapter of San Fran Training

After our trip home, we headed back to San Francisco rejuvenated and refreshed for a final train before we head to Perth at the end of the month. We were joined by a few other 49ers for most of the training (2nd USA team, 2nd Canadian team, and the Mexican team). We were also able to get our training partner before his campaign-ending injury, Alex Bishop, to come out and coach us for most of the training. A big thanks to him! For the sailing, we were graced with a lighter breeze for most of the training, which we felt we needed after a month and a half of San Fran breeze!!

Alex was very helpful in refining/polishing our mechanics (especially in the light-air). After 30 some days of training in 12+ knots, our light air maneuvers definitely needed some practice! We were able to analyze every single one of our maneuvers in post-sailing video sessions. This constructive discussion led to many good resolutions with our mechanics looking more polished by the trainings conclusion.

A further positive out of the training was our dissection and testing of the rig in the 3-12 knots. We did a ton of testing with different mast bends, cap tensions, gybe shapes etc. By the end of the sailing, we felt more informed and confident in what we want from the rig in specific conditions.

So all in all, a very good tranche of training that saw us sail almost every day. We were stoked to get the practice in the light air, as we had hoped for it when planning this final trip. With our confidence in our boat handling and speed at its highest level yet, we are stoked and feel ready for Perth. After a couple weeks separated (Zan is coaching in SoCal, and Jesse is painting in Bermuda), we will reunite in the Aussie Summer at the end of Nov! We will have a couple weeks of training before the World Championships start on December 12, 2011. Keep posted!

SF final training video

video from last week of training with our former training partner and now expert 49er coach!

-Zander

California Fall 2011 Training

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNk9b-b6jr0

Gearing up for Perth.

New Record: Round De Rock, Part II!

We broke our circumnavigation record by 10 mins! finishing in 3hrs 37 mins and 4 secs. It was an extremely rough sail around today, especially along the south shore, where there were big swells and a punchy 18-22kts. The breeze direction was SSE, so it meant the ever awkward beam reach for the majority of this tough leg. We left our safety boat in the dust, as we skipped over the waves, charging West. The 49er was like a bronco, frequently jumping in the air with the flying fish, with just the rudder in the water. The sensation of trapping hard and getting air is really cool and we got 15 miles of practice doing that! We had a great sail going until the approach to Whale Bay, where we had a dramatic pitchpole and flipped the boat - time at this point was 2 hrs 18 mins. The pitchpole was hard to avoid, as the waves were shoaling up as they approached the shoreline. The wipeout left us with a broken main halyard and a missing tiller extension. From there we limped into the finish in the Great Sound, with a jury rig to get her across the line. We were on track to go sub-3hrs around the island! We now know the right wind direction (or the opposite, a NNW'ly) to do it right! Just makes for a hairy sail! Its goes down as Jesse and I's most extreme sail in any boat!

Big thanks to Gareth for lending his 49er for the mission, to CELLONE and Lindos for sponsoring this event and for our safety boat drivers: Paul Doughty, Tom Evans, Malcolm Kirkland, Raymond Lambert, and Nick Hutchings. The winner of the bet was Nick Kempe, who guessed 3hrs 37 mins!

We return to San Francisco next Friday, to wrap up our training out there as we build up towards the World Championships (our first Olympic Qualifier) in Perth in December.

California Training Wrap Up

Tired, sick and enjoying the spoils of rest and our Mum's cooking, we are back in Bermuda after our most productive tranche of training in the boat. The 7 weeks of sailing we did out in the Central California Coast once again lived up to the hype as the magical combination of the hot Central Valley juxtaposed to the Cold North Pacific Ocean delivered the thermal gradient which pumped in the great wind. San Francisco Bay in particular was "skiff sailing paradise" for the month of September, as windy, sunny days were on tap day after day. The majority of the top talent from around North America (USA, CAN, MEX, & ISV) showed up, which made for a great training group to gear up for the Perth Worlds. San Francisco with its famous sea breeze and challenging chop is seen as a great warm up to Perth, which is home to notorious "Doctor" sea breeze. We sailed hard and got the most hours on the water out of any of the teams for the 7 weeks we were out there. We have never felt more comfortable in the boat and look forward to measuring up against the World Championship fleet in December!

Coaching: Worth it!
We started the training out there with a 10 day boat camp with Ramon Oliden, Spanish National Team Coach (49er Olympic Medalists Iker and Xabi). We focused on the mechanics of boat handling in the big breeze found on the bay. Ramon had a great eye and was able to make subtle adjustments to Jesse and my technique which made for much more efficient maneuvering. He is such a wealth of information to bounce ideas off and it is inspiring to know exactly how the best in the world sail the boat. We also did many hours of video analyzing, comparing our clips with the Spanish team's clips. At moments, we are looking pretty good on camera and we know what to do, but now we are working on doing it consistently under pressurized situations. Practice, Practice, Practice!

North Americans: 3rd/9 boats(second North American team)!!
This was our first real result in the boat and was no doubt a testament to the hard work we have been putting in over the past 16 months (since we went full-time) and not surprisingly the help we received from Ramon. Coaching makes a big difference, that is why the vast majority of teams countries have them and it was cool to see the high correlation with us in terms of results and coaching. Imagine if we could have him 10 days a month until the Olympics! We will need to do much more fundraising to make this a reality, but believe people/companies will take notice because of how we have responded to this first stint of coaching.

The regatta itself was a great event, with the first day being very windy and the final day being lighter and more tactical. Our key was keeping it simple and staying upright on the windy day and that seemed to work pretty well, coupled with the fact that we had good speed upwind. The second day was medium breeze and put more of a premium of managing the current and the wind shifts. Tactics and wind shifts are something we are pretty confident in and with the boat handling under control in those conditions, we sailed smart enough to consolidate our 3rd place. The regatta was won by the Finnish team, who were 11th at the last World Championships and second place went to the top American team (Storck/Moore), ranked 14th in the ISAF World Cup standings. Fourth place went to the top Canadian team, who went to the previous Olympics. We were stoked to be in the mix with these top teams and gives us confidence as we head down under to Perth. Yes it was a small fleet and has to be taken for what it is, the fact that our speed was putting us among Gold Fleet sailors consistently is promising.

Santa Cruz Training: Ocean Sailing
Well it was not quite the gnarley, memory searing conditions we had last year, where it was BIG Breeze everyday, but it was still nice to get out of the Bay after 5.5 weeks of sailing at Richmond. It is amazing the difference there is when you get a swell under your feet! Boat handling, trimming and steering, all require an adjustment period to manage the change in sea state. It is especially hard trimming the main, when you want to keep the boat perfectly flat and the boat is slowly yawling around because of the swell. It is just another factor in an already complex equation and what we learned was that it is often better to try not to react to the natural roll and trust that the swell will bring the boat back to level. The other good thing we found productive in Santa Cruz was narrowing in our rig settings in the medium breeze, a condition that has historically troubled us. We experimented with some things and think we have some leads to go faster in these conditions. It was nice too, to have the fast boats there to test alongside, to give these findings some legitimacy.

We return to San Francisco on the 28th, for 2 more weeks of sailing, to get everything dialed in for Perth and our first opportunity to qualify for next summer's Olympics.

While home, we will be painting houses, attempting another Bermuda circumnavigation (if weather permits) and co-hosting a fundraising dinner for our Campaign! Busy! But a nice change from what we have been doing since late August.

-Zander

Spinnaker Pole Video!

Fresh off the iVideo

Thanks to Malcolm for his creative GoPro housing unit which fit on the end of the pole! Thanks Dad!

3rd at North Americans!!

Battling with Erik and Trevor


San Francisco, CA
Sept 24-25
Richmond Yacht Club

Finishes = 3,4,3,4,2,4,5 = 3rd Overall/8 boats (6 countries represented)

3rd place at the 49er North American Championships is big deal for us and is a testament to the hard work we have been putting in the boat in the last 15 months since we went full-time in an effort to qualify for next summer's Olympics. The racing was tough out in the Bay, with big breeze on Day 1 and then ripping tide to manage on day 2, to create a multitude of conditions to test North America's best 49er sailors. The regatta was actually won by the Finnish team (11th at last year's World Championships), who are here training with the North America contingent in preparation for the 2011 World Championships which are coming up in December in Freemantle, Australia. The top American team was 2nd, who are smart and fast in the boat and then we were a few points after them after the 7 race series rounded up yesterday. We were excited to be near these guys and beat the top Canadian boats. The fleet was only 8 boats, but of a high quality - top Mexican team, top Finnish team, 2 top Americans, top 2/3 Canadian teams, and the top US Virgin Island team.

Going into the event, we knew it would be windy and just wanted to keep the sailing as polished as possible. Basically, we wanted to test our boat handling, which we have been practising for the past 3 weeks out on the notoriously windy San Francisco Bay. Ramon Olideen, the coach of the defending World Champions, was very helpful to us when we had him for 10 days earlier in the month. He adjusted subtle things with our technique, which make big differences on the consistency of our boat handling. It really awakened us to how helpful coaching is at this level and really got us excited to raise more money so we could get him again. There is pretty high correlation between our best result to date and the fact that we just had one of the best coaches in the world work with us for 10 days before the event.

Back to the event, Saturday was challenging, as the tide was running against the 15-22kts of wind, which put a premium on executing the tricky boat handling maneuvers, all the while trying to avoid stuffing the bow in the steep waves. We had some good speed with the fast guys upwind and had some super clean tacks to keep us battling in the front pack. On the treacherous runs, we kept her upright, despite numerous wipe outs and pitch-poles by our competition. We had one gybe, where we hit a wave in the middle of it and it almost sent us over, as the boat loaded up without us not being clipped in; Jesse somehow saved it by steering from the water, with one hand holding the 8ft tiller extension and the other hand holding his trapeze wire, as we were being dragged off the windward wing - It was not pretty, but sometimes "gutsy athleticism" is what is needed to get the boat across the line in these big breeze conditions.

Sunday dawned with the first rain of "the California wet season", as a weak cold front crossed the Bay Area, leaving us with uncharacteristically light winds on the race course - it did build to a moderate westerly as it cleared up. We sailed on a new race course to cater to the different wind, which had more current running through it. The racing was more tactical than the previous day's speed orientated theme and made for a well rounded championship. We sailed well enough to consolidate on 3rd place for the event, but have plenty of room for improvement in the tactical and boat handling department. The biggest take-away from Sunday, was finding a rig setting in those conditions where we had good speed with the top guys. Historically, we have had our biggest speed issues in those conditions of 7-11kts, and we adjusted a few things to get up to speed with our competition. It was nice to rely on our speed to get out of tricky situations and not feel like we were always losing distance to people around us when going in a straight line. Our setting in these conditions still needs some refinements, but we like the direction it is headed.

We have 3 more weeks out here, training in the same conditions, with the same high caliber group, before we head back to Bermuda for a break and to do some more fund-raising and work. We are tentatively planning on doing another "Round de Rock" record attempt as well - we want to get below the 3 hr mark if we can get the conditions to cooperate. Let us know if you want to put up any prizes for the bets on our time around. email zankirkland@hotmail.com

NA's Day 1

North Americans started today in a punchy 15-20kts+ out on the Bay, in an exposed area, just south of line between Treasure Island and Angel Island. It was ebbing for the majority of the afternoon, which made for lumpy conditions and put a premium on survival boat handling at times - excess of 20kts with nasty chop will do it. The goal for today's first day of racing was to keep it simple and keep the boat upright. We knew it would be BREEZE ON and so we just wanted to put all the boat handling practice we have done in the past 3 weeks to the test. We knew with all the technique work we did with Ramon that it was in us to do it, but to do it under race conditions is always a whole other deal.

The fleet is a tight, international fleet of 8 boats (2 USA, 2 CAN, ISV, MEX, FIN and BER). Our finishes today were 3,4,3,4. We had good speed upwind and were smart about managing about the ebb current for the most part. We also nailed some windshifts and had some nice gainers on some of the fast guys (FIN was 11th at last worlds, Team Storck/Moore is Gold Fleet, and CAN 49 is Gold Fleet and past Olympian)! We are getting closer!! The boat handling is continuing to come together, thanks to Ramon, the endless wind to practice in out here and we are nearing a critical mass of 49er sailing hours where boat handling is slowly becoming more natural. We had some real nice tacks out there, where we carried our speed well and had a few solid gybes as well. We also had a few hairy gybes, where we just saved them thanks to a little luck and gutsy athleticism (sometimes that is good enough in a 49er when the course is littered with wiped out 49ers). We will work on these to continue to make these smoother and more in control!! The wave state really complicates matters...in our most hairy gybe, we dug the bow mid gybe and scrambled from there to keep her upright.

Goal for tomorrow is the same for today. It's most likely going to be windy again and we will need to continue to execute on the boat handling to get through the Bay's tough conditions.

PS. On our training since we have been here has been great! The breeze has been like a machine out on the Bay and the international training partners have been great to sail with. It was awesome to have Ramon out here in the early part of this SF training to get our new boat sorted and to get our boat handling mechanics in order. Coaching does make a difference - especially when he is coach of the defending world champions! He had a great eye and could see very subtle things, which make a big difference. The whole time we had Ramon, both of us couldn't stop thinking how great this was and if only we could regularly get this type of support!! Please talk to us if you are interested in making Ramon a reality for more than 10 days a year. Even Ramon mentioned it, "imagine if I had 10 days a month with you guys..." We also have to thank our Dad for coming out and filming/analyzing us for the past week. He has been very helpful on the water and is also an added dynamic in the post-sailing time to keep the chemistry fresh for Jesse and I. THANKS DAD! Hope we get you back on the campaign trail in the future. Plus he makes good burgers and gets us in the HOV lane!

Training with Ramon

Here is short clip we put together of some of the training we have done out on the Bay. The footage is split between the GoBro and our coach, Ramon.

Video of the actual Start

Thanks Scott Stallard for this great footage at the start!

Video of 1st attempted start of circumnavigation

We had a camera on the end of the boom and it filmed our first start, where we broke our spinnaker tack line, right as we started...We then turned it off, while we jury rigged the spinnaker pole. However, in a rush and dealing with the breeze, we forgot to turn it back after we resolved the problem and went on the blast "round de rock." frustrating, but you still get a taste.
-Zander

WE MADE IT Round!

Exhausting blast around Bermuda! No time to break, just a moment under the lee of St. David's Head to drink some water as we got ready for the mission up the South Shore. We blasted off the starting line at Spanish Point and cruised down the North Shore with great pace, thanks to the breezy conditions and the relatively flat water. We made it to St. David's Head in 45 minutes from Spanish Point. The South Shore was a brutal 15 mile upwind leg, as jumped swells with the flying fish. We came inside the reef at Elbow Beach and did a close 'fly by' for the beach goers. Once we got to Sonesta, we were able to speed up as we bore away from the breeze. In no time we were ripping across Whale Bay and into the West End. By the end, the breeze had built some and we were just trying to hold it together. We were both really tired, but just remained focused on finishing. It was freaky sailing over the reefs of the West End at such high speeds, it would not have been possible at a lower tide.

Special thanks to all our supporters who guessed our circumnavigation time. Winner was St. David's Islander, Duncan Frith. We finished in 3hrs 47 mins and 10 Secs, he was only 10 secs off with his guess of 3hr 47 mins! Also many thanks to our escorts around the Island. Spanish Point - Ft. St. Catherine (Jonny Kempe and Andrew Masters), Fort St. Catherines - Tuckerstown (Mark Soares), Tuckerstown - Sonesta (Barry Bridges and Malcolm Kirkland) and the last leg Sonesta to Spanish Point (Alan Burland and Raymond Lambert).

We think was a great event and want to improve on our time! It was a great way for us to showcase the speeds that this boat can achieve. The 49er is the fastest Olympic Sailboat and is one of the main focal points for media coverage on the ISAF World Cup Tour. Just imagine a whole fleet of these boats racing and you can understand racing these boats on the World Stage!

Round 'De Rock'

How long will it take them?

The Kirkland Brothers, in a bid to raise public awareness of their Olympic dreams and help fund raise their sailing campaign, are set to sail around Bermuda this week. They envisage it being a two-fold challenge, one for themselves to sail the “bronco” around the 36-mile circumference of the island in good time and lastly, for the public to try and estimate their circumnavigation time. Neither of them is an easy task, for the sailing is going to be draining over that type of a distance and the rubric to figure out their time is equally daunting because of the abundance of variables in a sailboat speed run.

$10 buy-in to get your estimate on the books. The winner will be receiving gift vouchers to AS Coopers, Butterfield and Vallis and the Olympic Club. The cash pool raised goes to support their run-up to next summer’s Olympics in London. Their six figure budget over the next year is dominated by world-class coaching expenses as they attack the important nuances of sailing the boat. Call 236-0383 to log your bet or drop it by Mailboxes in town. You can do it electronically by emailing zankirkland@hotmail.com and then paying by bank transfer, with the time in the memo. This is another example (Roy Allen’s “Dash for Cash”) of ‘cash strapped’ BOA Elite athletes getting imaginative to raise money for their Olympic aspirations.

Hints for everyone to base their estimate around. Their clockwise circumnavigation attempt will start and finish at Hogfish Beacon off Spanish Point. The highest speeds (in excess of 20 kts) of the trip, should be on the North Shore, where they will have their giant spinnaker up and minimal big waves to slow them down. Their speed will drop when they attack the wind on the South Shore and also have to manage the swell outside the reefs. Total distance around is estimated to be just over 36 nautical miles.

Stay up-to-date (for exact start time) electronically by following the campaign’s Facebook page “Kirkland Brothers 49er Sailing”. Also they will try and get airtime on the local radio stations to keep everyone abreast of their progress around. Tenative start-time is 11am this coming Thursday, starting time from Hogfish. They will have a GPS onboard to record the actual distance sailed and the top speed of the sail.

With the wind out of the South-West, the South Shore will be a great place to view the boat jumping in the waves. They are planning on coming inside the reef near Elbow Beach for a fly-by. Other good places to view the Brothers in action would be: Crawl Hill, Ferry Reach, Fort St. Catherines, St. David’s Head, Spittal Pond, Horshoe Bay, Church Bay, Whale Bay, Somerset Long Bay, and Commissioner’s House as they head for the finish!

They welcome any other challengers with a sail to take them on and are interested to hear about any past performances. Windsurfers currently hold the outright speed record for the circumnavigation by a sailing craft, but they want to have the fastest sailboat time on the books.

The Brothers are home for two more weeks to fundraise (by this event and painting houses) and then are off to California for the Fall to compete in the Pacific Coast Championships and the North American Championships. They will be racing with top North American and European sailors as everyone preps for the 2011 World Championships, which are this December in Perth, Australia.

Euro trip # 2 - Reflection

Reflecting into the Scandinavian midnight twilight on the Ferry to Stockholm

Waiting for our flight home at Gatwick, after a very productive trip to Northern Europe over the course of the last 2 months, we feel excited about our sailing and where it is going. The trip has been our best foray to Europe yet, with a 25th place at the Grade 1 Delta Lloyd Event and consistent good moments at the ultra competitive Sail for Gold and the European regattas. We were also blessed with great wind for most of these events and were really able to up our comfort level in racing these boats at high speeds. The other major positive aspect of this trip, has been our increased knowledge of how to manage the rig settings, largely through talking with our faster friends and figuring out things by trial/error.

A full year into sailing this boat full-time and we are miles ahead of where we were last year. Hopefully we can continue this trend. We seem to be doing a lot of the hard things well (starting, lane management off the line, and boat handling) and when we can polish up the rest of our game and fire on all cylinders, we are going to be pleased with our results.

Even through this trip, we noticed better boat handling and speed in breeze, thanks to 20 days of sailing (majority under race conditions) in this trip where it was windy. This meant tens of mark roundings, bear-aways, starts and the ability to tweak our rig settings. Over 18kts, we are pretty happy with rig and have found that we have good speed with the fleet (in the windiest race of Sail For Gold, we rounded the 1st weather mark in 7th). Our breeze competency also was enhanced by our “boat-handling week” in Weymouth before going to Finland. We did tons of tacks, gybes and mark roundings at the Olympic venue. It is never easy training by yourself, but we made the most of it and felt the results in Finland.

We are excited to be heading to Santa Cruz and San Francisco in early August to continue our breeze practice because we really want to make a point of being competent BREEZE sailors in the class. There very few venues in the world, which are better to focus on windy 49er sailing than Coastal Central California and we will have an international crew (FIN, CAN, USA, MEX, DEN and maybe GBR) of training partners to sail with. We will continue to focus on sharpening our boat handling, dialing in our rig and learning how to push the boat more in the waves with the kite up. It is a real art for the crew to trim the kite and avoid putting the bow into the wave and causing a dramatic pitch-pole. The boat really needs a longer pole in those conditions to pull the bow up more, but there is a technique that we need to master to mitigate the constant danger of pitching it – basically trapeze really hard out and back and let the break the kite before rogue waves suck the bow in.

Also over the past 2 months, I noticed my fitness improve from all that breeze sailing. Towards the end of the trip, even after 4 races (with 3 laps each), I found I still had energy in the tank to deal with the spinnaker sets, douses and keeping the boat going top speed upwind. Of course, it can always be better and I will be working towards that, but it was refreshing to see my body adapt to all the sailing. It also shows that the gym training, which I do between events, could be pushed harder. It really seems like the best fitness training for the boat is just sailing the boat because it is such a complex blend of strength, agility and endurance. I am going to continue to focus on high rep training to work on shoulder, back and arm grip strength. Also mixed in cardio on the bike and the rowing machine. Jesse and I’s weight (154kg) is good for the boat and no real change is necessary, we just need to continue to get stronger, so we can avoid tiring and stay focused on sailing fast and smart.

Come to RBYC at 6pm on Thursday, July 21st to see us present our current state of the campaign! We feel we are at an exciting stage and want to share that with everyone.


- Zander

Euros - Helsinki

Front Row, race 4


Front Row, race 2


FLAT and FAST!!!

We have had three days of racing in progressively better conditions each day, with the highlight being today’s fresh 13-16knots- though there was a nasty short chop. The first day was in a really soft and fluky 3-6 knots, and yesterday was a solid 7-12 knots. After nine races, we are lying in 47th place, but only 20ish points out of a mid fleet. The conditions have been really shifty with the course tucked up right under the shore of Helsinki leaving the fleet very close. With half our races still to come, we have the room to make a good jump up the leaderboard.

The course that we were put on for our races has been very difficult and unpredictable leaving the tactics and strategy that much more tricky. However, one thing that we can pride ourselves on for most of this event is our starting. We have had some really good starts in the middle of the line allowing us to be a little more conservative with the oscillating breeze. Our downwind speed and tactics, and leeward mark rounding’s are constantly improving as our boat handling and confidence improves. Another big part of the racing so far has been to manage the risk/reward trade-off. Since it is such a shifty venue with massive pressure differences throughout the course, understanding when to take the risk and leverage out on the fleet is critical.

We had been making gains with our rig in our most problematic area(essentially what we have raced in), though on the second day we really lacked speed. Today saw a much better look in our speed, and we look to continue that into tomorrow and beyond. So, the frustration and annoyance at our speed in the 7-14 knots is still present, though addressing our biggest weaknesses now only make us stronger down the road.

With three days of sailing left, there is still much to fight for in this event. We hope to continue our good starting and rig settings to put together some results. We are getting close!

-Jesse

Training in Weymouth

After 2 and half weeks of full-time sailing between the Delta Lloyd Regatta and the Sail for Gold, Zander and Jesse took a needed hiatus from the 49er. Zander headed to Ireland and scored some good surf while Jesse went to Greece and Turkey in search of that rare GBR thing of warm weather. Since we did not want to be out of the boat for more than two weeks, following our “separation”, we planned a training week in Weymouth before our departure for the Europeans in Finland.

The weather cooperated for our week, leaving us with good breeze and, surprisingly, sunshine! Training-wise, it was certainly a success as we were very productive with our time for the five days with a couple of double sessions crammed in there. Though we were sailing by ourselves, we were busy working on boat handling (never gets old in the 49er!) and testing some rig settings. For example, we did gybe set after gybe set and leeward mark rounding after leeward mark rounding; essentially trying to engrave the motions into our mind. We also did the basics, like figure 8 drill repetitively in the beginning of the session to get our mechanics down.

Rig-wise, we were testing out some settings in our most problematic condition of 8-12 knots. Thankfully the breeze for the majority of the week was this condition! You can only do so much with rig tune by yourself, but it was amazing the changes we could feel tinkering with the rig (playing with bend, cap shroud tension, primary shroud tension, etc). Hopefully this help us as we go into the ultra competitive European Champs (2nd only to the Worlds in terms of competition) and get our speed dialed in whatever conditions we get.

So, onto Finland tomorrow with a British team. The long drive of nearly 30 hrs will be segmented by two ferry rides seeing us arrive sometime Monday evening. We will no doubt need some rest after the drive! However, given our time frame, we will have plenty of time to get rested and train a couple times before the European Championship begins on Friday the 8th. Stay posted!

Sail For Gold Wrap-Up

After a couple days to gain some perspective we are able to better analyze the event. We were disappointed with our overall position of 50th out of 68. We finally had found some confidence in our sailing following the Delta Lloyd Regatta, and felt prepared to put forth a great event. Unfortunately, some things happened in the racing- some our fault, others not, that saw us finish below our potential. We felt misfortune found us at every corner. For instance, the first DNF was a 6th at the first windward mark before a peculiar situation developed in a fickle 2-6 knots, and absolutely owned us.

But have faith! We remain optimistic about our chances in the 49er. We broke down all the qualifying races (before Gold and Silver split), and realized that we were in the top 15 (two top 10) in every race. Our goal remains to finish off our strong starts to the races. Seeing the points that we gave away throughout the event leaves us wondering with the what ifs…

Our speed overall is getting better. In both <7 and >18 we feel confident with our speed (Our best roundings were in both these conditions). Our problem remains in the mid-range where we just lack the wheels of the top boats. Our goal is to focus hard on this wind-range and hopefully with some advice from some friends in the fleet we can get going well.

Tactically speaking, we did not sail our best regatta, but certainly well enough to be mid fleet. This, despite the FULL-ON conditions we saw for 90% of the event (the other 10% was in 0-6 from the land in our first two races). Moving forward, our goal to refine our speed in the 8-14knots remains Number 1.

After a couple weeks off to recharge the battery will are heading up to Finland to compete in the European Championships. No doubt there will be some long days that far north!

Sail For Gold Update

We have completed six races over the three days of racing in the two extremes of wind conditions(really light and extremely windy). Our first two races were raced in a light and variable offshore 2-6 knots with our final race seeing a 180 degree wind shift! Over the last two days, we have seen 18-25knots with higher gusts in some of the waviest and gnarly sailing to date. Our hands have certainly been full!

Our results are not impressive, and we feel quite bummed about them. However, beneath the scores, we have had some brilliant moments throughout the two extreme conditions. First off, our speed all around has been a positive that has us feeling quite good. Secondly, our confidence on the starting line has improved, which has not surprisingly led to us having more consistent starts. Thirdly, we have been in the top 15(two in top 10) at the first mark in all of our races.

We have said it before, but I will say it again. We are still trying to put the whole race together. Throughout the races, we have been plagued by a few mishaps between mechanical issues, tactical conundrums and some boat set-up issues. Sailing in these tough extreme conditions has definitely made it a lot more difficult. But, regardless of the dissatisfaction of the racing thus far, we are still upbeat about the final two days of racing.

So, onto Silver Fleet tomorrow. With our confidence still there, we hope to finally crank out a few good finishes with six races remaining. Keep posted as the breeze is meant to cooperate!

Best Regatta to Date!

"Jesse yelling at the photo boat to get help to our American friend (in background) who badly sprained his ankle in a capsize on the leeward mark approach. Zander in the boat, getting ready to douse the kite."

We are coming off our best event to date in the 49er! The Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik, Holland was an ISAF Grade 1 event and was attended by 21 countries from around the World. We were 25th out of 39 boats. We had one top 10 finish (8th) and over half the races were in the top 17. We also moved up everyday after a tough day 1. It was a windy event (3 days were blown out) where there are real consequences for mistakes. One of our Canadian friends broke their mast on the last day and our American training partner almost broke his ankle on day 2 in a capsize. We found we had good speed in the big breeze and it enabled us to focus more on the racing aspect of the game -- a breakthrough for us in these conditions. As we smooth out our boat handling work, we will hope to look at our big breeze sailing as a potent weapon in our arsenal.

The hard work and humility that we have exhibited over the last 18 months is paying off as we look to continue to work our way up the fleet. It doesn’t get any easier from here, but we are excited about the direction of our sailing. With 15 months until the London Olympics, we feel we are on track to reach the world-class standard and qualify for the Games.

Next up for us is the Sail For Gold Regatta in Weymouth, the venue for next year’s Olympics. It will be the best attended ISAF Grade 1 event on the tour because all the top sailors will be there gaining knowledge on the site. The fleet (65 boats) will be full of Olympians, World Champions and sailors hoping to qualify for London 2012.

Another Good Day!

Once again the Delta Lloyd provided us with a breezy day of racing with winds ranging from 16-22kts with higher puffs. The added element of a steep chop due to a slight change in wind direction made the racing that much more challenging. When it was all over, we had posted a 8th, and two 17s. Definitely our top day in Europe to date. We are certainly pleased with our performances throughout the day, with both our 17's just one mistake away from being top 10's... And our 8th was probably our best race so far in Europe!

Our upwind speed and boathandling was good all day. Throughout the day, we were able to get the boat going well upwind seeing us in some strong positions. A definite comfort that permits us to focus on other aspects of the racing. On the boat handling note, we landing ALL of our gybes! Our tacks were solid all day except for a crash tack in the second race, second beat that saw us flip the only time in racing, and fall from 9th or so to 17... In the final race, we were looking good in 10th or so when we ran into some trouble at the leeward mark during the douse. Murphy's Law made its present known as the jibe sheet got tightly woven around Zanders leg leaving us unable to make the bear away right to windward of the gates. After spending the 20 secs freeing his leg and getting around the mark, 6 or 7 boats had ripped by us.

So all in all another positive result. Our boathandling and speed are the standout positives from the day. Hopefully we can improve on a our starting and tactics now that we have found some comfort in our speed. More breeze in the forecast!

Keep posted!

Day 2 = Better!!!

Yesterday has to go down as one of the best days we have put together in Europe so far. We nailed a 15th and a 16th, after starting with an average 25th in the 38 boat fleet. Many of the players in the fleet are here and any finish in the top half is very respectable. The breeze started as a weak southerly and then faded into a moderate sea breeze northerly. The key was largely nailing two good starts and then managing the tricky breeze well. The reason for our worst race (race 1 of the day) was because of a bad start. We had managed to work ourselves back into the race, but got on the wrong side of a few bizarre windshifts. In the light air, a breeze we have practiced in a lot recently, our speed was good enough for us to play the game with anyone. If not for missing a few shifts in those two light air races, we could have had better scores than we got.

In the final race, with a solid (compared to early in the day) 8-10 kts, we had a great start up at the committee boat under a black flag and found ourselves in the top pack off the line. However, we lacked the pace to hold our lane for too long, but were able to stay in the race because we hit a nice shift at the end and rounded the top mark just outside the top 15. We had a great gybe set to pull us back into the top 15, but had a bad gybe later on the run which limited our gains. Final beat we lacked the pace again, especially because the breeze had died slightly and we lost a few more boats. After the race, we were trying to figure out why we were slow and lacked the power. We did find we were fast on guys whenever the breeze built a bit. So when we got in we measured our rig settings and found our rig far too bent for that 8-10 kts...our lowers had loosened up after the first couple races without our knowing. It was a case of us putting throwing a couple turns on the lowers to straighten the rig and power her up. Live and learn, but that setting cost us finishing out of the top 5! That's what it is at this level! So at least we are really seeing what is needed for a great race at this level (good start, correct settings and smart tactics, we had 2/3 of these and hence deserved our 16th).

-Zander

ps. windy here again. all boats remind grounded to wait for weather to pass, hopefully we get out later.

Blustery Day One

The first day of the Delta Lloyd event was FULL-ON. After being postponed on shore because of reported 28+ knots on our course, we were sent out when the breeze died to 20-25+kts… The Race Committee got off three races during the late afternoon session with the breeze becoming more volatile as the day went on. By the second race, the breeze ranged anywhere from 15-28 knots. Capsized boats were a common site throughout the day’s racing- lots of carnage out there!

Our results on paper do not do us justice for how we performed. There were many positives for the day despite our finishes. First off, our upwind speed was good. We were able to rip around the racetrack with above average speed all day. This is a big boost for us as we continue to gain confidence with our rig settings. Secondly, we had a good consistency with our gybe’s and tacks except for the odd one or two. This was a big plus considering the breeze strength.

The problems that led to our subpar results were due to a few different things. In the first race (arguably the windiest of the day), we flipped prior to the start and were 8 minutes late to crossing the start line. Despite getting a DNS because we crossed the start line after the time limit, we were able to catch up to the pack and finish a respectable finish. In the second race, after having a good start and first half of the beat, we found ourselves in a big righty crossing the whole fleet with the eventual 1st round the windward(top 3); however, a knock followed by a 20 degree, 28knot righty cleanbowled us (Jesse also got sent on the main and put a hole in it). We managed to get back into the race, but a missed shift/downwind speed was mediocre on the final downwind saw us lose 5 boats. In the last race, we had our one bad tack on the day seeing us fall behind early. After catching up on both the upwind and the downwind we got caught in a sticky situation at the leeward mark with a couple boats and flipped. After having issues getting it back up, we found ourselves too far behind to finish within the time limit.

So all in all, a really exhausting day of sailing. With many travails throughout the races, we see ourselves sitting below our potential. A couple critical mistakes alongside one incredibly unfortunate situation saw us blow a potentially good day. Though, our upwind speed was certainly the highlight of the day and leave us with some good feelings.

Keep posted for racing tomorrow! Look to be light before another few days of BREEZE follows.
Heres a shot of us on one of the downwinds!

Windy Holland!

We are back in Europe for the second time this spring, ready to attack the heart of the European circuit (Grade 1 in Medemblik, Grade 1 in Weymouth, Euro champs in Helsinki). Right now, we are in Medemblik, Holland, as we await the start of the Delta Lloyd Regatta which starts on Tuesday. It is shaping up to be a windy event, as the North Sea is expected to have an active weather pattern for the coming week. This should make for an exciting event and we look forward to stepping up in these challenging conditions and putting some good results together.

Yesterday we had big breeze in our training session and we were able to nail some solid gybes and tacks in the ‘49er red line’ conditions (gusts over 25kts!). In the puffs while sailing off the wind, roaring with boatspeed, we would be heading directly downwind to keep the boat in control – a feat not too common for an asymmetric kite! One of the Aussie boats had a GPS on their boat and they hit 24.8 kts of boat speed out there, an unofficial record for the 49er. We had known it was windy, but it was nice to hear this that it was documented as such! In fact it got too windy to head back out for our afternoon session, as the whole fleet was grounded with gusts well over 30 kts. Forecast for tomorrow, more of the same. Day 1 = moderating.
-Zander

Europe Round 2!

After a nice break to relax and replenish both mind and body, we are ready to head back to Europe for a second series of events. This time around, we will compete in Northern Europe as the weather warms and compete in the Delta Lloyd Regatta, Sail for Gold and the European Championships. First stop is the Delta Lloyd sailed on a lake just north of Amsterdam. With the North Sea just a few miles away there's an awful good chance of seeing some cold weather. Alot different from our Palma experience!

Keep posted as we will begin training on Saturday with the event beginning on Tuesday!

Hyeres Wrap Up

Here’s an analysis of Hyeres after a couple days to let it all sink in…

-Our finish in the event was not as strong as we would have liked, but we know the difference between where we are, and where want to be is not far. The fleet is extremely deep, and a testament to that is in the fact that three guys who were in Silver Fleet at Palma were 2nd, 7th and 9th in Gold in Hyeres!

-One of our big goals throughout this first trip to Europe was to work hard on our speed. This, after our Fall and Winter of working hard on boat handling. As this trip wraps up, we can honestly say we have finally found a good setting for <10knots that we are pleased with. The highlight of our event was the speed we had in the races in the final day. We were able to stay in a marginal lane off the line, which was important for the race as our confidence. In >10knots, we feel we are getting faster, but are not there yet- we need to solidify some settings for breeze.

-Something that we generally have been good at but put up a poor show here was starting. I believe we only had 2 good starts out of 15. Certainly not setting us up to a good first beat as the races were in relatively steady gradient limiting the passing lanes. Further, left side of the course was favored 90% of the time so being forced right did not help! I believe this was the biggest contributor to our lack of good roundings at the first windward mark. Developing the hole and a good spot on the line, nor acceleration seems to be the problem. Rather it is our positioning relative to the few boats around us seeing us a little too bow back. This is an issue because as we accelerate, everyone else is as well, and therefore we are not afforded a bow out position. So moving forward to SPA, we will make starting a priority. We must grant ourselves a chance in the race!

-A positive rooting from our poor windward mark rounds were in our ability to grind back some decent finishes. This sparks some confidence in our sailing (but also frustration at ourselves for not have good 1st windward roundings!) Our downwinds throughout the event were definitely a positive. Our tactical decisions, coupled with good speed seemed to help us make gains off the wind.

After a long month of sailing, we are taking a well-needed break for a couple weeks to recharge the battery. This first Europe Trip has been very productive with speed work and practice races as there have been many teams around. Looking forward to SPA and Sail For Gold, our goals will most likely revolve around speed work and our starts. After so much emphasis on boat handling and comfort in the boat over the last few months, we must now focus on the fundamentals of sailboat racing.

Hyeres Training

We have had some good training here in Hyeres over the past 6 days, with largely a soft thermal in the afternoon. Typical high pressure has dominated the Mediterranean and given us plenty of time to play with our boat set up in these conditions and to work on starting techniques - to help ensure we are maximizing our acceleration off the line and holding our lane at will. These practices have been extra productive because we have been able to tag along with the US Sailing Team (Erik/Trevor and Alex/Val under coach Dave Hughes) and be involved with animated (video and photos) debriefs from each session. This has been great and is helping us close the boat speed gap with the top of the class.

The third party feedback is great and we hope to work with these guys as much as they want us around! We have been experimenting with different settings, trying to attack all the nuances of world class speed. Part of it is trimming and driving technique, and part of it is rig set up - shroud tensions (caps, primaries, lowers, fore stay), mast bend, jib tack, jib clew, main batten tensions, vang tensions, bridle settings, etc. The list gets complicated fast and you have to try figure out which combinations work together in certain conditions...you can imagine a sailing log for a 49er! Whenever you have good speed against good boats, everything is measured and the conditions are noted. This has helped us start to paint the 'boat speed' picture, but this blatant experimenting seems to be accelerating this procedure. Hopefully we can continue this!

Racing starts on Sunday and the long-term forecast is for a moderate to strong easterly, possibly continuing into the week. An easterly at Hyeres is wavey (like conditions we had last thursday) and is tough for the 49er. This should make for exciting and intense racing!


-Zander

Palma Wrap up

Well it has been a few days now and we can reflect back on last week's racing here in Palma.

54th/69 boats (21st country) - a disappointing finish at first glance, especially after all the work we have put in recently, but we remain confident in our sailing and our fundamental view that we can become a competitive team on the world stage by next year. We are eager to continue our training in France and then test ourselves again at the end of the month at the Hyeres French Olympic Week (ISAF World Cup Event #2 in Europe)

There are a number of observations to take note of from the event and the preceding week of training:

- The fleet is deep and close to everyone (save the Greeks, Japanese, AUS and NZL) were in attendance here in the 69 boat fleet (24 nations).

- While boat handling is an ever present priority in the boat, we are now able to play the game and it is not holding us back like it did last year. Yes we did flip on day 1 in the breeze and yes we have many maneuvers to smooth out, but the obstacles are manageable and the priority for our next chapter in the boat is boat speed. We found in this event, when the breeze was steady and there was an evident strategy that needed to be executed to get out front, we were unable to do this because we couldn't hold our lane with other top boats for any substantial length of time. It was extremely frustrating to watch this happen time and time again in our races.

Our speed is good at times and improving, but it is not consistent enough at this level. We need a coach to watch what we are doing in detail and help us develop a clear protocol of boat set up, trim (especially vang tension and mainsheet) and tune (especially low bend and forestay tension) for different conditions and give us confidence in our speed, so we can focus on the tactics and racing. All to often we feel, our lack of speed is distracting our energy away from the racing and all the tactical complexities associated with a 49er race - essentially a sail boat race in fast forward.

- Many competitors and coaches mentioned the level of the fleet has continued to improve (everyone, just like us was busy in the off-season). For us to make strides against this constantly moving bar, we need to accelerate our learning. As mentioned above, we need some coaching and not just random regatta coaches, but someone who can consistently stay with us and help us develop some consistent world class speed. It makes a difference, we have watched peers (similar vintage to us in the boat and similar training regime) make gains relative to us with coaching support. In perfect world, we would have a private coach (or atleast share a coach with a few other training partners), like many of our competitors, but it is just not a financial reality at present. We have not had any spare money for a coach since last July. We have been busy paying for sails, boat transport, air tickets, entry fee’s, insurance, line, spare parts, tools, and the list goes on! We now need to add coaching and the associated costs (coach boat, coach transport) to the same priority level as those. Until we can afford a coach, we will be working with our training partners on rig set up and continue to keep detailed notes on how everything was set and the corresponding results. The other thing we can do now is soak as much information from our friends who are going faster than us.

The level where we are and where we want to be is getting smaller, but these subtle gains can be the hardest to get and that is why we need help now. Both Jesse and I have opinions on certain techniques (trimming, steering) and boat set up (mast low bend, amount of twist, etc) but only with a knowledgeable third party behind us with a video camera can a real consensus be achieved and a truth found,

- Our starting and acceleration technique is coming together. Jesse has watched the top guys on the line and copied their pre-start ‘down speed’ technique and is now able to hold a spot on the line for up to 4 minutes. It is this funny dance of the boats creeping upwind and then backwinding back into the hole. All the while you are looking to windward to see if you can fit in a double tack to enlarge your hole and looking to leeward to protect your hole (usually by barking loud). The acceleration out of the hole is just as important and we usually start it with 6 -8 seconds to go. It requires deft main trim by Zander to power the boat up, without stalling Jesse’s rudder as the boat falls down onto close hauled....All the while we have to delicately run out onto the wing and clip in as well and make sure the boat stays perfectly flat the entire time! What we want to work on now is being able to develop a high mode when you have a marginal lane and be able to hold on until the fleet has shook out the 2nd row. Most of the time we are still starting at an end because it gives you more options if you lose your hole in the final approach. As we get more and more faith in our starting technique we will venture to the middle when our strategy dictates such.

- Tactically, for Hyeres, we are going to try and sail more disciplined on the track. Control the things we can manage (starting, windward mark approaches) and avoid taking as many flyers when we get frustrated with our speed. Yes there is a time and place for gaining extra leverage on the fleet, but the rationale must be able to be defended. It is not the way we usually sail, but if left unchecked this boat can get you into desperate situations that no normal sailboat racer would deem rational.

All in all, it is great that we have another event in two weeks and we can hopefully apply all that we have learned here in such a short time. In the training, we will continue to refine our maneuvers, boat set up and look out for a coach.

If you are interested in helping us with funding for coaching solely, we would be very grateful because coaches at this level do not come cheap and remain close to 50% of our budget through next year.

Long Day 2

The second day of Palma was exceptionally long thanks to the wind dying as the gradient gave way to the sea breeze. Further, the Race Committees intent to get 4 races off (we only managed 3) definitely extended the day. Our three races were again filled with a lot of little mistakes at crucial times that saw us squander opportunities.

In the first race, a bad start coupled with the inability to get a lane led us to start way behind and out of phase in the shifty morning breeze. We were unable to get a handling of the breeze and ended with a poor 31. Then as the sea breeze filled in, we were able to start the second race of the day. We had a marginal start near the boat but were able to get a nice lane right. We managed to get going well, and were looking very promising near the top of the beat; however, we didn’t overstand quite enough on the final starboard layline, and got rolled by A LOT of boats. A potential top ten rounding turned into an 18 or 20th at the top. Not good, Incredibly agonizing. On the last upwind of the beat, we got caught too far to the unflavored side of the course and ended up 26th. In the final race, our pre-race plan of port tack approach near the boat worked out really well. After a couple minutes off the line we had half the fleet pointed at our stern; however, on the cross mid way up the leg we found ourselves unable to find a lane back right. We got pushed too far to the left and was mid 20s by the windward mark. On the last upwind, we got going well and were able to pass a few boats, ending up 22nd.

So all in all, a rough day. Frustrating to say the least. We are a couple of mistakes away from having some good races. Our speed is ok, but regardless, if we can sail smart with clean boat handling we should be able to put up some good scores. Keep posted for tomorrows races!

Palma Day 1

Photo is us (in the center of the shot) approaching the windward mark in the top 10 in race 2

Racing was tough today in the puffy, offshore conditions. 20th and 29th, 51st/69 boats overall. Pretty much all the players in the world are racing this ISAF grade 1 event in Palma de Mallorca. 24 countries from all over the world.

We had two good first windward mark roundings, rounding 11th and 8th, in the two races respectively - Up with all the top boats and in unfamiliar territory to date! It was nice to do that in both races, and we know we are few boat handling mistakes away from nailing two top 15 finishes. That would have us with our training partner, currently the top American boat in the event.

We were happy with our tune, as we continue to learn more and more about our highly responsive rig. In the big breeze, we had some smooth gybes, tacks, one very nice gybe-set and some good hoists. The one real boat handling issue was our douses at the leeward mark (also the windiest part of the course), that is when we flipped in the second race on the second leeward mark rounding. It was heart breaking because we were in 14th place, over halfway through a grueling race and we had a nice little gap behind us. We righted the boat quickly and got back to racing and were still able to beat a handful of boats, but the damage had already been done...that capsize cost us 20 places overall! But this is all early days and we know we can put it together. 4 races tomorrow, a long day, and we know tomorrow will be when the results will shake out. So we live to fight another day at our first event in Europe of 2011 and have hopes of moving up through this internationally stacked fleet.

-Zander

Palma Training Update

We have gotten four days of training in a several different conditions since our arrival in Palma. It took a couple days of getting Sled back into race shape after her long hiatus over the winter (and waiting for our rig to arrive from Barcelona), but by Sunday we were out on the Bay off of Palma. What a nice place to sail at with the mountains of Mallorca offering a great background to the turquoise Bermuda-esque waters of the Mediterranean. And weather-wise, we have been very fortunate with temperatures gradually rising since we arrived here.

Sailing-wise, we are shaking off the rust after our break. Everyday we are feeling more and more comfortable in the boat. And sailing in our new boat has certainly helped! The differences (other than being 10 years older) between 646 and 1108 are unbelievable between the stiff wings and hull, the acceleration and the sheer buoyancy of the boat. Our first and foremost goal of this pre-event was to regain our boat balance and boat handling touch. After 4 days in the bag, and a couple more planned, we feel our confidence and form coming back. And with a few more days of training still planned before the event, our boat handling will only improve.

To sum it up, the sailing has been positive thus far. Getting back into this new boat has most certainly been a moral-booster. After an agonizing OCR in our old boat, we are now seeing a fruition of our hard work throughout the Fall. Our speed and boat handling is now comparable to many in the fleet (though there is room for improvement!), which has now enabled us to actually race! And indeed, we have found ourselves time to time in uncharted territory of the fleet with a few good practice races in various conditions.

So after another couple days of practice we will lay low and go over the boat before racing begins Monday. Stay posted!

Spring 2011 Euro-Campaign Kicks off!

We just arrived in Palma, to begin our important 2011 Euro ISAF World Cup campaign, which will be crucial in preparing us for the 2011 World Championships (Olympic Qualifier #1) to be held in the end of the year in Australia. It has been just under 5 weeks since we have last seen a 49er and we both have the itch to get back in the boat. The time away (this will be our biggest break of the year) from the boat has great and the break was strategically planned to avoid burn out problems as this busy year on the circuit cranks up. We were busy during the furlough and were able to inject some balance in our life. We fundraised, painted houses, coached, pursued our other passions (soccer and surfing), caught up with friends and family, and planned for the rest of year. The other cool aspect of all of this was talking to all our friends who were wishing us their best. It really helps us get us psyched up for what we are doing because sometimes when you are immersed in challenges associated with the campaign you can lose site of the big picture and to know that we do have a ton of support is huge. Thank you!

'Seamount Sled', our newish boat, is here and we can't wait to get her rigged up and feel the STIFF boat. One logistical reality is that our rig is in the American container which is still en transit, so we will have to see how that comes together. We have some boat work to do anyways and so hopefully it will not prove to be too big of a hiccup. The Americans were very generous to help us with our rig transportation across the Atlantic, an expensive proposition, so we will have to work around this reality.

We will keep you posted on our progress here as we gear up for the event which starts on the 4th.

-Zander

ps. Jesse capped off his month of soccer with a hat trick in his last game for Robin Hood. His second goal could have been on a sports center highlight clip - a rocket from 20 yds into the lower 90!

Capital Reserve replenishment

After 2 months in Miami, sailing full-time, and no work, we have depleted cash reserves and a deep desire to get some money in the bank before we head to Europe on the 20th. What do the Kirkland Bro's do for a quick hustle? Paint! We have had an exterior painting project this week at a friend's house and next week we are doing another friend's roof. Anybody want to join our waiting list for our next project? haha
We have also been doing some Opti coaching when we can, but we really can't wait to get back in the boat in Europe! We have a big spring lined up and are ready to raise the bar.

-Zander

New Direction for Olympic Sailing

Found this on the NY times online. 49ers will fit in just fine with this spectator oriented paradigm shift by the IOC...

Olympic Sailing Looks to Go Extreme
Pat Carter/Associated Press

The world’s top Olympic sailors were in South Florida reading wind and waves aboard two-person dinghies, keelboats and windsurfers at the recent Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta.
By CHRIS MUSELER
Published: February 9, 2011

The world’s top Olympic sailors were in South Florida reading wind and waves aboard two-person dinghies, keelboats and windsurfers at the recent Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta. The sailing lineup has not really been altered much in the last 20 years.

But that is about to change, and this regatta provided a sneak peek into the sport’s future.

While Olympic medalists were being towed to their courses, kiteboarders skimmed along at twice their speed attached to inflatable kites at the end of 80 feet of razor-thin lines.

A new Olympic slate of classes for 2016, proposed last fall by the International Sailing Federation, or I.S.A.F., has turned the traditional sailing fleet on its head in the hope of attracting young viewers and higher television ratings, creating a sort of X Games for sailing. If men’s and women’s kiteboarding is selected, it will replace windsurfing.

“The Olympics want to promote the most advanced levels of sailing,” said Mike Gebhardt, a two-time Olympic medalist in windsurfing who raced his kiteboard in Miami. “This is high speed, visibly athletic, there are crashes, and you can tell who’s winning. That’s what sells.”

To boost support, the International Kiteboarding Association has been showcasing the fledgling discipline of kiteboard course racing at Olympic class regattas starting with a demonstration at I.S.A.F.’s first sailing World Cup event last December in Melbourne, Australia, and in Miami.

The venerable Star keelboat, in which the sport’s famous America’s Cup and Olympic medalists currently compete, including Brazil’s triple gold medalist and world yachtsman of the year, Torben Grael, is marked for elimination.

“The Star’s best asset is the sailors,” the two-time Star gold medalist Mark Reynolds said. “It represents the best of the sport with medalists from other classes racing.”

Additionally, two coed events being proposed would shift the gender split for Olympic sailing from nine men and seven women per national team to seven men and nine women.

“I.S.A.F. is on the right track to elevate the sport to a high standard,” said Gary Jobson, president of US Sailing and an ESPN and NBC sailing commentator. “Young people want action and excitement, like the X Games and slopestyle skiing.”

Jobson filmed the Miami event and said in a phone interview that it was time for an image change away from the coat and tie yachtsman.

Mandates by the International Olympic Committee have all Olympic sports re-evaluating the marketability of their events.

“The I.O.C. has moved from using a quantitative list to select events to an overall value-added selection process,” Christophe Dubi, sports director for the I.O.C. since 2008, said recently in a phone interview. “The criteria could be provenance or universality. It’s an issue of maximizing the platform we offer at the Olympics.”

Countries have until the I.S.A.F. May meeting to issue counterproposals for the 2016 slate but must offer full slates, as opposed to singling out one class for elimination or inclusion.

“Archery is a good example of a sport that is adapting,” Dubi said.

After consulting with officials from NBC and the I.O.C., Dubi said, “the format was made more compact and easier to understand in the final stages.”

“It has become one of our biggest TV products,” Dubi said.

He also pointed to the modern pentathlon, saying that combining running and shooting increased the ratings of the event.

Dubi said that sailing’s proposed slate of events was a good step forward but that the sport was still difficult to understand.

“Our most exciting images of the Games are from sailing,” Dubi said. “Your stadium is the water and I.S.A.F. is working on making this more spectator-friendly. This is what everyone should be doing.”

Dubi said sailing was in no risk of losing its place at the Olympics.

I.S.A.F. has long been challenged to make what is inherently a participatory sport a spectator sport, said the federation’s secretary, Jerome Pels, adding that the boats used are just as important to broadening appeal as how the sport is covered.

Left on the proposed slate are two men’s one-person classes, the Laser and Finn; the one-person women’s Laser Radial; the men’s 49er skiff; the women’s match racing in the Elliot 6 meter; and a new coed multihull event.

“There is a concern that new events like kiteboarding will be considered unfair,” Pels said. “Skiing’s snowboardcross came very much out of sports marketing and garnered huge popularity in Vancouver. You can come up with something a bit out of the box but stumble upon something very attractive.”

Changes to make sailing more understandable and television friendly were implemented for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Pels said. The new RSX windsurfer is now the fastest class. The advent of on-water umpiring lets the results stand on the field of play and the new Medal Race format makes it such that the gold medal is more often than not determined in the double-points last race. In the past, the event could have been won before the last day of competition or the results could have been unknown until an off-the-water jury heard protests.

I.S.A.F. has also been working with the newly revamped America’s Cup, which will use high-speed catamarans for the 2013 Cup to help make a more marketable television package.

“If we can marry technology with the compelling nature of the sport, that will make people start paying attention,” said Richard Worth, chairman of the America’s Cup Event Authority and a former marketer for the Union of European Football Associations, which is responsible for the steady rise in popularity of European soccer.

The A.C.E.A. and Stan Honey, the recent United States yachtsman of the year and co-inventor of the digital first-down line and line of scrimmage in football, are testing over the next month GPS technology overlay for live helicopter views of sailboat racing. This will show the viewer what is happening and who is winning at all times.

Beyond technology, Gebhardt believes Olympic sailing needs to be simple and exciting.

“People need to be updated and educated as they watch,” he said. “Right now kites are the fastest sailing craft on the planet: 55 knots. People will get it.”

The RSX windsurfers and Star sailors may have seen their future Olympic dreams fade as Gebhardt went skimming by in Miami. But Jobson believes at least the windsurfers’ future is safe, for now.

“Kiteboarding is a new thing,” he said. “At best it is an exhibition like windsurfing was at the 1984 Games in Long Beach. The Star has been around for 100 years. It has had a good run. Advancing is part of the Olympic spirit.”

OCR wrap up

The regatta is over and now time to reflect on the past five days. We had 4-14kt Northwester to finish things off today, which was extremely shifty as the puffs dropped down from the Miami Skyline. Ask Jesse and I our favorite conditions to race a sailboat in and these would probably be them; fun shifts to keep us on our toes and still enough breeze to be moving along nicely. No one side is favored, no pre-race strategy other than keep your head out of the boat and stay in phase!

We had a pretty good day going before the last start...a 10th in the 1st one and a 12th in the second one is pretty much all we can ask from ol' Murphy (3rd oldest boat in 29 boat fleet). She is soft, has trouble accelerating in puffs and feels lower in the water than a normal boat. Not to mention the deck is soft and the wings sag (doesn't make boat handling any easier!).

We look back on that first race and we pretty much sailed a great race. We got off the line, had a lane in the first shift and stayed in phase to the top. Erik/Trevor won the race and they were with us (behind us for the 1st half of the beat) on the left and were able to boatspeed around us as we hitched up the left middle. We rounded in 12th then had a great downwind by holding starboard gybe and sailing into nice pressure and were in 8th at the leeward gate - we even passed a two Brits! We held on the second beat by connecting the puffs and then hitting the left winder at the top. The breeze got a little lighter and flukier on the final run and we lost two top boats (a Brit and the top Canadian) who seemed to carry better speed than us. Still it was a great race, where we interacted with many of 'the players' in the regatta.

The 10th does not give it justice at all, in fact, it helps to make our point that we are in a slow boat, for even in shifty, flatwater conditions (speed should be largely trumped by angle and pressure), where we sailed very well, a 10th was all we could manage. Not being able to accelerate when the puffs came down was critical. I feel bad for blaming alot of this on the boat, but it really did feel/seem that different than the newer boats. 10 years is close to a lifetime in the fast paced 49er and far too old to ask it to be competitive with a new boat. But in the end we will have to wait for the next World Cup Event in Palma, where we are sailing our new boat to showcase our point. This is good because it will be more competitive and deeper and we will need to be maximizing our potential to finish where we want to.

The 12th was also a good race, where after falling behind because of a large left shift early on (we were stuck in the middle doing 4 while the boats who hit the left were doing 9), we rallied by staying in phase and ended up having our second best race in the event.

Going into the last race, we were feeling good and confident that we had one more good race in us, to cap the event off. The points were all close and 15th was in striking distance. We knew we wanted the left and so a pin start was decided. Everything was going to plan until the final 8 secs, when we released too early and were OCS and hit the starting pin. After the spinning and clearing ourselves, we were DEEP (couple hundred yards behind), but we didn't give up and fought our way back to a semi-respectable 17th place. This was a frustrating way to end the event because we seemed to have the conditions dialed in and the error was completely unforced. We were happy with our rig setting all day and will save that for similar conditions.

Overall Regatta Overview:

- It was both a blessing and a curse to sail that newer boat a week before the event, for it was great to see what we could do after all this training against our training partners when we were into a similar boat, but at the same time it made it that much tougher to jump back into 646 for the regatta. It's all good though because that speed we had in the other boat has given us an inner strength to get through these tough times.

- Jesse and I, both economists by degree and avid followers of the market, see our campaign at the moment, in traderspeak, as a 'great buy'. There is tons of upside potential because the numbers (OCR results) don't give our sailing its fair market value. That is fine for us and our supporters who can trade on this insider information and be well positioned to the future. Please hold the faith, we have not had more confidence in our mission for London 2012, even as we come off one of the more disappointing weeks of sailing...

- The most exciting part of this week, was seeing our training partners (who we have sailed for months together in Miami and California), in new boats, excel in the event. Alex Bishop/Val Smith are in 8th, The Mexican Bro's are in 10th and Johnny and Charlie finished 11th. This shows the guys we spar with everyday are some of the faster teams out there.

- If we could do it again, we would have bought the new rig earlier because it took some days to stretch the shrouds (during racing in the first couple of days, the bend was off) and get used to the newest mast. Initially, we wanted to wait until Europe to buy the new rig, but when it became apparent that the old rig was not going to be reliable, we had to opt for the last minute purchase (and we are thankful we did!). It was different (a good thing) than our old one and took a little adjusting to, which may not have been the greatest for this event, but in the long-run was the right move. We look forward to putting it up on 1108 in Palma in March!

- A constant reality in any skiff sailing program, our boat handling needs more work...These boats are tough to sail and the brain and body can always use more conditioning. On top of our priority list at the moment will be tacks and gybes, so simple, yet so hard to master. We had a couple of tough tacks at tight moments which cost us. We also flipped on a gybe in the big puff of day 3...

- The last observation from the regatta is that the legs were longer and the laps were less than any other World Cup Event we have ever done. This put more of an emphasis on speed than usual and allowed faster teams with poor lanes off the line to claw themselves back in the race by drag racing around the course. In Europe, we found starts and hitting the first shift off the line were ultra critical as the legs were short, as we did 4 lappers. So you can imagine, on these longer legs, with our sluggish boat, it made hanging with the top guys very difficult. Often in this regatta, we were looking real good in the first half of the 1st beat, only to be reeled in by our competition and left with lackluster lanes, battling with in the middle of the pack. Our results show this with our abundance of finishes in the teens.

-Zander