Mids West 2011

We drove to California Saturday morning the 19th of March, with the Opti trailer (7 lasers and the Joker Rib).

Kyle , Alex and Adrian came with me in the truck with Ric , Nat Becky and Gabe to fly in thru the week.

We had an eventful drive down, seeing snow in three different locations along the way, Adrian was most shocked to realize that California gets snow.

We arrived Sunday night in a epic rain storm to the Marina del Rey hotel and parked the trailer for the night. The sun came out in the morning and we began training, that continued with the arrival of Ric and Natalia on Tuesday and Becky and Gabe on Thursday.

Feeling pretty comfortable in the light breeze with large rolling waves, all that was left was some racing to see if we were up to speed.

The regatta started with a nice breeze that built through out the day and made it to 15kts by the end. Becky won the first race in the Radial with Natalia and Gabe close behind, 1,2,3, Royal Van , they were very excited. Ricardo and Kyle were well in the hunt after the first day with Ric getting the rust off after a while off with school being a priority. At the end of the first day Natalia was 1st , Gabe 2nd , (Becky had to go in before the 3rd race because her knee that she operated on at Christmas was feeling sore), so she was down the board with a DNS, Alex was doing well with his best race in the 3rd windiest, Adrian was sitting mid fleet and was performing above expectations being his first Radial regatta.

The second day was lighter and we saw 4 races around 4-8kts. Ricardo put in on a clinic and scored 3 firsts to lead the fleet going into the last day. Kyle flirted with the top 3 a number of races and right on the top 10 mark. In the Radial Natalia continued great consistency and had 2, 2nds and a 4th to put her well ahead of the rest, Becky struggled with the breeze and again was forced to head in because of her knee, Gabe didn't like the conditions as much as the first day and continued to learn how to make the boat go fast in light air (our sport really in the most complex). Alex got to the weather make in the third race in the lead and extended thru out the race to score his first win in a major event (very exciting). He had a good day and was in the low teens. Adrian kept his spot around mid fleet and was learning heaps.

The final day looked bleak with low clouds and not a spec of wind but it cleared up after a short postponement, and we eventually swa 10kts of breeze.

Ric stared the first race well only to have his number called for being a premature starter, he went back but could only get to the high teens , actually quite impressive considering he was a minute behind at the start. He still needed one decent race in the top 10 and the regatta was his. Kyle kept sailing well and finished the event in 10th overall.

Natalia sailed another solid race and wrapped up the event with a race to spare, (she decided to race the final heat),She was very impressive through out the series and we are very excited for her for the summer's events, including the youth worlds, (Kyle is also going to the ISAF regatta).

Becky finished strong and should be encouraged by the good races she had and we look forward to seeing her on the National team by end of September. Alex finished strong and ended in the low teens a personal best for him. Gabe also did well in the high teens and will work on his light air finesse over the coming weeks. Adrian was just fired up to be in the event and says hes keen to do more (he's just 15 and has a bright future).

Ricardo showed his pedigree and won the final race and sealed his winning position in the regatta and we are also excited for Ric for his summer season , including 3 major European events (Delta Lloyd, Scandia Sail for Gold, and the Pre Olympics).

So really exciting times for the team and the Montemayor family! Can't remember the last time a brother sister won the two events at a major Laser Regatta in North America (or even the World).

We had nicer weather for the drive home and got in Monday night the 28th of March, another winter season finished and now a 6 week break from long trips. We will continue training on the weeknights and though each weekend leading into the Summer season where we have an ambitious plan to dominate the North Amercan events, with any luck.

Results are @ http://www.calyachtclub.com/files/2011_LMW_S1-9.htm

Al Clark