Optimist Worlds 2009 , Brazil Update

Day one started with no wind, continued on with no wind and ended up with postponement back on shore. We started the day with breakfast and a coach's meeting. After a team meeting, the sailors were sent on the water in no wind. The wind came from the north at about 2 knots for 5 minutes at a time before dying every time. After a few hours of meeting new friends, eating (Cameron) and hanging out we learnt a few things: the lunches provided were not for people and that the water is extremely dirty. The sailors are not allowed to wash their boats with soap, so the dirt will just add up over the next 7 days.

Back on shore the sailors went in the pool and it is actually nice we have overcast so we do not get as hot. There is a slide with a great pool right beside the boats, so the sailors are getting wet regardless of lack of on water racing.

All our sailors are in great spirit. Speaking English and most of the sailors at least one more language helps in communicating with other nations. There are 47 nations present here. The sailors are divided into 6 groups, sailing against eachother two against two groups at a time.

We are hoping for better sailing tomorrow,

Tine

Optimist Worlds 2009 , Brazil

The first official day of sailing brought us 4-6 knots from 145 degrees which meant from over the hills in the small bay we are racing. The hills are steep and the wind comes down in puffs, making it a challenging place to sail with quick shifts from both sides of the course.

Our team plan was to go on the water 3 hours before the practice race for extra time, but the organizers had the ramp closed off so we had to wait with everybody else. As with most practice starts at Opti Worlds, the sailors are not just pushing the starting line a bit, they are miles over. This was also the case today, but all our Canadian sailors came back and the coaches organized for a third start where the coaches were on the line keeping the sailors back.

It was hard to tell how it went as sailors were joining in as they saw fit, but we learnt that even the heavier sailors can point high because of no waves and that the puffs came from the sides. We also learnt that the water boat (to give the sailors water on the water) never came and other minor things. The pin boat has a very long achor line despite the entire bay being 4 meters deep only.

One hour late, the opening ceremony started. The pictures will come soon. We looked like a great team with by far the best jackets. Our pants were left in the room, it was too hot. The opening ceremony was right on site, small and efficient compared to many the other years. Then we had a team meeting and a de-brief before dinner. We love the meet down here and are experiencing a new juice every day just about.

Stay tuned, racing starts tomorrow. We have not been told what fleet the sailors are in yet, hopefully they have that sorted out at the coach meeting in the morning.

Tine

Radial Worlds Photos

Women's Radial Worlds 2009

Royal Vancouver YC sent a team of women sailors to the Radial Worlds in Karatsu,Japan this year.

The group consisted of Keamia Rasa , Isabella Bertold and Jennifer Spalding.

We flew from Vancouver on July 18th to Tokyo and traveled to Karatsu via a local flight and a subway, instantly appreciating the heat and humidity of Japan in the summer months.

The plan was to arrive for the early boat charter and get as much time on the water to be acclimated to the local conditions. Isabella came a few days later on route from the Youth Worlds in Brazil (she finished 4th!).
I had chartered a coach boat and we were on the water by the 20th, giving us a week to get sorted.

We trained with the other Canadian women as well as some of the other countries.
Everyday at 2 pm the race committee had a organized practice race, which was great and unusual.

We saw every wind direction and strengths of 2 to 15 kts . There was a few days of sunshine but most days it was overcast and trying to rain or just raining hard, (there was flooding in many placers in Japan while we were there).

We all felt confident as the regatta approached that good results were possible.
We took the day before day 1 off and attended an excellent welcoming party , where the Japanese hospitality was in full display.
Day 1 of racing started with arrival at the club at 9.30 then on water at 10.30 first race at 11.30.,(I attended the coaches briefing at 9).

All our sailors were in the second start, so it was easy for me to observe the whole race.
Keamia made her mark early and sailed an excellent race through out finishing 4th, Isabella and Jen were solid in the mid teens. This race we saw the wind from the north at 8kts with a number of good oscillations.

The second race the breeze had picked up a bit and the current had switched. It turned into a go right parade and continued thru the race. Our girls were caught left and struggled to get back in the hunt. Jen got flagged on the bottom reach.
Day 2 saw more of the same wind direction and similar patterns, as in go right or at least rightish. Boat favored most every start. The wind was 8 to 12 from about 25 degrees.

We saw the first of the ocean swell that rose to 10 feet from time to time.
Isabella continued to get good races in and had an 9th the first race , Jen caught up and just nipped Keamia in 14th , so all was well for all 3 to get in Gold fleet.

The second race the wind went left at the start and temped many to start down at the pin , but as we saw before it was important to get right by half way up and all 3 of our team was stung by this , Jen got a 2nd flag on the run and had to head in.
Day 3 was stronger breeze from the north again and big swell, classic racing conditions, and overcast as usual, near raining from time to time.

My group had been in the blue fleet, second start for the last few days but today Keamia was in the first start. This mad it a little tougher to follow all. Thank goodness I had a good RIB!

The day started promising with a 16 and a 17 for Isabella and Jen and a 20 for Keamia , not great but qualifying scores. Jen was still very much on the bubble and needed a good final race.
The 2nd race was more of the same, the top girls knew the routine and really put on a boat speed clinic, with large separation in the fleets , Isabella had another decent race ,19th , Keamia was 9th to the top mark and ended 21st with a few unlucky events, but made gold fleet comfortably. Jen was 29th and missed the Gold fleet by 12 points, a shame.

Keamia is excited because her starts have been excellent and much discussion has been tossed around at our end of day debriefs regarding eliminating small mistakes. Isabella is very fired up, she is top Canadian at the moment in the low 30,s and
I think she can move up, she has had the most mature regatta to date I believe, she deserves it for all the hard work she has put in for the last few years!

The 1st day of gold silver split racing was another solid wind day out of the north again, actually at between 30 and 40 degrees consistently with pressure of 15 to 20 kts and good size seas

Isabella worked very hard after a tough first beat and climbed back to as good as 19th and ended in the low 20’s, she was saying how physically and mentally exhausting the gold fleet is!
Keamia had a tough start followed by a not too hot result but was keen to go again.
This regatta has been characterized by the need to get a good start, normally near the boat then a quick tack and hike hard out to the right side or right corner, depending on your nerve.

Jen was at the front of the sliver fleet all day and was on form against a few highly ranked women.
The second race of the day was just as tough and Isabella and Keamia pushed as hard as they could, but arrived at the weather mark towards the back and ended the race in the 30’s.

This put Isabella in 30th and Keamia 41st, Jen was 3rd in the Silver.
So we rode our bikes (the regatta organizers arranged for every competitor and coach to have a bike to ride for the regatta!) to the club for the 2nd day of the split and low and behold wind same direction and building to solid teens in speed, a bit like Groundhog Day!

Isabella had a couple of cracker starts but unfortunately she had a port tacker foul her and she ended up capsized, then later in the race she had to do a 720 so she was only ahead of a few boats, she keep her sprits up and finished the 2nd race with a 23, even with a very sore back. Keamia struggled again and stayed in the 30’s most of the day.

Jen again had excellent downwind speed and sits in 2nd in her fleet.
The final day of racing we mere met with overcast sky’s, wind building to 18kts out of the north , actually around 25 degrees , so a little left of usual, and good size seas.

Pretty close to a groundhog day. The Finnish girl won the opening race and headed in , having the regatta won. Isabella had an excellent start and went to port heading to the favorite right corner. She didn’t quite have the wheels and rounded the top mark in the high 20’s , Keamia was close behind her and had an excellent run only to go thru the bottom gate the wrong way , and fell back to the high 20’s. In the end Isabella had a low 30 and a high 20 to finish the regatta in 32nd place overall, an excellent result for an 18 yr old .

Keamia was in the low 40’s and would have liked to be the top 40% to receive the national team card that Isabella did.
Jen fought hard to the end and finished 3rd in the silver fleet.

All in all a true test for a classic world championship, where the leader were fast, fit and started well.
Our team went home with a solid list of things needed to reach their goal of being top 10 in the world. Training begins shortly to get ready for Scotland next July.

Thanks to Royal Vancouver YC for all the support

Al Clark

Summer Sailing

The past couple of months the team has been keeping really busy sailing regattas all over the world.

After the Detla Lloyd regatta, there were a couple training camps held out of Royal Vancouver Yacht Club to prepare for WAVES and for some the Laser North Americans.

The Laser NA's took place at Buffalo Canoe Club. The Buffalo Canoe club put on an excellent event and the team was billeted by members of the club. We saw wind of most strengths and assorted directions.

The first day of racing was cancelled eventually after we headed out to the race course twice then back in due to thunder storms. The next three days were good racing , with one day of qualifying then on to the gold fleet racing.
From the beginning Luke Ramsay was well in the hunt for the trophy as well as Jen Spalding, both fought hard for the trophy.
In the end Jen was a close 2nd to fellow national team member Lisa Rossafter a match race in the final heat, Alex Heinzemann (on his way to the youth worlds) finished 3rd overall. Luke finished 5th overall in a hotly contested Laser fleet. Luke is training hard for the upcoming Laser Worlds in Halifax.

This year WAVES regatta was also the Laser Canadian Championships. We had great conditons for it and were really happy to have the whole team out for the event! 25 team members competed in the event!

We had 3 days of great racing, westerly breezes and plenty of current. PRO John Culter did an excellent job of getting a maximum number of races off.

Congratulations to Luke Ramsay who is the new Canadian Champion in the Laser class! Luke really dominated and was well on form. Derik Vranizan from Seattle,(another Race Team member) was a solid 2nd, Ricardo Montemayor, top youth, also had a great event finishing 3rd overall, with Abe Torchinsky in 4th and Jason Rhodes in 5th, (keeping the young guys honest!).

In the radial fleet Alexander Heinzemann is the new Canadian champion! Dominque Fritz finished 6th and Chris Tulip finnished 7th. Results are @ royalvan.com

After the Canadians the team packed up the trailer to head down to the Gorge for 2 weeks of training and racing. We started off with 2 days of training to get warmed up for the Laser District 6 regatta. The trip to the Gorge is going really well, and its great to see everyone out there getting some heavy wind training.
The trip to the Gorge will finnish with the Blow Out, a 20 mile downwind race which starts in Cascade Locks and finishes in Hood River. That will happen on Thursday July 16th. The Blowout is followed by the Pacific Coast Championships which are from July 17-19.

Opti's in San Francisco Racing Update Day 2

We started an extra hour earlier than usual to get some races in as we lost 3 races yesterday due to the heavy weather. It was jsut like racing in Vancouver, light and shifty with current and tricky conditions. After 5 races in all kinds of conditions, the wind arrived. IT was terrific. After 5 long days practicing sailing in 20 plus winds, our sailors embraced the wind. Our entire team did amazing with Cameron winning the last race with Alex in second, Graham in 7th and Jack in 10th. Jake went in but made it without difficulty, Jim finished the race in style. Alex capsized 20 seconds before the start in the first race today after a huge and strong windshift hit his boat. That was a tough one to recover from. Cameron started off the day with poor starts in the middle of the line and after 2 of these starts, he change to start at the pin with clean air. It worked so well, everybody is for sure learning heaps.
We raced 6 races! Sam and Andrew were troopers as they worked so hard and long finishing almost all the races. Sam finished all, Andrew almost all.

We are looking forward to the last 4 races tomorrow, starting early again. Then we have to pack the whole trailer and the truck. We have 9 parents here so it should be just fine.

Opti's in San Francisco Training Update Day 2

Day 2
After a light air yesterday, we started off the day with a light but very strong current and back eddies all over day. It was an amazing experience for all the sailors when we finally made it to the windward mark and sailors were trying multiple times to get around the mark. After a few tries, practice makes perfect and all the sailors were comfortably understanding laylines with massive current.

After a couple of hours, the true San Francisco breeze showed up. It was a blast. We were practicing 720s and Andrew kept trying in the 20-25 knots of breeze. His determination resulted in improved 720s but also 3 capsizings.

The heavy wind gave us the opportunities to hike and surf. Our sailors became very comfortable with hiking, despite the pain and the ones who forgot their hiking pants at the hotel had to tough it out. At the end of the day, the whole group was going up and downwind, it was a great sight for the coaches. We stayed out an additional half an hour to surf extra waves.

Tomorrow we are training with 25 other OPtimist sailors from the bay and we are doing starts. It is a different skill to start with the current pushing you back 20 feet for every tack you do.

So far it has been a fantastic 2 days and we have 2 more days of training before the regatta starts.

Take care
Rob and Tine

Opti's in San Francisco Training Update

Day 4 is often the most tiring day with already 3 long days on the water and sailors getting exhausted. This morning, the sailors went to Fisherman's Wharf and rode the cable car before we went on the water for a 2 hours session in 20-25 knots of breeze. THe improvements since Monday were dramatic and all the sailors could identify themselves how much they have learnt in 4 days.
The older group of the team with Cameron and Emily are setting the stage with strong commitment to focus and hard work. Emily is injured and might not race starting tomorrow, she has re-injured her wrist and is presently at the hospital to check it out.
The rest of the team has taken to all the training very well. The coaches are very pleased with the progress and we are not concerned about the results of the regatta, rather with the skill improvements and being able to successfully race in the heavy winds. Unfortunately, the weather and wind predictions are 35-40 knots for tomorrow, a bit much for even our team after such a great camp. Time will tell if this is going to happen.
The club here, St. Francis YC has been more than exceptional in welcoming us and the dock master told us today that summer has finally arrived when the Opti team from Royal Van comes for their one week of wind and current in San Francisco.

WE start racing tomorrow, 3 long days with some exciting racing ahead. Rob took pictures today which we are hoping to upload so they can go on the RVYC blog.
Rob and TIne

Delta Llyod Regatta 09

This years version was unusually pleasant most days, the first day of racing was the exception , with offshore stormy winds reaching over 30 kts.

The team that competed were Luke Ramsay, Abe Torchinsky, Ricardo Montemayer, Chris Tulip and Andy Wong in the Laser class,Isabella Bertold and Keamia Rasa in the Radial class.

Luke Ramsay ended up 2nd Canadian and 25th overall in a real world class fleet! Well done Luke.

Isabella was 23rd and had some real high points (a 2nd in the last race), Keamia Rasa was 25th overall.

The younger group of Rick, Chris and Andy had good moments thru the event and gained valuable international experience.





Overall a positive few weeks in the highest level of competition possible.

Next for us is training thru June in Preparation for the Laser Canadians held at Royal Van as part of the Waves Week.

Then off to Hood River for 2 events in July.

Isabella and Alex are working hard in preparation for the Youth Worlds in July, with Marcia MacDonald going as their coach.




Laser Results - http://www.hollandregatta.org/2009/tablecloth/results/results.asp?show=LASE

Radial Results-http://www.hollandregatta.org/2009/tablecloth/results/results.asp?show=LASR

Holland Regatta Training

We arrived in Holland on Tuesday the 19th of May.
Luke and Chris Tulip spent the first few days training with some of the other teams from Australia, Spain, Netherlands, and USA
Keamia arrived today with the rest of the team coming over the next few days.