Nationals- Day Three

Ok, so I put this off for just a little bit. Gonna live in the dorms this fall, school shopping, laaame..

So yea, I think the first race the wind was coming out of 210, and perfect strength, maybe 11 knots, exactly what I needed and I felt pretty good about it, scores show (below) that I finished 41st, which is exactly where I should have been finishing the whole regatta. Race two picked up a bit more, maybe 14,15, and was coming out of 230 maybe, and race three, maybe a bit more wind, 17 maybe. I don't know what happened in the last two races, I felt fine in the wind strength, but i felt I had trouble trouble changing gears. It was a tough race all weekend, no good can come from getting home on Wednesday and going racing on Saturday, with a bummed Kiel, and no practice in between. No bueno all around. But yea, back to school, back to the gym, back to eating right, and back to a scheduled lifestyle. Hopefully things will get back in order and back on the program. Gym tomorrow Ben? I think so.


68th Laser Full USA 2515 Ross Bennett Balboa YC (69.0) 65.0 60.0 61.0 69.0 68.0 41.0 66.0 56.0 555.0 486.0

Nationals- Day Two

Ok, lets see how much I can remember...

Woke up this morning very sore, I haven't been this sore since the first 20 minutes of Kiel. Forecast was calling for 5 to 10, I praise the gods and head off to the YC. It's a bit cooler than yesterday, and first warning is at 1150. For the first race the wind was coming out of 220 and it was probably only 8 to 10, it was awesome. My start was meh but I did my best to keep up. I felt pretty good. Race two I think the wind was coming out of 230, maybe 10 to 12, even better. This was not a fun race, at the start I was going for my spot on the line and I bumped a guys stern with my bow, not smart but not a big deal, and most people would let it go, as would I. But this guy called protest, I didn't want to deal with crap so I did my circle. I think he was a Canadian, either way a total wanker! So off the start I was a bit behind, but I put my A Game on and went to work and was doing pretty well. I then came to a starboard tack boat that I noticed at a bit too late, so I went for a quick tack. Now remember that I'm wearing my old lifejacket with the buckles on the straps, (my Zhik is probably in Africa now, I'll never see it again) and as I went into the tack and out the other side my buckles got caught on my mainsheet and right over I went. It was horrific, it played in slow motion, like I was watching it overhead. I think I lost 10 boats, and I hadn't even reached the first mark yet! From there on out it was just catch up. Race three was gnarly, and again I learned that all weather forecasters are habitual liars, and should never be trusted. It cranked up to 20, maybe 22, and was a hate mission! It was time to man up and make the best of it, so I bladed the sail out, ease the main a bit, and got on with it, this race was all about staying upright, which I did so I'm pretty happy about that.


Also,my boat didn't feel so loaded up today, and it felt like it actually wanted to go somewhere. I have noticed that I get alot of centerboard wobble compared to the Euro boats, I'll have to have Tony fatten it up to class max, and I seem to have much more weather helm than in Europe, so I might have him check the balance of my boards and make sure they are aligned. I really don't feel like buying a new boat, and I doubt my Dad does either.

Time for bed, gotta rest up, lots of work to be done tomorrow.

Nationals-Day One

I admit I'm still a bit tired from Baltic Sprint Cup, but I'll take the words of wisdom from Yeoman and man up and make the best of it. I got in on Wednesday, and unfortunately my tiller and extension decided not to meet me in LA, but the airport delivered it last night, so disaster averted. Unfortunately my Zhik hiking pants and lifejacket, and my new sail, and some other things that shipped over haven't made it yet, but I have my last sail, and but old SEA, now shorty pants, so aside from sore knees, I'm ok.

So we get to ABYC bright and early, and soon it's hotter than all hell, probably 85, but coming from Europe for 6 weeks, anything over 80 is seriously hot, and people start freaking out, so I'm a bit sweaty. I've checked the forecasts, and 10-15 is called for, with this heat I'm callin for 12 at the most. Boy was I wrong, myself, and everyone else did no expect big wind at all. The first race the wind was coming out at 220, and was a good 15. I felt slow, like I was driving a brick house, the boat felt like it was under a lot of pressure, but it just didn't want to move. Almost like it was full of water, but it was dry as a bone. This problem went away a little bit throughout the day thankfully. But I admit I'm dog tired, so I'm just trying to keep my nose clean, and make up for Kiel. The third race really got interesting and the winds picked up a bit possibly to 18, coming out of 235, and it was time to just max all controls and hang on. I was starting to wish I was in a Radial! In the third race the wind picked up to 20, with 4 foot swells. On one of the reaches a swell came along and decided to turn into to ride, but it was a bit to big, and it completely came over on top of me, I think I was totally underwater, bit of a shock! Towards the end of the day I was really wishing for a Radial, and if I knew it was going to blow this much, I would have sailed a Radial, but now I just gotta man up and make the best. But then again as I like to say, I'll never have a chance of getting to the Olympics in a Radial, but then again bashing your head against a wall every time just isn't full. I need to gain weight again, down to 168, not fun.

Now I'm sure you would all like to know my scores, but I'm not going to post em, and I don't wanna look, I'm just gonna sail and try and improve every day.

Baltic Sprint Cup

I should have a review coming soon, hopefully something special. So keep your pants on.