More from Poland
A while ago we Intercepted Some Messages from Poland describing Chris Barnard’s adventures at the European Laser Standard Youth Championship in Gdynia, Poland. Here are the rest of his notes home and some pictures.
Also you can see the full regatta results at the Gdynia Sailing Days website.
From: Chris Barnard
Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Subject: Day 2
Hey friends and family,
Postponed on land for an hour or so waiting for sea breeze to fill in, started the first race around 12:45 in 8-12 knots in building chop. Hit the dock around 5, got some pizza and then hit up a Mexican place for a second dinner.
Race 3 – In blue fleet again, second start. I settled into the mindset that, like any sea breeze, small oscillations, 2-3 shifts a beat, and boatspeed. Started pin middle punched in line sag, and drag raced out to an expected left shift, tacked and spent rest of beat on port. Some others got slight wind shears and puffs off the line, but managed to round top mark in 7th. Downwind, never felt got into total groove, but able to pass Danish sailor into 6th. 2nd beat was brutal, didn’t have good first quarter of beat, getting tacked on, forced into downwind fleet, ultimately throwing me out of sync of the shifts coming down the beat. Rounded top mark in 11th, leeward mark in 10th, then lost 2 boats on short last beat to finish 12th. Was pretty frustrated with the finish after such a good first beat and thought that would set me up for rest of race.
Race 4 – Wind continued to hold in steady sea breeze. I looked to have similar start in the middle of the line, ideally in the right shift that was present at the start and would, according to my assessment soon fade into a lefty. Unfortunately my “soft” spot on the line got squeezed, got rolled and pinched off quickly, but got quick exit on port, ducked, then tacked back on starboard in the righty, which I think sort of saved my race. As expected the lefty came down, dug as much as I could, and I flopped onto port. I eventually rounded top mark in mid 20s. Downwind and 2nd beat passed a couple boats here and there, headed onto reach in high teens, low 20s. Reach I passed a few boats, connecting waves nicely, which I think built me a lot of confidence for the downwind. Passed about 5 boats downwind and 2 more on last beat. That comeback along with a few boats being OCS led to a respectable 10th place finish.
Assessments made/lessons learned -
1. Made good adjustments from yesterday and executed those lessons learned. I was very happy with my first beat in the first race, only 2 tacks, riding each shift ideally. I still made mistakes in other beats, such as in 1st race 2nd and last beats. Overall felt I did good job.
2. “Star Struck” – I suffered a little bit of this in the first race after I had rounded top mark in 7th. Although I passed a boat downwind, I still didn’t feel in my groove. I have had random episodes of this such as a race in Brazil and minor case in Japan. As I get more experienced and as regatta goes on, I will recognize that I belong in front of pack and continue to attack.
3. Recognition of characteristics and timing of shifts – hard to explain on email, but I recognized area of beats I can improve on where I can recognize whether I am at the beginning, middle, or end of a shift and how I should react to each one at different parts of the course as well as whether I’m mid fleet or in lead pack.
Overall – running out of main points, but overall feel I have top of fleet speed and boat handling, I just need to continue to adjust to the mistakes and execute the lessons learned. Things like starts, first beats, and “letting boatspeed go to work” are still my main thoughts in back of mind. Still frustrated, waiting for my expected results, but each race finish as well as personal assessment/feeling of race get better each time. Tomorrow forecast is similar with high pressure system sitting right on top of northern Europe. Look for some top 10 finishes tomorrow and really break through. Good luck to Gov Cup boys and hope all is well with everyone! Keep in touch
Chris
From: Chris Barnard
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Subject: Day 3
Hey friends and family,
Breezy day today after another hour and half postponement on shore. Sea breeze filled in more than expected starting at 12 then building up to 17 knots. Big waves built up for some fun surfing downwind. Today I was in the yellow fleet, first start, and the fleet felt much tougher than other days. Ideally each fleet is even in skill.
Race 5 – The sea breeze, as expected, is very steady and relies on good boat speed. However, I set up my strategy to favor the left hand side of the course. I had probably my best start of the event, hitting the line sag mid pin and punched with the fast Turkish sailor just below me. Over my shoulder, the entire boat half of the line was 2-3 boat lengths back in line sag. If it was a high school or college start I probably could have gone for a “homerun” and crossed fleet, but I stayed patient and relied on boat speed to keep heading to the favored left side of the course. When a couple boats that were bow out on me tacked onto port, I followed suit and flopped over with only a minute left to port layline. Leading this pack right, I looked to keep my bow out and head towards some sort of righty. Up until the last quarter of the beat, I thought for sure I was top 5 until I slightly mismanaged the top of the beat. Ideally, I should have taken another hitch to the port layline and made sure I was more hooked into the top left. Instead I elected to lead that pack to the starboard layline and reserve a spot. I picked my spot, but then got tacked on, costing me two more tacks. I realized my strategy would have been fine if I was more careful and thoughtful about the importance of a good and conservative placed tack, not 3 tacks. This caused me to round more like 15th instead of top 5. Each leg I was able to pick off boats, solid downwind, working left on the second beat, passing people low on the reach, and good last beat. I battled for an 8th place finish.
Race 6 – Breeze still holding and chop picking up. As expected, the pin crowded up more since the left was the obvious choice. Seeing this develop, I slid up the line slightly. Although I was able to get off the line clean and able to hold on to head left, I was in a very tight, squeeze position, not going ideally fast. I held as long as I could for a few minutes and waited for an exit lane that wouldn’t force me to duck too many boats and lose too much distance. As soon as I executed that, I tacked back onto starboard right away in a clearer lane heading back to the left. I tacked on the port layline and worked as hard as I could to gain boat lengths. I poked into about 25th at the top mark, and as in the race before, picked boats off here and there to battle to a 19th place finish.
Assessments made/lessons learned -
1. Downwind – Although I didn’t lose boats downwind today, I definitely did not feel myself today off the wind. Usually, especially in breeze and wave conditions of today, I would usually be passing boats left and right. What I realized, especially after talking to Zander and looking at the photos, my vang tension was way too loose which caused my feeling of not enough power to catch the waves, particularly when on a reach. Over the course of the day, I tried pulling on more, but I was not being nearly aggressive enough with it. Good note for the future.
2. Fitness – came into factor again today, but felt like I really hung in there and grinded well for my size compared to the rest of the fleet. There were definitely moments, such as top of first beats, where a few more boat lengths gained by better grinding could have definitely transferred into 10 more places at the top mark. Lesson already known and learned, just a matter of taking responsibility when at home and during school year.
3. Starts – noted in second start today, and sort of the same story as yesterday’s second race. I can’t be afraid to be over at this stage since it is very unlikely, and not even let there be the slightest chance that someone gets bow out on me. Need to keep following my motto, “conservative laterally (position on line), aggressive vertically (getting bow out).”
4. Other random notes – not worth spending too much thought on but have felt particularly fast on reaches compared to past events, beginning and ends of beats have gotten better, feel I can grind with anyone, and building confidence. Real points will be made up once Gold Fleet is formed on Friday.
Heating back up here quickly, should be in the upper 80’s. Breeze forecast is for a slightly offshore south breeze and shifting right. Could be very weird since Zander hasn’t seen that direction in his four weeks here. I hear there is big surf at home, the Wedge is pumping, but still gloomy. Keep me updated on Gov Cup results. Zander sent some pictures to Dad so he should be able to forward those to everyone. Hope everyone is enjoying summer and keep in touch!
Barney
From: Chris Barnard (csb55@georgetown.edu)
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010
Subject: Day 4 – no racing
Hey friends and family,
Pretty frustrating day that resulted in no racing. Sailed out to a 4-8 knot southeast breeze. However the RC mismanaged starts and slight right shifts in breeze (which Zander and I predicted with the low pressure system approaching and cloud development), and did not react or adjust in any sort of way. Instead of moving the course to the new breeze, they sent us in because they lacked trust in this breeze. They sent us back out about 2 hours later in what seemed to be a sea breeze, maybe slightly to the right. Again they mismanaged starts and general recalls, no black flag hoisted, and little up and down velocity, shifts in breeze that the RC seemed to overreact to. There was a 45 minute span when it was a perfect 6-8 knot sea breeze, and we continued to be postponed with no effort to run a race. Despite all this, Zander and I laughed about it, won each race back to shore via tow, and cruised down to Sopot for a new scene. Got some good spicy Thai food and enjoyed some festivities occurring within the town. Due offshore breeze forecasted tomorrow, hopefully shifty college racing will come into play. Any advice coach Mike? Home in three days!
Barney
From: Chris Barnard
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2010
Subject: Day 5
Hey friends and family,
It was a wet, breezy, cooler day on and off the water. Rain moved in as the fleet was rigging, but the RC did not hesitate to send the fleet out. Breeze was up and down with patches of rain coming through, but most of the day was 12-16, saw a low of 8 knots and big puffs up to 18 in the shifty NW offshore breeze. First day of Gold racing so starts were much tougher, everybody is fast, and having a solid day in this fleet can shoot someone up the standings.
Race 7 – The start line was set up pretty far from shore, but it seemed that the top left hand side of the course was close enough to the shore that it would allow for significant left shifts. However I did not want to end up bottom left or bottom right. I started mid boat with a solid lane, hiking hard, that held until the left hand side of the course. As I saw ahead of time, the two bottom ends really got shut out of any shifts. Everybody to my right was everyone that had a crowded start and had bailed out, everyone to my left was everyone else who had good starts. I tacked out and basically the farthest right of the “successful”. I was probably solidly in the top 20 at this point with a few wound-up inside on the left and few bow-out below me. Top part of the beat got confusing but basically I felt like I had to take a chance with a puff coming down port layline, but even with that risk, I still had to duck all the boats I figured I would be behind and rounded in the mid 20s. On the reach I went high knowing there wasn’t any room low to create separation and all the puffs would come high off the cliffs. Passed around 7 boats, then moved to the run where I picked a really good line with a puff and in the middle as well as on port gybe which allowed my by-the-lee angle to be much more favorable with the waves. Those good tactical moves along with good speed moved me into about 8th at the bottom mark. Many people who I was near at the reach mark found themselves in the bottom 20 at leeward mark because of not recognizing the major puff. Most people tacked back onto starboard and immediately headed for shore, but I stayed a little and hitched myself into a more solid puff that wound me up on the right putting me into 5th place. However I did not take this puff all the way to the shore like I should have and then found myself bouncing around the middle of the course instead of working an edge. I thought at moments halfway up the beat that I might be in trouble, but didn’t really fix it until it was too late. Ideally I would have taken that righty all the way to shore and worked those lefties. Instead I rounded back in 20th or so and battled for a 17th place finish.
Race 8 – Looked for a similar start. I immediately got squeezed, took two tacks but found a good lane on starboard heading towards the shore, seemingly following everyone. However a nice right shift came through that everyone in the bottom left got stuck on the outside from, one of the reasons I did not want to be at that end. I took that righty all the way to the left and picked my way to a top 20 rounding. Rain really starting to come down, breeze dropping to 8-10 on reach and downwind. Off the breeze went to work, used left edge of course looking downwind, kept boat powered up and rounded around 12th. Skies had cleared up and proceeded to take the first righty I had to the left shore. Wasn’t as strong and dropped to 15th. However, I misjudged a layline and had to do a gybe out at the top mark and lose about 7 boats. Good thing I had fast wheels downwind and caught all those boats I had lost and pulled back to finish 15th.
Assessments made/lessons learned -
1. Took my mind off of the rule-of-thumb in shifty, offshore breezes and to work a side, not get stuck in the middle. This cost me a definite top 10 finish in the first race. I needed to either keep working the side that had worked for me, or ideally, which I pretty sure knew would work, taken that righty to the left shore that would basically guarantee good shifts.
2. Wind/wave angles – I really took good advantage of it today, and I think the rest of the fleet took it for granted. This is a note for the future, but this research before the race definitely saved me about 20 points today.
3. Fitness – again… Those last leeward marks are brutal after a blast reach with spray in your face fully hiking, now you have to pull in the sail and all your controls all the way for the final beat, my shoulders were shot.
Even though the 15, 17 scores don’t seem flattering, they moved me up a bunch since they were solid, consistent scores in a tough fleet. From a different perspective, I basically got two 8′s in the split fleet format. Majority of other sailors had scored at least one race in the 20s or higher, even both races. Sitting in 21st now with two more tough Gold races to go. Looks like I have more to gain in front of me than to lose, and I yet to have a real big score. Lots of conflicting forecasts, but my guess is some sort of cooler, windy, grind hike hard breeze. Improving in scores and place every day, one last punch! Hope sun comes out when I get home and keep in touch
Barney
From: Chris Barnard
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2010 8:36 AM
Subject: Day 6 – Final Day
Hey Friends and Family,
Sorry that it took me so long to send out my final report of the regatta. I got caught up in a very frustrating and long trip back home, dealing with taxis, missing a couple of connections, etc. Instead of getting home midday on the 25th, I got home at 8:30 pm on the 26th. I have finally made it home and getting my “vegging” and relaxing time in. I will do my best to recall the details of the final day of racing.
Race 9 – Breeze was slightly left of the general east sea breeze direction, about 6-12 knots, however it was not a sea breeze due to the presence of the low pressure system and on and off rain. After a mediocre start at the boat end, I eventually worked my way to the left side of the course because of my gut that the left would work out in the beat. A big risk to cross the course, but I could sense the right fading, which is what ended up happening. I rounded the top mark about 20th. Doing my research before the start, I recognized that port was a better angle downwind with the waves, so made a quick gybe to the inside around the reach mark. Additionally, the breeze had shifted right with a rain cloud approaching, putting me in position to catch it first. Large waves from the breeze blowing all night made catching these big waves in this mediocre breeze very tough, but extremely rewarding. I really got into a rhythm and rounded the bottom mark in 8th and heading right with the shift. Breeze dying more and rain really coming down now. Unfortunately, I did not expect a bigger righty to come into play, and some others who really sent it to layline got rewarded as I was stuck on the outside, rounding back again at 20th. I battled back for an 18th place finish.
Race 10 – Clearer skies and a steadier wind direction back at 8-12 knots. I moved back towards the pin and wanted to work left as the breeze seemed more like a sea breeze, thinking that the top left would work as it had earlier in the week. I looked good just under port layline, bound to round in the top 15-20 range, but unfortunately got hacked up and fouled by a Portuguese sailor, forcing me back to the left, above layline, then into a 40 boat train of boats on the starboard layline, rounding about 45th or so. I put together another stellar downwind, back into the top 25. I was only able to make that ground by working hard left looking downwind, find room to really sail on my own. Unfortunately this forced me to the left gate, going right up the beat. As in the previous beat, the left came back in, rounded back in 35th or so and finished about the same.
Results – Moved up once again in the standings to 20th. A solid finish in the regatta in probably the toughest fleet I have raced against. Naturally having higher expectations, I wanted to do better, but I thought this was a respectable finish with my lack of experience and time in the full-rig Laser compared to the rest of the fleet. With more proper training coming into next summer, I believe I can definitely come back and turn in a top 5 finish.
Assessments Made/Lessons Learned -
1. Upwind speed – this is probably my biggest weakness and should be improved. I think this comes with more time in the full-rig with its different sail set up. But more importantly, will improve with better fitness as the breeze increases. I just need to keep attacking the gym.
2. Starts – I was overall happy with my starts, got off the line clean in solid positions more times than not. As I get more confident with my upwind boat speed, I will feel more capable to start more towards the favored end of the line in a tighter pack.
3. Downwind – Stoked I still have this as a weapon that I can pull out of my back pocket. I feel once I get in rhythm, nobody can touch me downwind, I just need to continue to play around with vang settings, angles with waves in different breezes, and overall getting into that rhythm on command.
4. Upwind tactics – top of beat tactics is weakness in my tactical playbook. I will continue to think each moment, tack, duck, etc of those last 300 yards or so. I think they will get easier as my upwind boat speed gets better, allowing me to cross packs, ability to come out of tight lanes, etc.
Hope everyone enjoyed all the reports as well as hope to see everyone soon. Keep in touch.
Chris
