Monday, December 20, 2010
Christmas Camp 2010
Day one of the camp was good with wind, (some years we have been shut out), and we had a total of 30 or so sailors in Optis, Lasers, 4.7's and 420's
The weather was seasonal, about 5C , and overcast. We had Alex K , Gabe , Ben and Cam in the Lasers.
We did a buch of starting practice and lots of mark roundings.
The second day , Sunday we had a breeze that seemed to be fading so the Laser group decided to tow out to the straight, where we found a frigid northerly, Isabella , Ben , Gabe and Thomas were out , we spent 2 2 1/2 hours at it, (thank goodness the sun came out later in the day) .
Day 3 saw a proper easterly , with 10 -14 kts of breeze, we did alot of mark roundings , mixed with some long up and downs , Gabe, AK, Isabella and Ben were out in the Lasers
Day 4 seemed a little more "balmy" than the last few days, we had a solid easterly again and batted 1000 for the camp, 4 for 4 ! Could be the first ever.
Gabe made it 4 for 4 too and I'm thinking of a proper prize for the dedication, AK did 3 days , Ben did 3 too and Bella was in for 2 days
The Opti's,420's and 4.7s had a good turn out all thru the camp and we were thrilled to have Eric's wife Jenny coach the double handed team for 2 days, (nothing like a Gold medalist to get their attention).
All in all a very good camp , only the Laser team has training thru the next few months , see the rest of the team in March.
Al
Friday, December 17, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Bruce Millar wins 2.4 North Americans
Here is a report that was on SailKarma:
The 2.4 metre North American Championship was held at Edison Sailing Center Dec. 9 - 11. The fleet of Olympic and Paralympic champions where greeted with bone chilling COLD temps and rain. Twenty boats traveled from all across the US, Canada and two British ladies to compete in Ft. Myers, Fl.
Day 1, after a brief poll to race or not, this hardy (crazy) bunch of sailors completed 4 races. Very tight racing in a shifty 7 to 12 kts. With a strong ebb providing some interesting results. Bruce Millar ( Vancouver, CAN) found these conditions to his liking as did Allan Liebel ( Toronto, CAN) ending the day tied for the lead. A WARM welcoming reception was held at Royal Palm Yacht Club , a good time was had by all.
Day 2, Much warmer but no wind…. After a lengthy postponement 3 races completed under sunny and warmer skies.. Daily winner Megan Pascoe of Great Britain sailed smooth for 8 pts, Helena Lucas (GBR) consistency of (3) 3’s for 9 pts. And Johnny ( NO OCS’s) Ruf sandwiched a 8th with a couple of bullets. Edison SC founder Ross Webb provided a Great BBQ for all sailors and volunteers.
Day 3, FOG and no wind… An hour delay and the fleets off to races , well only one. Paul Tingley (Halifax, CAN) wins his second race of regatta.
Bruce Millar is the new North American Champion, followed closely (tied) by Paul Tingley with Megan Pascoe placing third. Regatta sponsor Mark Bryant Sailing presented contestants with spar, rudder and keel covers. PRO and Edison coach Mike Alexander along with his gang of kids did an outstanding job organizing and completing 10 races in trying conditions.
Way to go Bruce
Al
The 2.4 metre North American Championship was held at Edison Sailing Center Dec. 9 - 11. The fleet of Olympic and Paralympic champions where greeted with bone chilling COLD temps and rain. Twenty boats traveled from all across the US, Canada and two British ladies to compete in Ft. Myers, Fl.
Day 1, after a brief poll to race or not, this hardy (crazy) bunch of sailors completed 4 races. Very tight racing in a shifty 7 to 12 kts. With a strong ebb providing some interesting results. Bruce Millar ( Vancouver, CAN) found these conditions to his liking as did Allan Liebel ( Toronto, CAN) ending the day tied for the lead. A WARM welcoming reception was held at Royal Palm Yacht Club , a good time was had by all.
Day 2, Much warmer but no wind…. After a lengthy postponement 3 races completed under sunny and warmer skies.. Daily winner Megan Pascoe of Great Britain sailed smooth for 8 pts, Helena Lucas (GBR) consistency of (3) 3’s for 9 pts. And Johnny ( NO OCS’s) Ruf sandwiched a 8th with a couple of bullets. Edison SC founder Ross Webb provided a Great BBQ for all sailors and volunteers.
Day 3, FOG and no wind… An hour delay and the fleets off to races , well only one. Paul Tingley (Halifax, CAN) wins his second race of regatta.
Bruce Millar is the new North American Champion, followed closely (tied) by Paul Tingley with Megan Pascoe placing third. Regatta sponsor Mark Bryant Sailing presented contestants with spar, rudder and keel covers. PRO and Edison coach Mike Alexander along with his gang of kids did an outstanding job organizing and completing 10 races in trying conditions.
Way to go Bruce
Al
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Prize Giving 2010
Another huge extravaganza of a prize giving with so many highlights I just couldn't count. Winners of a wide assortment of categories went up to collect their prizes. The new members were honored as well as club champ winners.
Our new 4.7 team was made mention of. The coaches were thanked as well as the parent volunteers. All and all a great evening with a real nice spread of food put on by the Club.
Thanks Tine for organizing the festivities again this year.
Al
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Club Champs 2010
The annual club champs were held in conjunction with the Blue Nose Regatta at Kits YC over the November 6-7 weekend.
We had a good group out with some of the new members, Matt and Alec , also some of the 4.7 team, Adrian and Alex Fritz sailing radial rigs.
The wind was next to non existent on Saturday , with rain later in the day. Sunday the sun came out and a OK southerly developed.
Isabella, Joanna , Gabe , Alex Kroitzch, Alec , Adrian, Alex Fritz and Natalia in the Radial Fleet.
Ricardo, Ben, Thomas, Matt, Alex Heinzman and Kyle in the Standard Rig Fleet.
Results aren't available from KITS yet
Al
We had a good group out with some of the new members, Matt and Alec , also some of the 4.7 team, Adrian and Alex Fritz sailing radial rigs.
The wind was next to non existent on Saturday , with rain later in the day. Sunday the sun came out and a OK southerly developed.
Isabella, Joanna , Gabe , Alex Kroitzch, Alec , Adrian, Alex Fritz and Natalia in the Radial Fleet.
Ricardo, Ben, Thomas, Matt, Alex Heinzman and Kyle in the Standard Rig Fleet.
Results aren't available from KITS yet
Al
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Pumpkin Regatta 2010
A big group of sailors from the Royal Van Race Team attended the annual Pumkin Bowl in West Van.
The weather was fantastic, sunny both days with solid outflow winds in the mornings and westerlies in the afternoons.
There were over 200 sailors in total , making it the biggest event in the BC Circuit. Ken Cutting did a great job managing all the controlled chaos.
The Eric Stibbe CYA had a clinic for the Radial Team for the week prior and brought the girls over , so the Radial fleet with 40 entries was very high quality.
We had 13 sailors in Lasers and Radials and had good success in both fleets. Ben Scott was 3rd, Thomas Roehrl 4th and Matt Percy (just joined the team) was 8th.
In the Radials Luke Ramsay (normally in a Laser) was 2nd behind Olympic Sailor Lisa Ross, Joanna Moore was 3rd, Natalia Montemayor 5th, Cam Ho 6th, Becky Power 7th , Alex Kroitsch 9th, Gabe Frame 10th.
Results are @ http://www.wvyc.bc.ca/images/stories/documents/racing/Pumpkinbowl/2010/Alpha_results.htm
This was the final travel regatta of the season and ended on a high note , well done to the team!
Al
Monday, October 4, 2010
Laser Worlds Report: Ben Scott
The World Laser Championships held in Hayling Island, England in September was my first European regatta I have participated in.
It was the first time they have had a junior division which is for ages 21 and under. Hayling Island Sailing Club did a great job hosting all of the 270+ sailors. The management was fantastic with absolutely no unnecessary waiting and always on time with the scheduling.
The racing was amazing,large 60 boat starts with long upwind beats made for a 60 minute battle for every position. The race committee did not hesitate to administer the black flags to those who decided to push the limits of the line, in one race they caught 15 boats, me being one of them.
During the majority of the regatta, it was about playing a side of the course and deciding the right time to make your move. To be successful in this style of racing it’s not about being 1st in one race but being conservative. A couple of top 15 races was good enough for a top 10 placing.
I had a difficult qualifying series which put me in the middle of silver fleet. This allowed me to use my upwind skill and really sail in a comfortable area. The last few days we saw a steady 15-20 knots with big waves that really made this the best sailing of my life and I think everyone else would agree.
Overall I really pleased with this regatta and I have come away with plenty of knowledge and great memories.
Ben
Monday, September 27, 2010
National Qualifier for Laser and Radial 2010
8 sailors from Royal Van went to Kingston the last weekend in September to attempt to qualify for the national sailing team and selection for the Pan Am games in Mexico next fall.
The regatta saw decent breeze the first day and then real solid 25 kt breeze the next 2 days, the final day was light and we only had one race. In the end a excellent test for any one trying to make the national team, very little luck involved , just lots of time sailing and in the gym needed.
Luke Ramsay led the group with a 3rd place podium finish, Alex Heinzman ended 8th, a career best, Kyle Martin was top for his age group and completed a break through year with many races near the top 10, Kevin Greirson came back from sailing the 49'er and did well considering his absence, Chris Cowan took a little time from coaching Opti's and remembered how much work it takes to drag a Laser around ther course in 25 kts of wind.
Isabella Bertold won the Pan Am Games spot and secured her senior national team card by winning the event convincingly. Becky Power had a solid event finishing 8th in he women's and Joanna Moore sailed hard thru the event and was top for her age group.
Results are @http://www.cork.org/results_2010.html
This was the end of a long trip for assorted members of our team, the trailer went east the end of July and arrives back in Vancouver the first of October.
The team shared the use of the boats on the trailer and I commend the team with their spirit of cooperation
We stay in Vancouver till the end of the year and spend time in the gym training on the water only on weekends in November and December.
Al
Italian Match Race Championships
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Alexander Heinzman, Kyle Martin, Eric Servais and Cameron Ho attended the Italian Jr match race regatta in Italy, here is there report:
We got invited again to attend the Italiana Cup Match racing regatta, this was my third year attending the event and second year skippering. For the rest of the team; Kyle Martin, Eric Servais, Cameron Ho; it was the second year attending this event. Kyle and I flew in directly from the Laser Junior worlds not giving us a lot of time to prepare.
The first race we sailed we made some unnecessary mistakes and thus lost our first match. We improved every match we sailed, and ended the round robin in third place; we fought hard in the semi final and led off the start in the first race, but got passed downwind by the British team, although we managed to keep it close all the way to the finish. In the second match, of three, semi-final we had a decent start and first lap, but lost distance when we had a poor mark rounding at the leeward mark.
The next day we fought for third place against the best Italian team. We won the first pre-start and led to the first mark, though we got passed downwind due to the fact that we did not notice the leeward mark was skewed to the wind. At the leeward mark, we forced them close to the mark and covered their wind, as a result we managed to make them do a slow speed, wide rounding letting us sneak inside the mark.
We led to the next windward mark and after a nice gybe set we managed to win the first race. In the Second race, we again led off the start and through an aggressive move by the Italians gained them a penalty though they did manage to take the lead by doing so and thus I was very surprised when they did not receive a red flag.
When they rounded the leeward mark, the Italians made sure that we didn’t think of going inside them again by shooting up into the wind as they rounded the mark. By doing this they slowed down significantly letting us shoot out underneath them when we rounded outside of them.
When we reached the port lay line they were too close for us to tack in front so we had to wait for them to tack first and go towards the mark. I was very surprised when they tried to give us a penalty and even more when they did their penalty and came back at us on starboard, but because of how we had positioned ourselves before they had completed their penalty gybe they did not give us enough room to avoid them and we had to avoid before they had gained right of way.
So we put up the Y flag and the umpire flagged the Italians giving them another penalty just seconds after they cleared their last one. We lead the rest of the race and ended up taking third.
At the end of the event I personally was very happy with how we had performed and I think the rest of the team was as well. We improved a lot throughout the event and considering how much preparation we had, we did perform well.
I would like to thank Tony Martin for coaching us at this event; his knowledge of keel boats was invaluable.
Laser Worlds 2010
We had six sailors go to the Worlds this year in Hayling Island in the UK.
Alex Heinzman, Ricardo Montemayer ,Kyle Martin and Ben Scott sailed in the Jr worlds (under 21). This is a new event for the Laser class and is run in conjunction with the Senior Worlds, where Mike Leigh and Luke Ramsay represented Royal Van.
These are some of the toughest events in sailing, the senior fleet is incredibly tough and just getting into the Gold fleet is an achievement onto itself. The weather was perfect with sunshine everyday, increasing thru out, with over 20 kts on the last day.
Our Jr team struggled after a solid first day in the lighter air, Ricardo hung in there the best and made it to the Gold fleet finishing with 23rd, Alex 64th, Ben Scott 79th and Kyle 70th of 120 competing. I think that we all learning a lot and that the team sailed better each day from the half way point on. The European style of racing is largely boat speed and good starting, this work ended up helping Alex and Kyle in the upcoming NQR's in Kingston.
The senior fleet is such a dog fight that even the slightest error of bit of lost concentration can cost you 20 positions, as usual the best of the best were competing and with solid breeze each day for 7 days. Mike had lots of high points but in the end couldnt convert on a few solid races and was below his goal, Luke came within a hair of making Gold fleet, (lost out on a count back), and finished in the top of the silver fleet. Final score- Mike 28th and Luke 63rd overall of 160 competing.
Results - http://www.laserworlds2010.co.uk/events/35495/juniors.htm
http://www.laserworlds2010.co.uk/events/35495/seniors.htm
Thanks to Lillah Martin for all the help at the house we stayed at. Good work to the whole team.
Al
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Radial Worlds Report from Isabelaa Bertold
Prior to attending this event I had set expectations for myself primarily on how I have sailed in the past. I was concerned with my ability to get off of the start line, but felt confident in my speed and tactics.
I can proudly say that in the 6 races sailed and countless general recalls my worst start was the first one, and it by no means was a terrible start. I would grade it a B minus simply because I set up in a sag and failed to recognize that I did.
I never got to test my big breeze boat speed, the thing that I had been focusing on all season long, simply because the condition never occurred. The first race was the windiest and was sailed in gusts of 15 knots, steady 12ish.
I was quick all around the race course but I was sailing by the tactics that I had memorized, often sailing semi brainless. It was after the first day that I realized that to get to the next level I had to turn my brain on and actually begin to understand the game of sailing, rather than memorize it.
Just to clarify, this was not the first time I had thought about this. I had started making more educated decisions on legs of the race course particularly down winds this past winter, this was just the first event I was able to clearly identify the need I had to actually begin to understand tactics.
The following day I did an excellent job of identifying reasons for everything I did out on the race course. I started down near the pin because I believed it was favored despite 80% of the fleet starting at the boat. Sure enough, in both races the gun went and we all flipped immediately and I found myself on top of the fleet.
Following the start I sailed the remaining race asking myself, where is the pressure, am I on the lifted tack? And where is the rumb line? In the first race it worked beautifully and I finished almost winning the race and wishing my final roll tacks wouldn’t have been complete duds.
It was the second half of the second race however that I fell back into my routine. I had planned on going high road on the first downwind but the final puff filled in on the low road and I lost somewhere around 15 boats on that downwind. The second upwind was then sailed by my memorized tactics of, well I think this looks good, and I think I see a lane over there, better get to there.
With all my focus on where the fleet was and where my boat was relative to them in comparison to past events that have occurred in my sailing life I managed to sail myself, on a knock, into the dead right corner… loosing essentially the remainder of the fleet.
The following day I went back to focusing on what I now refer to as the basics. Get a good start and the end that I have decided is the favored end, and then sail my boat to where I want it to go almost ignoring the fleet. I had a fantastic start and won the left side of the racecourse. Unfortunately I had played the wrong side as a right wind shift that came in halfway up the beat stayed for the remainder of the upwind. Despite winning my side I rounded the top mark 25th. I continued to chip away, however, that final beat I fell into my routines, memorized method of one tacking the last little upwind out to the right corner… I lost 8 boats on that last upwind only to finish 21st in the race.
The next day I once again had an excellent start tacked when I wanted to and made sure that I played out my game plan. I miscalled some lifting pressure and had to double tack halfway up the first beat costing myself around 8 places. I rounded the top mark in 20th and continued to work hard in the dying breeze to pass boats. On the downwind I focused to try and stay near the rumb line and I sailed much more aggressive reaching gybe angles than the fleet and reached the bottom gate in 12th.
It was the following upwind where I really could not have done anything differently… partway up the second beat the wind shifted approximately 100 degrees to the right and then continued shifting right. I lost half the fleet on that upwind and unfortunately no further marks on the racecourse were moved, and the wind never came back. I continued fighting to pass the boat in front of me but never caught back up to a decent finish.
And those six races where the only races sailed at this years worlds.
It was a bittersweet worlds this year. I left the event frustrated, eager to race, and disappointed in my result. There were many moments from the first day that I wanted back, but I have not yet invented time travel and therefore will never have them back. I successfully executed my starts and for the first time ever I can give reasons for why I did things out on the race course with relevance to the wind, marks, and current, in comparison to my usual reasons being memorized fleet positioning items.
When I put myself under results pressure I fell back into my usual way of sailing, and by usual way I mean my level of trying to sail a little practice race at Saturday training, which never seemed to help the situation. I still wish that I had more consistent downwind boat speed, and of course I can always be faster all around the racecourse.
Looking forward I feel that the way to improve my results is to go and race. I need to feel much more confident still on the start line, and particularly making decisions up along the race course.
Lastly, there is one thing that is for sure. Never have I felt as motivated as I do now, never have I wanted to go and race this bad, and never have I felt more ready to reach the next level.
Isabella
Canadian Youth Champs 2010
The team had planned a big trip out east this summer, starting with the CYA Youth Championships which was held at Neapean Sailing Center in Ottawa from Aug 1-4th. Kyle Martin, Alex Heinzemann, Joanna Moore, Gabe Frame, Alex Kroitzsch, Sophia Miller-Vedam, Tom Roehrl and Dominic Fritz flew out to compete in the regatta.
Sailing on the Ottawa River was really tricky. The first couple days of racing was really light and shifty. The sailors were all very patient though with lots of waiting on the water for wind to get some races off. The last day of racing started off light, but there was a super quick switch and it got up to 18 knots for part of one the races. It was really great to have a bit of wind finally!
The kids learned very quickly they had to stay on their toes and keep an eye out up the course looking for the puffs and shifts. On day two the wind shifted to the south and now the puffs appeared to be dominated by the clouds so we all spent a lot of time looking up trying to figure out which side of the course would be favored for the next race. The other key to success was looking a long ways up the river to see what would be coming down to the course for that race.
Alex Heinzemann dominated in the Laser fleet, having just come back from the Youth Worlds held in Turkey. Kyle Martin also got off to and exceptionally good start and sailed one of his best regattas. At the last minute Dom decided to switch over to full rigs for this regatta, as it was the Youth Worlds qualification event for 2011. It was a bit of a change but he was sailing really well and getting on great in the new boat. Tom also sailed well, having great starts and some really good results.
In the Radial girls fleet, Joanna Moore was also at the front of the fleet. Sophia was learning lots; it was a very big learning curve for her as this was her first ever away event and her first ever National regatta.
In the Radial boys fleet, Alex Kroitzsch was a bit up in down with his results but he had some great races, and Gabe Frame was putting in a strong showing with some really great moments and really good starts.
In the end Alex H finished 1st, Kyle finished 2nd and qualified for the 2011 Youth Worlds which will be held in Croatia. Tom finished 8th overall and Dom finished 12th.
Joanna sailed a great last day and finished 1st in the girls fleet, and Sophia learned lots finishing 25th. Alex K and Gabe also had an exceptional last day and moved up to finish 5th and 8th respectively in the boys fleet.
Jen
Laser US Nats 2010
After the youth champs was finished, we packed up the trailer in a massive thunderstorm and got everything ready to head down to Milwaukee for the US Nationals. After the 16 hour drive to get there we were all ready for a day off.
The rest of the team started arriving in Milwaukee on Aug 6th. 11 sailors competed in the US Nationals; Becky Power, Isabella Bertold, Natalia Montemayor, Alex K, Alex H, Tom Roehrl, Kyle Martin, Dom Fritz, Gabe Frame and Cameron Ho.
The conditions in Milwaukee for the regatta were really tricky. The first couple days of the regatta the mornings were foggy and really humid with hardly any wind on the water. The first day of racing, the full rigs got 3 races off in really light tricky conditions and the radials sailed 2 races.
Friday, the second day of racing, there was lots of fog and no wind. The sailors were postponed ashore due to threat of thunderstorms and limited visibility on the water. It was a long day of waiting, and at 3 pm they blew racing off for the day.
On Saturday the races were set to start one hour earlier at 10am. It was another really light day; there was a postponement on water well we waited for the wind to fill in. The wind started off offshore, but half way through the first radial race, it died and did a 180 to the seabreeze direction. That race was abandoned and more waiting was done while the race committee reset the course. Only one race was sailed on Saturday.
On Sunday, there was no fog on the lake, which was a good sign. The day started with a 12- 15 knots offshore breeze and steadily picked up from there. Four good races were sailed on Sunday. It was a long day and was a definite test of fitness for the sailors. Isabella dominated in the Radial fleet, winning 3 of the 4 races by a ways. Which also moved her up to finish 1st overall.
Becky was up and down on Sunday but had a couple great results and finished 12th overall. Natalia also had a great day on Sunday, but unfortunately she was black flagged in the last race and ended up 20th. Cameron had some really good moments, especially in the lighter races and finished 33rd. Alex K was 36th, Gabe was also unfortunately black flagged in the last race and ended up 39th.
In the full rigs, Alex H finished 5th, Kyle was 15th, Tom was 26th, and Dom was 27th.
Congratulations to all the sailors on some exceptional results at these events!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Laser Gulfcoasts and NA's 2010
Harold Fritz went to the Gulf coast championships the weekend prior to the NA's and sent a quick report
"Its 34+C & humid here in TX, starts right out in the morning and keeps burning all day. Unbearable without a breeze. Gulf coast regatta not bad - wind wasn't there on the second day till about 1pm. 5 races - no drop (needed 6 for drop). 65 Radials, some international kids too in prep for NAs. Dom finished 17th and Becky 23. We're getting used to the heat...slowly."
Dominick Fritz, Becky Power, Kyle Martin and Ricardo Montemayer attended the North Americans , both the events were held in Galveston Bay in southern Texas. The event had well over 200 competitors across 3 fleets of Lasers , Radials and 4.7's.
Many of the top Caribbean and central American teams were there in preparation for the central American games. (Ricardo and Natalia are planning to compete for Mexico).
Racing was called off the first day with thunderstorms caused by the exteame heat (40 C). There was no sign of any oil as some had predicted, a pleasant bay to sail in that gets a nice sea breeze most days except when a regatta rolls into town.
The second day the racing went off fine with generally light to medium winds. 3 races for the Lasers and 4 for the Radials. Becky and Dom sailed well in the Radial fleet , unfortunately Dom was OCS in one race and with only 4 qualifying races there was no drop (bad idea). We got into the dock at (pm that day after getting to the club at 8 am. Everyone was ready for bed after a quick dinner.
The final 2 days in the separated fleets was excellent , both Ricardo and Kyle climbed the ranks steadily and Ric finished a strong 9th and kyle a career high 15th.
Becky had great moment in the gold fleet with some tough races and ended a respectable 17th , Dom was disappointed to be in Silver fleet but sailed well to finish 4th.
After a week of 40 plus degrees temps and high humidity it was great to get back to Vancouver summer!
Results are @ http://www.lasernorthamericans.com/
Al
Laser BC Champs 2010
The Kamloops sailing association once again put on an awesome event. There was a great turnout from Royal Van with a trailer full of Opti's and one Radial- Joanna Moore and one Laser Kyle Martin. On the first day of racing there was no wind until around 4 o'clock. The time spent waiting was not wasted, as most of it was spent either tubing behind the coach boat or swimming. At 4 the wind came in and we got 3 races off. The first was in about 20kts of wind and it got lighter after that. We were in around 6:30 just in time for dinner. Kamloops Sailing put on a good show with one of the best regatta dinners I have had in a while. The next day brought more sun and great wind. With racing starting at 10 we got off 4 really solid races in building breeze. By the last race it was up around 30kts according to the race committees wind ex. In the end Joanna won the Radial fleet dropping a 3rd all the rest were bullets and Kyle won the Laser dropping an OCS and winning the rest. The RVYC Optis also brought home a lot of hardware.
by Kyle Martin
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
2010 BC Summer Games
From July 22-25 the Royal Van racers traveled to Langley, BC for the 2010 BC Summer Games. Our racers checked into the accreditation centre Thursday afternoon to begin a few days of buses, ceremonies, speeches,group accommodations, and tight schedules. Each day the sailors were bussed from their accommodations to breakfast, then to the sailing venue, back to the meal hall, then back to the accommodations.
Racing began Friday morning with light conditions. Winds were constant around 6knots for most of the morning. Shifty conditions kept the sailors alert s they traded positions all the way up the first beat. As the day progressed the wind increased and eventually topped around 12knots. In the Optimist fleet Lloyd Lyall dominated the races. Lloyd was consistently almost a minute ahead of the entire fleet and won 2/4 races that day. Following close behind were Eric Lyall and Jake Cullen who battled hard for 2nd and 3rd place positions. After 4 races the Optimist fleet was sent ashore for showers before loading back onto the buses.
In the Laser fleet Kyle Martin dominated the fleet. Five very short races were completed on the first day. Eric Servais followed behind and consistently finished 2nd place.
Day two of the event brought more of the same conditions. Light winds building to roughly 10-12kts during the day. Lloyd Lyall continued his great sailing in the Optimist fleet, as did Kyle Martin who won 3/4 races that day.
In the end Royal Van sailors took podium positions in every fleet we entered. Our sailors had a great time over the weekend and are keen to compete in the games again. the BC Games society put on a great show.
A huge thanks to Royal Van Yacht Club for their continued support.
Chris Cowan
Opti Coach
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Radial Worlds 2010
The Radial Worlds were held in Largs Scotland this year. It is a small town 40 minutes drive from Glasgow.
Isabella Bertold was representing Royal Van in the championships, and had worked extremely hard on the water and in the gym to prepare herself for the seasons main event.
She flew to Scotland three days before me and got her boat charter and trained with the rest of the Canadian team in strong breeze.
I arrived after the Waves Regatta and we went forward with our plan to have a best ever result at a worlds.
We had chartered a coach boat from Ben Remoker's "Port Tack Charter" company. We fully stocked it with spare parts and daily food and water supplies.
The weather appeared to be consistently breezy and rainy and it seemed that we were in for a tough pysical event. Of course wind before an event can be deceptive , as we went out in fairly light wind the first day.
Isabella had some decent starts, (for North American events) but still struggled to get to the weather mark in good shape. She was hovering around the middle of the fleet after the first day.
The second day was a hair lighter again and after a long debrief the night before Isabella cracked a sweet start and led going up the first beat.
She fought hard all the way thru the race and finished 4th. A real milestone in her career. She had good confidence started the 2nd race of the day and was 15th to the top mark but unfortunatly fell thru the race working the wrong side and ended in the 30's.
The final day of qualifiers started late and only one race was sailed , it was light and tough throughout and Isabella ended in the teens.
She had shown that she was ready for racing in the front of the fleet. Unfortunatly the Gold fleet series that she had qualified only materialized into one race that was fluky with a major wind shift during the race. She got a 30 and moved into 47 (5 points from a senior Canadian team card).
There was alot of waiting around and no racing for 2 days, very frustrating to say the least. Isabella stayed upbeat and was a real pro all the way through.
This was the toughest event she has competed in and I think that with her excellent work ethic and determination she will break into the top ranks of her discipline.
The next worlds is in Perth Australia in December 2011.
Thanks Royal Van for the support
Al
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Sail-West Championships, July 15-18
The Royal Van Optimist Team headed to Lake Wabamun Sailing Club for the annual Sail-West Regatta. Sail-West consisted of kids and parents camping, a two day training camp with CYA guest coach Rob Douglas, followed by a two day regatta over the weekend. Sailing was on Thursday as glassy conditions prevailed for the day. Our kids enjoyed some very light wind 29er Sailing and swimming that day. Friday began with approximately 5 knots of wind. The opti fleet was split up into groups. Royal Van coach Chris Cowan ran some drills for a group of roughly 15 sailors until the wind completely died. The kids went ashore for lunch and waited until later in the day for the start of the event’s practice race. Tara Yuen was the big story in the practice race. She led the fleet for most of the race until eventually Jake Cullen snuck in front of her.
Saturday’s Racing conditions brought shifty winds of approximately 20 knots. Three long races were completed before heading ashore for lunch. Again, Tara Yuen was on fire in the first race before she missed a wind shift. Tara made up missing the shift and ended up finishing 2nd in the race. After lunch the sailors headed back out to the course for 3 more races. Lloyd Lyall dominated the racing all day as he finished the day with six 1st place finishes. Following close behind were Jake Cullen, Ellie Shaw, and Tara Yuen.
Sunday’s conditions were glassy water with no wind. Racing was abandoned for the day at 11:30am. Lloyd Lyall won the regatta convincingly with a total of 5 points. This was a great success for Royal Van sailors who took the top 8 positions, and Kyle Gerrard took 10th place.
Thanks for everybody's support as we travel to these events.
Chris Cowan
BC Junior Championships- Merritt, BC
From July 8-11 the Royal Van Optimist team travelled to Nicola Lake for the BC Junior Sailing Championships. The trip consisted of a two day training camp followed by two days of racing. No sailing took place Thursday as there was no wind and very hot temperatures. Friday’s training brought strong winds. Our sailors teamed up with West Van Yacht Club for 3 hours of starting practice and some fun racing.
The regatta began Saturday morning. The sailors hit the water in hopes of getting a race off. Unfortunately the wind died in the middle of the Laser start sequence and racing was postponed on-shore. Around 4:30pm that day, the wind increased to around 8 knots and three races were conducted before dinner. Alex Fritz, Jake Cullen, and Tara Yuen were consistently leading the pack that night.
Sunday racing brought winds gusting to about 25 knots. Four races were completed that morning. Alex Fritz dominated the Opti fleet, winning 3 of the 4 races that day. Following close behind were Ellie Shaw and Jake Cullen who were battling hard for 2nd and 3rd place. The racing concluded and our sailors headed back to shore for lunch and trailer loading. The regatta was a great way for our sailors to prepare for Sail-West in Edmonton and our kids had a great time spending the weekend together.
Thanks for Royal Van's continued Support.
Chris Cowan
Friday, July 2, 2010
WAVES 2010
Waves was a popular event again this year. Cory Wright did an excellent job of putting together a well oiled regatta. There was good turnout in all the Race Team classes including the Laser, Radial, 0pti and 420
In the 420 class our team continues to impress under the supervision of Mark Patcky.
Kia Meiklejohn and Emma Toone tied for 1st and were just nipped @ the tie breaker, Joren Jackson and Leif Peterson were hot on their heels in 3rd overall.
In the Laser class we had 11 sailors, Ricardo Montemayer sailed a very consistent event in trying conditions (light air with plenty of current) to win comfortably. Kevin Greirson was 2nd , Royal Van sailors owned the top 5 positions. 7 of the top 10.
In the Radial class Joanna Moore continued to impress with a solid win of 15 points, Cameron Ho was 2nd with 30 points, 6 of the top 10 were from Royal Van.
Opti's had a successful weekend,our best result was Eric Lyall 1st in the blue fleet. We had a solid group of 8 kids attend the regatta, many of our top sailors were at the Opti NA's in Kingston during this time.
Results are @ http://www.royalvan.com/racing_results.asp?TID=3&RID=143&SID=282&DID=3
Well done team!
Al
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Laser European Championships 2010
We travelled to the Laser Europeans a few days after the finish of the Delta Lloyd Regatta.
This event was held at the Olypic Sailing site of 1980 (the one that was boycotted), in Tallin Estonia.
It is a beautiful city with a fully restored "old town" dating back to the 13th century.
The venue and facilities were top notch , as well as the regatta organization.
150 Lasers and 90 Radials came north for the event! This was as high caliber fleet as you will see, only a worlds would be a hair tougher.
Luke Ramsay towed our coach boat from Holland to Tallin on a route that took him thru Copenhagen and Stockholm. He took an over night ferry from there directly to Tallin.
All the teams from over 50 counties arrived a few days prior to the event and we prepared for measurement. A few days training were sqeezed in , then the regatta began.
Luke Ramsay and Ricardo Montemayer were in the Laser class for Royal Van and Isabella Bertold in the Radial.
It was a six day event with generally wind on the moderate side, there was a breezy day the third day in. Results for the group were encouraging with highlights on certian days. Luke placed 5th in one of the heats and made the gold fleet (top third), ricardo had a few decent races but still ended up in the bronze fleet ,(with excellent international experience gained), Isabella hung in really well in the international field and made the gold fleet, keeping good scores coming in that fleet.
The Regatta Website is excellent with Photos and video from the event, Results are there too- http://www.laser2010tallinn.eu/web/
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Delta Lloyd Regatta 2010
The regatta formerly known as the SPA regatta was held over the week of May 26th to the 30th.
Royal Van had a solid group of 9 sailors spread over 6 Olympic Classes.
Mike Leigh, Luke Ramsay, Ricardo Montemayer in the Laser
Isabella Bertold and Jen Spalding in the Radial
Nicola Girke and Zak Plasvic in the RSX
John Romanko in the Finn
Hunter Lowden in the 49er
The event had a good variety of conditions with breeze most days a only a few canceled or delayed races and was an excellent tune up for the major summer events coming in Europe for the team.
Results were up and down for most. Highlights for the team- Nicola"s 12th and Isabella's 13th overall. (Isabella won the final race of the event).
This event, along with the other world cup events, is always a bit of a spectacle , with the major sailing countries, like Britain, France, Spain, Australia bringing their full support for their National team. A great environment for our sailors to hone their skills and well worth the trip.
Results are found @ http://www.deltalloydregatta.org/
Al
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
RVYC Opening Day 2010
This year’s opening day was a great success. All the sailors looked great in their yacht club whites, some even sailed past in them!
The weather couldn’t have been nicer and we had great turn out of race team members for this years sail past.
The lineup was lead by Kyle Martin in a 420 sailing with the junior vice commodore. Followed by a very large optimist team from wetfeet all the way up to senior opti raceteam. Next in line was the 4.7’s and the Lasers, followed by 3 420’s and finally Past junior commodore Chris Tulip brought up the rear of the line.
This was a great start to the upcoming season for the sailors. We are looking forward to a really great year ahead with lots of sailing and racing in 2010!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Spring Dingys 2010
It seemed a week before heading over for our semi anual event in Victoria that we would have a small group but ended up with 18 Lasers , 3 420's (6 sailors), one 29er and 11 Opti's.
35 sailors all getting on the ferry with parents boats and gear is a super turn out.
We had great weather this year, with a strong sea-breeze the first day and a rainy westerly the second. It felt like March , more than May on Sunday, but great to have wind both days.
For some of our older sailors , they are just finishing exams at UBC , so a few we haven't seen in weeks came out.
We had a number of very new Laser sailors making one of their first appearances in a regatta. This is part of a transition group coming up through the Opti fleet and entering the Laser group with the 4,7 and the Radial.
The Opti fleet is growing and seems very vibrant at the moment, Tine and Chris are doing a great job motivating their charges.
All in all success in all the fleets,
1st in 29er's,
3rd, 5th and 6th in the 420's,
2nd, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 11th in the Laser,
2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th in the Radials
1st in 4.7 fleet
1st ,2nd ,4th ,5th ,8th ,10th in the Opti's
Results are at -http://www.rvyc.bc.ca/results/1272842043.htm
Al
Kitten Cup 2010
This past weekend the Team sailed the Kitten Cup, held at RVYC. Royal Van's biggest youth oriented event of the season.
On Saturday the sailors experienced really tricky conditions with a super shifty southerly. In the laser fleet, 5 races were sailed and with Jason Rhodes, Luke Ramsay, Al Clark, Alex Heinzemann and Kevin Grierson having a great day.
Kyle Martin, Thomas Rhoerl, Andy Wong and Ben Scott were also well in the hunt challenging the leaders at every opportunity. Sebastian Fritz and Alex Shepard showed their starting skills having great starts in almost every race of the event.
Sunday brought a light easterly wind, which lasted long enough for one race before completely dying off. It was another tricky race, which hinged on having a decent start and getting a good lane. Al Clark lead this race with Ben Scott coming in second and Alex Heinzemann coming in 4th.
We ended up with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th in the top 10
In the radial fleet on Saturday 4 races were sailed, Dominique Fritz had a great day finishing top 3 in every race.
Cameron Ho, Natalia Monetemayor, Alex Kroitzch and Eric Servais sailed really well also. In the last race Cameron port tacked the fleet and lead for the rest of the race. Tony Henderson was well in the hunt, but ended up upside down a few times, which was hard to recover from. Gabe Frame also had some excellent starts, showing that all his hard work at training is really paying off.
On Sunday, the radials also only had one race. Natalia dominated, winning the pin and leading for the rest of the race. It was a close race after that with Cameron, Tony and Alex Kroitzch right in the race, finally finishing 2nd, 4th, and 5th respectively in the race.
We had 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 9th in the top 10.
The Opti fleet had a good weekend as well with 5 races over the 2 days. We had good success in both the blue and Red fleets. A total of 16 sailors came out. Our Opti team has a busy summer plan and it seems the young sailors are starting the season well.
1st in the Blue fleet and 1st , 2nd , and 3rd in the Red fleet.
Congratulations to all 46 sailors!
As a side note it was nice to see Rob Douglas back in town with his group from Comox.
Thanks go out to Rob Scott for all his efforts putting together another fun regatta for everyone.
Results are at-http://www.royalvan.com/racing_results.asp?TID=3&RID=139&SID=270&DID=2
Jen
Monday, April 19, 2010
Flights of Spring Regatta 2010
We had a good time racing over at Jericho this past weekend, with 9 races done over the two days.
Andy Hunt and his crew ran an excellent regatta and made quick adjustments to the course for the changeable winds.
Most of Saturday we hiked, with the breeze peaking at 16 kts mid day. As far as the race teams participation , numbers were down with alot of the team either away or studying for exams.
Alex Hienzman. Kyle Martin and Thomas Rhoel came out and sailed well , with Kyle getting third overall. royal Van member Jason Rhodes put on a bit of a clinic and won the event comfortably.
The prize giving was fantastic , with a number of sponsors giving out sweet swag! Thanks to Rooster and SEA for the great gear.
A good tune up regatta for the upcoming Kitten Cup next weekend, where we traditionally get as many as 25 of the team out.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Mids West March 2010
We had a little smaller group than in past years that headed to California for the Mids West laser regatta.
Kyle Martin, Alex Kroitzch and Alex Shepard drove down with me in the truck and Alex Heinzman flew in from training camp in Mexico a day later. Alex's dad Mattias was there as well with a trailer.
We began training on the Monday prior to the regatta. The breeze in Richmond doesn't turn on till into the afternoon, so we had some decent light air training in the mornings with plenty of heavy air training in the afternoons. All in all a productive training camp fpor the group and good strrides were made in preparation for a windy event. Gabe Frame flew in the Thursday night and got an early start the next morning getting his boat ready for the racing.
Of course the regatta began with less wind than was first predicted and we had a generally light air day with some unusual course shapes that put a premium on experience. The group worked hard all day and learned some valuable lessons.
The second day was a good one with the breeze filling in from the sea breeze direction and all the group sailed well and enjoyed the conditions.
This years regatta seemed consist of Master aged sailors (many that were very good in their day, ie. 2 were silver medalist at Olympics) and youth sailors. This was excellent for all involved because they fitness of youth against the experience of age was tested throughout the event.
The final day started very light but the race committee hung in their and got the races off in nice breeze and everyone sailed in happy. Our group definitely reached their goals and it turned out to be be quite a nice event at a small club on San Fransisco bay.
Thanks to Lillah and Tony Martin who were a big help at the event.
Our next events are closer to home with the spring regattas - Flights of Spring at Jericho, Kitten Cup at Royal Van and Spring Dingys in Victoria, all on consecutive weekends ending on May 2nd.
Thanks for the support Royal Van
Al
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
March Madness 2010
Our annual first of the season regatta was a success this past weekend.
We had over 20 Lasers and Radials come out and were treated to a good southerly (10-14 kts) the first day and a light easterly the second, (we actually had moments when we saw 20kts on the beam on one of the windward legs, lasted about 20 seconds).
Luke Ramsay led the way with a 2,1,1,1,1 on the first day in the Laser fleet, Isabella Bertold had a slight lead over Becky Power after day one in the Radial fleet.
Luke and Isabella held onto their leads after the second day and everyone was happy to hit the showers as the more seasonable March weather had arrived.
Thanks to Brett Wilson for being the PRO for the event, he did a great job getting races off quickly and made the smart decision to end the day after 2 races on Sunday.
The final results were:
Laser: Luke Ramsay 1st, Ricardo Montemayer 2nd, Al Clark 3rd, Kyle Martin 4th, Andy Wong 5th
Radial: Isabella Bertold 1st, Becky Power 2nd , Jaime Bone 3rd, Natalia Montermayer 4th, (She recently qualified for the youth worlds in Istanbul), Eric Servais 5th, Alex Kroitz 6th, Joanna Moore 7th
Al
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Mids East Feb 2010
We drove the big Trailer from Fort Lauderdale to Clearwater beach right after the Radial and Finn regatta.
The weather forcast was bad but I had a chance the next day to patch the Joker coach boat before it began raining for the next 5 days. Temperatures went down to 3C at night with highs of 9 in the days, this made training very similar to Vancouver in the winter so we should have been used to it but it still seemed cold!
The bulk of the group arrived on the Saturday the 13th. We had 11 sailors at the event: Mike Leigh, Alex Heinzman, Andy Wong, Chris Tulip, Beckey Power, Joanna Moore, Isabella Bertold, Jaime Bone, Jen Spalding, Ricardo and Natalia Montemayer.
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were hard training days. We had plenty of breeze with tired bodies at the end of each day. Some of the best Laser and Radial sailors in the world had hung around after the Miami/Ft Lauderdale regattas,(something to do with such a cold winter in Europe, I suspect). This allowed for some excellent training opportunities for all our team.
The regatta started with solid breeze, both the Lasers and the Radials were split into 2 fleets , so there were 5 starts for each race, (with the 4.7 ).
My job at this point was to be at each start for the 4 starts our sailors were in then maybe a quick shot to the weather mark and then down to the finish line.
2 races on the Thursday and 3 on Friday , the breeze was less the 2nd day but it seemed to be the coldest day by far, many were afraid they wouldn't last the day.
By mid regatta Mike and Jen were well up in the standings with good moments from the rest of the team. Excellent training regatta in a high caliber fleet.
The weather improved for the last 2 days and were becalmed prior to the racing on the Sunday. The race committee did a nice job all thru the event getting the races off and had 2 races in decent breeze to end the regatta.
Jen finished the event 4th with many races in the top 2, Isabella was going great prior to the event and had some real highlights but couldn't quite put it together , she ended 29th.
Mike was his consistent self ending in 5th overall, winning one race and 2nd in another.
Ricardo had some real bright moments and finished 27th, right on the heels of most of our National team sailors.
Chris Tulip had a number of great first beats but had issues getting to the finish up the fleet. Andy and Alex did well and made the Gold fleet, but struggled after that.
Becky , Natalia and Joanna all were in silver fleet and all seemed to improve thru the event with Natalia making a charge to lead this group at the end. She was 8th and Becky 9th.
The rain held off for the trailer loading on Sunday afternoon and a few hours later we were set to go. Chris Cowan came out to help drive the rig home and after a drop off at the airport Monday morning we were heading north on the 95, only 6,300 kms to go.
The next event is the Midwinter West Laser Champs in Richmond California on March 26-28.
Al
The weather forcast was bad but I had a chance the next day to patch the Joker coach boat before it began raining for the next 5 days. Temperatures went down to 3C at night with highs of 9 in the days, this made training very similar to Vancouver in the winter so we should have been used to it but it still seemed cold!
The bulk of the group arrived on the Saturday the 13th. We had 11 sailors at the event: Mike Leigh, Alex Heinzman, Andy Wong, Chris Tulip, Beckey Power, Joanna Moore, Isabella Bertold, Jaime Bone, Jen Spalding, Ricardo and Natalia Montemayer.
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were hard training days. We had plenty of breeze with tired bodies at the end of each day. Some of the best Laser and Radial sailors in the world had hung around after the Miami/Ft Lauderdale regattas,(something to do with such a cold winter in Europe, I suspect). This allowed for some excellent training opportunities for all our team.
The regatta started with solid breeze, both the Lasers and the Radials were split into 2 fleets , so there were 5 starts for each race, (with the 4.7 ).
My job at this point was to be at each start for the 4 starts our sailors were in then maybe a quick shot to the weather mark and then down to the finish line.
2 races on the Thursday and 3 on Friday , the breeze was less the 2nd day but it seemed to be the coldest day by far, many were afraid they wouldn't last the day.
By mid regatta Mike and Jen were well up in the standings with good moments from the rest of the team. Excellent training regatta in a high caliber fleet.
The weather improved for the last 2 days and were becalmed prior to the racing on the Sunday. The race committee did a nice job all thru the event getting the races off and had 2 races in decent breeze to end the regatta.
Jen finished the event 4th with many races in the top 2, Isabella was going great prior to the event and had some real highlights but couldn't quite put it together , she ended 29th.
Mike was his consistent self ending in 5th overall, winning one race and 2nd in another.
Ricardo had some real bright moments and finished 27th, right on the heels of most of our National team sailors.
Chris Tulip had a number of great first beats but had issues getting to the finish up the fleet. Andy and Alex did well and made the Gold fleet, but struggled after that.
Becky , Natalia and Joanna all were in silver fleet and all seemed to improve thru the event with Natalia making a charge to lead this group at the end. She was 8th and Becky 9th.
The rain held off for the trailer loading on Sunday afternoon and a few hours later we were set to go. Chris Cowan came out to help drive the rig home and after a drop off at the airport Monday morning we were heading north on the 95, only 6,300 kms to go.
The next event is the Midwinter West Laser Champs in Richmond California on March 26-28.
Al
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Women's NA's and Finn Midwinters 2010
The Fort Lauderdale YC hosted the event again this year,back to it's original dates of Feb 5-7,(the weekend after the MOCR).
John Romanko, (in the Finn) Isabella Bertold, Keamia Rasa and Jen Spalding (in the Radial) attended the regatta under the Royal Van burgee.
We picked up Isabella on the Monday and began training for the 4 days prior to the event, this included gym workouts , on the water sessions and continual discussions about sailing strengths and weaknesses. John had stayed in Miami over the Final weekend to train with Chris Cook and others, (he had a poor regatta in Miami and was keen to get up to speed again with a different boat).
On the first day of racing we had 20kts of wind from the south east. This direction produces large ocean waves with swell and was a true test of sailing and fitness.
There were quite a few significant wind sifts as well that could really make or ruin your day , and a pretty solid push of current out in the left corner that could get you to the weather mark a little quicker.
John looked very comfortable in the breeze and after a few hickups, (over early in the first race and a capsize near the finish), he found his stride and was well up the fleet. Zac Railey , the Silver Medalist, and 3 of the top British sailors were there to guage his speed.
For the Women, we had some time before the event to work on large wave technique but the racing on Friday was invaluable to assess where we were at. The Dutch sailor put on a display of heavy air technique and won all 3 races comfortably. She was 5th at last years worlds.Keamia, Jen and Isabella fought hard and were in the top 10 thru the day.
The next day of racing brought off shore wind from the West in the 15 to 20 kt range. Flatter water with plenty of "auto" tacks. The trick was to carry a lift as far as possible then quickly get onto the other tack and continue up the beat. The downwinds were a completely differnt technique as well, less carving , more point and shoot.
John was gaining cofidence thru the day and was in the top 5 a number of times and looked to be able to finish right behind the top 4 sailors.The women fought hard and learned valuable lessons on a very different day. Keamia, who has liked the breeze in the past had a few bright moments in the top group.
The final day we saw another solid offshore wind with a little more north in it. 15 kts most of the day. This was a day when you had to head to shore and then decide weather to go all the way in or short tack up that side.
John did a nice job thru the day and only stumble slightly in the final race to end the event in 6th overall (top Canadian), a satisfying result after a tough Miami.
Keamia made a nice charge to be the top Canadian thru the day and was in the top 5 a number of times. Isabella , who had excellent boat speed thru the event, had good moments , but was capsized and hit in the head by the boom in a big blast of wind in the final race. Jen had become ill with flu on the 2nd day, fought hard but given the conditions slipped in the standings, out of the top 10.
The final synopsis for the regatta was that Fort Lauderdale has conditions that are important for our team to train in and the event this year tested the fitness as well as assorted techniques necessary to win at the highest levels.
We packed up the boats on Sunday afternoon and droped John and Isabella at the airport.
Next stop is Clearwater Beach, Florida for the Laser/Radial Midwinter's where we will have 13 sailors.
Finn results -http://www.lyc.org/files/finn10.html
Radial results-http://www.lyc.org/files/radial10.html
Al Clark
John Romanko, (in the Finn) Isabella Bertold, Keamia Rasa and Jen Spalding (in the Radial) attended the regatta under the Royal Van burgee.
We picked up Isabella on the Monday and began training for the 4 days prior to the event, this included gym workouts , on the water sessions and continual discussions about sailing strengths and weaknesses. John had stayed in Miami over the Final weekend to train with Chris Cook and others, (he had a poor regatta in Miami and was keen to get up to speed again with a different boat).
On the first day of racing we had 20kts of wind from the south east. This direction produces large ocean waves with swell and was a true test of sailing and fitness.
There were quite a few significant wind sifts as well that could really make or ruin your day , and a pretty solid push of current out in the left corner that could get you to the weather mark a little quicker.
John looked very comfortable in the breeze and after a few hickups, (over early in the first race and a capsize near the finish), he found his stride and was well up the fleet. Zac Railey , the Silver Medalist, and 3 of the top British sailors were there to guage his speed.
For the Women, we had some time before the event to work on large wave technique but the racing on Friday was invaluable to assess where we were at. The Dutch sailor put on a display of heavy air technique and won all 3 races comfortably. She was 5th at last years worlds.Keamia, Jen and Isabella fought hard and were in the top 10 thru the day.
The next day of racing brought off shore wind from the West in the 15 to 20 kt range. Flatter water with plenty of "auto" tacks. The trick was to carry a lift as far as possible then quickly get onto the other tack and continue up the beat. The downwinds were a completely differnt technique as well, less carving , more point and shoot.
John was gaining cofidence thru the day and was in the top 5 a number of times and looked to be able to finish right behind the top 4 sailors.The women fought hard and learned valuable lessons on a very different day. Keamia, who has liked the breeze in the past had a few bright moments in the top group.
The final day we saw another solid offshore wind with a little more north in it. 15 kts most of the day. This was a day when you had to head to shore and then decide weather to go all the way in or short tack up that side.
John did a nice job thru the day and only stumble slightly in the final race to end the event in 6th overall (top Canadian), a satisfying result after a tough Miami.
Keamia made a nice charge to be the top Canadian thru the day and was in the top 5 a number of times. Isabella , who had excellent boat speed thru the event, had good moments , but was capsized and hit in the head by the boom in a big blast of wind in the final race. Jen had become ill with flu on the 2nd day, fought hard but given the conditions slipped in the standings, out of the top 10.
The final synopsis for the regatta was that Fort Lauderdale has conditions that are important for our team to train in and the event this year tested the fitness as well as assorted techniques necessary to win at the highest levels.
We packed up the boats on Sunday afternoon and droped John and Isabella at the airport.
Next stop is Clearwater Beach, Florida for the Laser/Radial Midwinter's where we will have 13 sailors.
Finn results -http://www.lyc.org/files/finn10.html
Radial results-http://www.lyc.org/files/radial10.html
Al Clark
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Miami Olympic Classes Regatta 2010
The first of the World Cup of sailing regattas of 2010 was the Miami event. Royal Van had a good representation of sailors attending.
In the Laser class Mike Leigh, Luke Ramsay, Ricardo Montemayor, Alex Heinzman, Ben Scott and Derik Vranazan
They had the early start each morning at 11 and it was on the water at 9.30 , then sail out to the race course, the breeze was solid most days,(day one we waited ashore for a storm to blow thru and were eventually out on the water till sunset, towing back in the dark!)
There was a fair bit of hiking each day but never windy. The fleet was divided into 2 groups because of size (105 boats), so I followed the 2 starts with our boys split into both.
Mike , Luke and Derik had plenty of International experience and all had decent races with Luke leading the charge near the front of the fleet. Picking your way up the first beats proved to be very challenging and few got it right each time. The key was to be in OK shape at the top mark and have the ability to come back thru the race.
Rick, Alex and Ben gained experience and all had a few good highloight but eventually ended up in the Silver fleet.
Luke entered the Gold fleet in the top 10 and Mike in the mid teens, Derik in the 30's.
The Gold fleet racing is always great spectating, with many of the top 20 Laser sailors in attendance. Luke continued to battle hard and was rewarded with a spot in the final medal race (top 10 sailed a Medal race on the final day), he finished 4th in that and ended the regatta in 8th overall, a real breakthrough, his best major result after many hours of training over the years.
Mike was close to the medal race going into the last day of fleet racing but slipped a bit and ended the event in 20th, showing the toughness of the fleet. (Mike won the final event of the World Cup in Melbourne Australia in December).
The other class I followed later each day was the Radial where Jen Spalding was competing, Jen was in the top 10 all thru the week and was more consistent then many of the women. She climbed as high as 5th at one point and she too qualified for the medal race in 8th.
Jen sailed well in the final race and finished the event in 7th overall, an excellent result in a high caliber event,(the World Champion from last year was 11th and many of the top European women were there).
We had Zac Plasvic and Nicola Girke sailing in the RSX board fleets and given the lighter than preferred breeze for them , they faired pretty well, with both sailors in the early teens just missing the metal races. Zac was telling us the level of cardio fitness required for the lighter air they experienced during some of the event, some of the sailors getting their heart rates over 200 beats a minute. The commitment to fitness in this discipline is enormous!
Hunter Lowden, just recently, joined with Gord Cook from Toronto in the 49'er class. The team had sailed one event prior to Miami, the Worlds in the Caribbean, where they finished 21st (a excellent result!). They were in the hunt each day and had good consistency thru out. They qualified for the medal race and sailed well with a 4th , finishing 9th overall.
John Romanko competed in the Finn class and struggled with boat speed thru the week finishing a disappointing 30th overall. He continued to be upbeat and is working hard to get back on pace for the Finn Midwinter the next weekend.
Bruce Millar sailed in the 2.4m class and sailed into the top 5 a number of races finishing 8th overall, in a tough fleet.
We didn't have anyone sailing in the Star fleet but of note was Ross MacDonald's result at the recent worlds in January in Brazil: 14th overall in a very high caliber fleet!
Overall a successful regatta for the Royal Van team. Each one of these sailors are working hard to reach their dream of a Olympic Gold Metal and I was impressed with their commitment and determination.
Their were a few Royal Van national team members who weren't in attendance because of school commitments; Isabella Bertold and Alanna Vittery in the Radial and Abe Torchinsky who has moved to the Finn from the Laser.
Our next event is the Woman's North Americans and Finn Midwinter's in Fort Lauderdale in early February, then on to the East Coast Midwinter's in Clearwater Florida, in late February, (many of our development sailors will be at this event during the Olympic break).
Results are found at the regatta website- http://rmocr.ussailing.org/
Thanks again Royal Van for all the support.
Al Clark
In the Laser class Mike Leigh, Luke Ramsay, Ricardo Montemayor, Alex Heinzman, Ben Scott and Derik Vranazan
They had the early start each morning at 11 and it was on the water at 9.30 , then sail out to the race course, the breeze was solid most days,(day one we waited ashore for a storm to blow thru and were eventually out on the water till sunset, towing back in the dark!)
There was a fair bit of hiking each day but never windy. The fleet was divided into 2 groups because of size (105 boats), so I followed the 2 starts with our boys split into both.
Mike , Luke and Derik had plenty of International experience and all had decent races with Luke leading the charge near the front of the fleet. Picking your way up the first beats proved to be very challenging and few got it right each time. The key was to be in OK shape at the top mark and have the ability to come back thru the race.
Rick, Alex and Ben gained experience and all had a few good highloight but eventually ended up in the Silver fleet.
Luke entered the Gold fleet in the top 10 and Mike in the mid teens, Derik in the 30's.
The Gold fleet racing is always great spectating, with many of the top 20 Laser sailors in attendance. Luke continued to battle hard and was rewarded with a spot in the final medal race (top 10 sailed a Medal race on the final day), he finished 4th in that and ended the regatta in 8th overall, a real breakthrough, his best major result after many hours of training over the years.
Mike was close to the medal race going into the last day of fleet racing but slipped a bit and ended the event in 20th, showing the toughness of the fleet. (Mike won the final event of the World Cup in Melbourne Australia in December).
The other class I followed later each day was the Radial where Jen Spalding was competing, Jen was in the top 10 all thru the week and was more consistent then many of the women. She climbed as high as 5th at one point and she too qualified for the medal race in 8th.
Jen sailed well in the final race and finished the event in 7th overall, an excellent result in a high caliber event,(the World Champion from last year was 11th and many of the top European women were there).
We had Zac Plasvic and Nicola Girke sailing in the RSX board fleets and given the lighter than preferred breeze for them , they faired pretty well, with both sailors in the early teens just missing the metal races. Zac was telling us the level of cardio fitness required for the lighter air they experienced during some of the event, some of the sailors getting their heart rates over 200 beats a minute. The commitment to fitness in this discipline is enormous!
Hunter Lowden, just recently, joined with Gord Cook from Toronto in the 49'er class. The team had sailed one event prior to Miami, the Worlds in the Caribbean, where they finished 21st (a excellent result!). They were in the hunt each day and had good consistency thru out. They qualified for the medal race and sailed well with a 4th , finishing 9th overall.
John Romanko competed in the Finn class and struggled with boat speed thru the week finishing a disappointing 30th overall. He continued to be upbeat and is working hard to get back on pace for the Finn Midwinter the next weekend.
Bruce Millar sailed in the 2.4m class and sailed into the top 5 a number of races finishing 8th overall, in a tough fleet.
We didn't have anyone sailing in the Star fleet but of note was Ross MacDonald's result at the recent worlds in January in Brazil: 14th overall in a very high caliber fleet!
Overall a successful regatta for the Royal Van team. Each one of these sailors are working hard to reach their dream of a Olympic Gold Metal and I was impressed with their commitment and determination.
Their were a few Royal Van national team members who weren't in attendance because of school commitments; Isabella Bertold and Alanna Vittery in the Radial and Abe Torchinsky who has moved to the Finn from the Laser.
Our next event is the Woman's North Americans and Finn Midwinter's in Fort Lauderdale in early February, then on to the East Coast Midwinter's in Clearwater Florida, in late February, (many of our development sailors will be at this event during the Olympic break).
Results are found at the regatta website- http://rmocr.ussailing.org/
Thanks again Royal Van for all the support.
Al Clark
