This youtube went viral through the sailing world last week.
Over 11,000 hits already!
Check it out. We were in 5th/6th when it happened. Lost atleast 5 boats in the debacle, but we were able to regain composure and pull together a 10th. We are lucky Jesse was not seriously injured...carbon fiber spinnaker poles are not forgiving usually.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWBNpnkY9c4&list=UUCH2lVbRbLifZTe2eCWKqwg&index=1&feature=plcp
Friday, February 3, 2012
OCR Synopsis
After a few days to gain perspective on OCR, we can analyze our racing with a little more objectivity. We ended up 12th in the 23 boat fleet, missing out on the Medal Race by 1 point! If only Jesse hadn’t of been violated by that Austrians Black Pole…(check out the youtube video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWBNpnkY9c4) The breeze for the week ranged from 6-18 knots, with a few shifty days off Biscayne mixed in with a couple steadier ones from the Ocean.
Results wise, we had 2 top 3’s, 7 in the top 10. The top 3’s are certainly a good indicator of our progression as we are gaining some comfort battling at the front end of the fleet. One of our top 3’s was in a steady 13-17knots (no feeling of being lucky in the front when the breeze is shifting only 5 degrees), with us winning the favored pin, and leading around the first windward.
A couple positives from the regatta were our starting and downwind tactics. While we are trying to refine a couple other facets of our sailing, we were pleased to solidify starting as an asset. But even the positives can improve, and starting is no different, as we believe we can even further improve it with a couple of subtle tweaks. Our downwind tactics were something we were keen to work on from Perth, and though the fleet wasn’t as big, we were much more conscience of it and felt better throughout the racing.
As always, there are a few things we need to refine. Standing out amongst other things, we will continue to work on speed, mark roundings, and simply maintaining top speed around the race track. Speed-wise, we are not far off. After a week battling with some top boats in an old style boat in all conditions, we feel fairly good about ourselves. A couple of tweaks and we’ll be there! Mark roundings are something we can constantly practice. They are incredibly important, and becoming proficient at them could be a valuable addition to the quiver. Thirdly, maintaining top speed throughout the race has always been at the top of the list. Encompassing mark roundings with the other maneuvers, it is one of the paramount goals of each race (sounds much easier than doing!).
So, overall we felt like our performance and ability was worthy of a higher finish, but we can’t let it faze us. Ultimately, this is all a part of our road to the Worlds and hopefully the Olympics this summer. We competed in Miami with some specific goals in mind, and felt we achieved those. Looking ahead to our training in Palma, we will continue to refine a few small things here and there. We are also excited by the prospect of getting Ramon back for Palma. His world-class vision and experience is invaluable to us during this critical push toward the top level.
Also, we CAN NOT forget to mention our new boat (BER1293)! She is heading down to Weymouth from Newcastle to have some work done on her before she piggybacks a British trailer to Palma. Gotta lionize our new girl!
Start in one of the lighter races
Locked-in Downwind
Spot the Bermuda Flag
Coach Ramon and us
Leading Around the Windward in the Final Race!
Results wise, we had 2 top 3’s, 7 in the top 10. The top 3’s are certainly a good indicator of our progression as we are gaining some comfort battling at the front end of the fleet. One of our top 3’s was in a steady 13-17knots (no feeling of being lucky in the front when the breeze is shifting only 5 degrees), with us winning the favored pin, and leading around the first windward.
A couple positives from the regatta were our starting and downwind tactics. While we are trying to refine a couple other facets of our sailing, we were pleased to solidify starting as an asset. But even the positives can improve, and starting is no different, as we believe we can even further improve it with a couple of subtle tweaks. Our downwind tactics were something we were keen to work on from Perth, and though the fleet wasn’t as big, we were much more conscience of it and felt better throughout the racing.
As always, there are a few things we need to refine. Standing out amongst other things, we will continue to work on speed, mark roundings, and simply maintaining top speed around the race track. Speed-wise, we are not far off. After a week battling with some top boats in an old style boat in all conditions, we feel fairly good about ourselves. A couple of tweaks and we’ll be there! Mark roundings are something we can constantly practice. They are incredibly important, and becoming proficient at them could be a valuable addition to the quiver. Thirdly, maintaining top speed throughout the race has always been at the top of the list. Encompassing mark roundings with the other maneuvers, it is one of the paramount goals of each race (sounds much easier than doing!).
So, overall we felt like our performance and ability was worthy of a higher finish, but we can’t let it faze us. Ultimately, this is all a part of our road to the Worlds and hopefully the Olympics this summer. We competed in Miami with some specific goals in mind, and felt we achieved those. Looking ahead to our training in Palma, we will continue to refine a few small things here and there. We are also excited by the prospect of getting Ramon back for Palma. His world-class vision and experience is invaluable to us during this critical push toward the top level.
Also, we CAN NOT forget to mention our new boat (BER1293)! She is heading down to Weymouth from Newcastle to have some work done on her before she piggybacks a British trailer to Palma. Gotta lionize our new girl!
Start in one of the lighter races
Locked-in Downwind
Spot the Bermuda Flag
Coach Ramon and us
Leading Around the Windward in the Final Race!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Gametime in MIAMI
The Rolex Olympic Classes Regatta begins tomorrow with a more competitive field than last year’s event (4 from the top ten in the World this year). After a rejuvenating furlough at home being spoiled by our mums cooking, we returned to our winter training grounds in Miami. The sailing has been very productive, especially since the return of our coach, Ramon Oliden, this past Tuesday. We are stoked to have him with us for the event! With Ramon we have been working on the boat, getting it optimized (to Ramon’s world class eye) for the event. We have also been working on clean maneuvers around the race course under Ramon’s eye. The more confidence you get with these, the more you can get your head out of the boat and anticipate the next wind shift/pressure line.
Looking ahead to the week, we have one goal above all in our minds…RACING WELL. After squandering many great opportunities at the Worlds, we realized the need for us to shake off the rust in the fundamentals of racing (after a year and a half mostly focusing on boat handling, this can naturally happen). With our newly-found self-belief in our boat handling and speed, we have been working hard in practice to be on top of our tactics and putting together solid race-long performances. Ramon incessantly saying “head out of the boat, head out of the boat!” has certainly helped our focus (especially Jesse’s) of looking around more, focusing on the big picture.
With a promising breeze forecast for the next week, we are hopeful to put together a good championship as we are feeling ready as ever. Keep posted on the racing!
Looking ahead to the week, we have one goal above all in our minds…RACING WELL. After squandering many great opportunities at the Worlds, we realized the need for us to shake off the rust in the fundamentals of racing (after a year and a half mostly focusing on boat handling, this can naturally happen). With our newly-found self-belief in our boat handling and speed, we have been working hard in practice to be on top of our tactics and putting together solid race-long performances. Ramon incessantly saying “head out of the boat, head out of the boat!” has certainly helped our focus (especially Jesse’s) of looking around more, focusing on the big picture.
With a promising breeze forecast for the next week, we are hopeful to put together a good championship as we are feeling ready as ever. Keep posted on the racing!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
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
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
Friday, November 11, 2011
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!
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
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
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