Today I'll deviate slightly from my normal documentation of my Laser sailing events. I will attempt to help one of my blogging compatriots in his quest, none other than the Taco Bandini!! I first heard about the Bandini and his quest just under a year ago when I came to LA with my dad for the Labour Day regatta at the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. The Bandini samples tacos throughout LA attempting to find the perfect one. Last year when I was here I tried one of the Bandini's pics in the South Bay area called Don Chentes. It was suggested for its handmade corn tortillas among other reasons. I have long been looking forward to having another sample of Don Chentes tacos so for my first lunch in LA I convinced my teammates Luke Kev and Alanna to come with me to grab some mexican food. They were all a bit surprised that I was so passionate about some seemingly anonymous taqueria but were game to try it. I started off with a big order of two of each chorizo, al pastor, and carnitas. The tacos came on a big plate very full with both cilantro and onions on them. The two corn tortillas for each taco kept the juicy meat well contained. With the addition of salsa roja I started on my plate. The chorizo and al pastor were excellent and I would call the carnitas passable, it didn't have the same complex flavours as the other two meats. I was still hungry so I decided to try some handmade corn tortillas. I was told that they had beans as well as meat and salsa in them. I ordered one pollo and one al pastor. The more durable corn tortilla was good but the taste was overpowered by the beans, taking away from the overall experience. I would recommend the al pastor to anyone I know.
For dinner I went to a local mexican restaurant on the beach at Seal Beach walking distance from our hotel. Some random internet sites suggested it as a good place. It was called El Burrito Jr. I wasn't all that hungry after my big lunch so i ordered two al pastor tacos and two carnitas tacos, as well as a chili relleno. The first thing I noticed about these tacos was the price, they were about a dollar and a quarter more than the 1.25 at Don Chentes. I took this to be a bad sign and indeed I was right. The chili relleno arrived first and was little more than a small piece of jalapeno drenched in what looked like chedder cheese and some tomato sauce. The tacos arrived soon after and I was horrified to see that they were filled with tomato and guacamole instead of cilantro and onion as tacos should be. The al pastor was very stringy and had little juice and no flavour. The carnitas was better but still quite bad. In addition the tacos were too full. All in all a bad experience after a great lunch. I have a lead on a taqueria in Hawaiian Gardens, hopefully I'll be able to get there soon.
until next time,
the Laser Bandini
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Heavy Weather Laser Slalom 2008 and the NA's
This past week I have completed my first two regattas in North America in 2008. I left Europe after a successful European Championships, flying from Paris through JFK in New York to San Francisco. I had only five days between the end of the Europeans and the start of the North Americans, hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club in the Marina district of San Fran. After arriving I had one day to spare before the regatta so I took the opportunity to catch up with a friend from UBC who took me to a Giants game. I personally don't follow baseball at all (I didn't even know the name of the home team) but going to the game was a complete blast. The stadium is located on the water just a short bus trip away from St. Francis YC. We sat in the bleachers with lots of other young people half watching the game and half catching up on what we'd each been doing lately, I'd recommend a ball game to anyone as a great venue for spending a casual evening. The next day I worked on my boat, making sure all the equipment I brought back from Europe was working well on my North American boat. It's a testament to the greatness of the Laser that it is so easy to pick up a hull, spars and foils at a new venue and bring all of your own lines and hardware so easily. I went for a quick sail with fellow RVYC teammate Kev Grierson and called it a day. The first few days of the NA's went by in a bit of a blur. The racecourse is set very close to shore with the beach/rocks only about a three minute sail on starboard from the start. A heavy flood tide made the shore very favored so the whole fleet raced for the shore and tried to short tack up the left side of the course. This was a far cry from the races I'd been sailing in Europe where we would often sail for between 10 and 15 minutes after the start before tacking. A lack of waves also proved to be very different from most of the European venues, all in all I felt a little like I hadn't practiced much for this sort of sailing and if anything I was a little worn out from previous regattas. All this changed after the second day of racing. I had a conversation with some fellow competitors that really got me fired up and wanting to win. I recognized that I was in a similar state of mind to a day of training before the Delta Lloyd regatta in Holland this year and tried to keep that feeling. It worked and I certainly sailed much better the last two days of the event, moving up the rankings a little bit to finish a close series fourth right behind Brad Funk of the USA. I really enjoyed the last two days of the regatta and I think i took away some lessons from the whole experience.
After the North Americans ended on a Sunday, I had until Thursday to do with what I wanted before I planned to drive with Kevin to Monterey for the Pacific Coast Champs starting on Friday. I decided to take part in an event called the Heavy Weather Laser Slalom again at St. Francis. This event is steeped in Laser history. First sailed in the 70s it has not been sailed for over a decade. I don't think I am up to giving the event the justice it deserves so I invite you to google or youtube "laser slalom" to get the history behind it. Basically it involves sailing around a very short course against a single opponent close to shore. It is a double knockout scheme so you have to lose twice to get kicked out of the regatta. The course is close enough to shore that the spectators can be heard while racing as well as the commentator who announces over a speaker system clearly heard by crowd and competitors alike. All racing was done in boats supplied by West Coast Sailing, who I would like to thank by the way for donating these great boats and taking some great photos. After each heat we sailed to the beach and exchanged boats with the next sailors. The event was lots of fun to watch as well as sail in and the breezy conditions didn't fail to impress with lots of great gybes and wipeouts. Showboating was common among the boats waiting to race, I think the best award goes to Brad Funk for sailing by the lee standing up on the leeward rail in over 20 knots on a full plane. I progressed through the three day event without a loss until the finals for the winners bracket when I lost to David Wright, a fellow National Team member from Toronto fresh from a win at the North Americans. I next sailed against Anthony Boulieh from Quebec who had won the consolation bracket in order to win the right to face the finalist from the winners bracket. I managed to beat Tony to sail in the Champions race against Dave. Now if you've lost the plot a bit I'll clarify. I had lost once and Dave had won all his matches. This meant that in order to win I would have to beat Dave in two consecutive races whereas he only needed to win one of the two to take the title. I won the first race forcing a do or die final between Dave and I. With good friend Mike Kalin on the mic commentating and a crowd rich with Royal Van sailors cheering for me I felt confident. I sailed past the dock one more time with a wave for the spectators and a cheer for me before starting. I felt confident throughout and was ahead 3/4 of the way through the race before I fell behind for the last downwind where I needed to make four gybes in about 40 meters. I managed to stay on a plane throughout and came up to the finish hearing Kalin announce me as a winner! I continued planing past the spectators and attempted a standing backflip from my transom (it was more of a back flop i think). The awards ceremony was very nice and I was presented with a perpetual trophy bearing a Laser bow and my name engraved on it. Past winners were announced and beer was served. All in all a great event.
Tonnes of photographers were out taking pictures and video so as I find those sites I'll pass them along to you and post them here. I do know that Kimball Livingstone, an editor for SAIL magazine posted two writeups to his blog about the slalom, they can be viewed
here:
After the North Americans ended on a Sunday, I had until Thursday to do with what I wanted before I planned to drive with Kevin to Monterey for the Pacific Coast Champs starting on Friday. I decided to take part in an event called the Heavy Weather Laser Slalom again at St. Francis. This event is steeped in Laser history. First sailed in the 70s it has not been sailed for over a decade. I don't think I am up to giving the event the justice it deserves so I invite you to google or youtube "laser slalom" to get the history behind it. Basically it involves sailing around a very short course against a single opponent close to shore. It is a double knockout scheme so you have to lose twice to get kicked out of the regatta. The course is close enough to shore that the spectators can be heard while racing as well as the commentator who announces over a speaker system clearly heard by crowd and competitors alike. All racing was done in boats supplied by West Coast Sailing, who I would like to thank by the way for donating these great boats and taking some great photos. After each heat we sailed to the beach and exchanged boats with the next sailors. The event was lots of fun to watch as well as sail in and the breezy conditions didn't fail to impress with lots of great gybes and wipeouts. Showboating was common among the boats waiting to race, I think the best award goes to Brad Funk for sailing by the lee standing up on the leeward rail in over 20 knots on a full plane. I progressed through the three day event without a loss until the finals for the winners bracket when I lost to David Wright, a fellow National Team member from Toronto fresh from a win at the North Americans. I next sailed against Anthony Boulieh from Quebec who had won the consolation bracket in order to win the right to face the finalist from the winners bracket. I managed to beat Tony to sail in the Champions race against Dave. Now if you've lost the plot a bit I'll clarify. I had lost once and Dave had won all his matches. This meant that in order to win I would have to beat Dave in two consecutive races whereas he only needed to win one of the two to take the title. I won the first race forcing a do or die final between Dave and I. With good friend Mike Kalin on the mic commentating and a crowd rich with Royal Van sailors cheering for me I felt confident. I sailed past the dock one more time with a wave for the spectators and a cheer for me before starting. I felt confident throughout and was ahead 3/4 of the way through the race before I fell behind for the last downwind where I needed to make four gybes in about 40 meters. I managed to stay on a plane throughout and came up to the finish hearing Kalin announce me as a winner! I continued planing past the spectators and attempted a standing backflip from my transom (it was more of a back flop i think). The awards ceremony was very nice and I was presented with a perpetual trophy bearing a Laser bow and my name engraved on it. Past winners were announced and beer was served. All in all a great event.
Tonnes of photographers were out taking pictures and video so as I find those sites I'll pass them along to you and post them here. I do know that Kimball Livingstone, an editor for SAIL magazine posted two writeups to his blog about the slalom, they can be viewed
here:
SAIL
and here:
and here:
SAIL
more photos should be available on laser.org and westcoastsailing.net
As i said, a search for Laser Slalom 2008 on youtube.com or google should bring up lots of pictures and a few videos.
more photos should be available on laser.org and westcoastsailing.net
As i said, a search for Laser Slalom 2008 on youtube.com or google should bring up lots of pictures and a few videos.
Monday, June 16, 2008
My world is in motion. I am writing perched upon a revolving bar stool affixed to the deck of a ferry which is rocking in the gentle Aegean swell. I have just left Paros, an island in the Greek cyclades and am now en route to lake Garda in northern Italy. Before I get into future plans, I should clarify my recent past. I left my car with my laser affixed to the roof at an airport in Milan about a week ago. I boarded an evening flight to Athens and went by bus straight from the Athens airport to the port area of Piraeus, the jumping off point for ferries bound for the Islands. I had hoped that at Piraeus I would find a shipping terminal similar to a train station or an airport which might be open around the clock and offer a pleasant place to sit and wait for the next ferry. I was to be disappointed. Piraeus was the end of the line for the bus I was on and as passengers disembarked I looked about myself with a trace of worry. The port was a dark strip of seedy shops with at least twenty store fronts advertising ferries to different locations around the Med. The closest thing I could find resembling a waiting area was a bank of metal benches covered by indistinct forms in sleeping bags. I decided that my best bet would be to make a reconnaissance of the entire port to try to find a hospitable place to spend the hours between midnight and seven. If this was not possible I planned to make the choice between returning to the airport or looking for a hotel.
I made quick time surveying the outer reaches of the massive concrete “U” making up the port. At intervals along the water large ships could be seen open and lit up with crews using high pressure hoses to clean them, both inside and out. I found nothing more inviting than a curb to sit upon and was beginning to think I would be unsuccessful when I came upon the port police station. I figured that this was a good start, as I should most likely be safe, if not sound. I quicked my step and headed towards it when I passed between a potted plant and the side of a building. I heard barking and realized that I’d just about stepped on two sleeping black dogs. I turned quickly to retrace my steps but the dogs were quicker and started to chase me. Remembering the lessons taught for bear encounters I dropped my bag and continued my retreat. The dogs stopped to investigate. I was alright but any attempt to retrieve my bag was quickly ended by the dogs’ protesting barks. Again thinking about bears I kept my eyes down and talked quietly, approaching slowly until I was able to pick up my bag.
I looked around feeling relieved and saw an all night waiting area with tables, chairs, internet as well as food and drink. It was here that I waited for morning and my upcoming ferry trip. The rest of the day passed smoothly, I slept on the upper deck of the ferry and was only awakened upon reaching the quay in Paros. When I arrived I followed the advice of fellow Laser sailor Adonis from Greece and rented a car to drive myself to the famous Golden Beach. The site of many past world class Windsurf events, the beach is famous for its heavy winds, flat water and fine golden sand. In a trend which would continue for the rest of my visit, three of these ingredients were present, missing only the heavy wind. I stopped at a petrol station near the beach and asked for Stefi, the Greek RSX sailor, the uncle of whom runs a surf club on the beach. I was directed by Stefi’s aunt to go next door to Stefi’s mother’s restaurant. Inside I beheld a young tanned muscled fellow who could only be a windsurfer. I introduced myself and explained my presence. Immediately I was welcomed and no time was wasted grabbing boards and heading to the beach.
I made quick time surveying the outer reaches of the massive concrete “U” making up the port. At intervals along the water large ships could be seen open and lit up with crews using high pressure hoses to clean them, both inside and out. I found nothing more inviting than a curb to sit upon and was beginning to think I would be unsuccessful when I came upon the port police station. I figured that this was a good start, as I should most likely be safe, if not sound. I quicked my step and headed towards it when I passed between a potted plant and the side of a building. I heard barking and realized that I’d just about stepped on two sleeping black dogs. I turned quickly to retrace my steps but the dogs were quicker and started to chase me. Remembering the lessons taught for bear encounters I dropped my bag and continued my retreat. The dogs stopped to investigate. I was alright but any attempt to retrieve my bag was quickly ended by the dogs’ protesting barks. Again thinking about bears I kept my eyes down and talked quietly, approaching slowly until I was able to pick up my bag.
I looked around feeling relieved and saw an all night waiting area with tables, chairs, internet as well as food and drink. It was here that I waited for morning and my upcoming ferry trip. The rest of the day passed smoothly, I slept on the upper deck of the ferry and was only awakened upon reaching the quay in Paros. When I arrived I followed the advice of fellow Laser sailor Adonis from Greece and rented a car to drive myself to the famous Golden Beach. The site of many past world class Windsurf events, the beach is famous for its heavy winds, flat water and fine golden sand. In a trend which would continue for the rest of my visit, three of these ingredients were present, missing only the heavy wind. I stopped at a petrol station near the beach and asked for Stefi, the Greek RSX sailor, the uncle of whom runs a surf club on the beach. I was directed by Stefi’s aunt to go next door to Stefi’s mother’s restaurant. Inside I beheld a young tanned muscled fellow who could only be a windsurfer. I introduced myself and explained my presence. Immediately I was welcomed and no time was wasted grabbing boards and heading to the beach.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
I last wrote from Holland, I'm now in Greece. The pace of life here in Europe has been fast and i've seen five countries in the mean time. I continued to have trouble at the Delta Lloyed regatta, posting only one decent score during the only really breezy race. It doesn't take a genius to deduce the fact that I need to work on light air sailing. In order to help make this more fun I've changed my new favorite sailing condition to "three to five knots" at least until I can go fast in it. I'd rather not dwell on particulars of the regatta in this forum but if anyone has any questions I'd be more than happy to talk about it. With that I'll jump forward in time to the end of the regatta. We had the annual party at the brakenbourg pub with the usual range of incidents. I arranged to do some training with Maties from Chile and Diego from Italy in Garda on June 10th. I decided that I might as well drive down to Garda immediatly with my boat and go from there.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Just time for a quick one. The Delta Lloyd regatta started yesterday with moderate winds and big shifts across the course. I had a bit of a tough time with some aspects of the racecourse and I look forward to another day, although it is supposed to be even more shifty today. We have been keeping busy off the water in traditional canadian fashion by playing games of street hockey with other Canadian sailors. We have a bunch of sticks and a tennis ball along with a big empty parking lot. We also have a charcoal bbq used for entertaining and feeding ourselves. It's time to stock up on food and head to the site. i'll keep you posted!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
McDonalds may be an international company with the same logo everywhere but the product changes significantly from one local to the next. If you're wondering why an athlete is commenting on the McDonalds menu, it's because the fast food joint is the only place to get reliable internet in Hyeres. Since I last wrote the Semain Olympic Francais regatta has concluded. As I think I mentioned earlier I qualified for the bronze fleet due to problems encountered during qualifying and and was therefore not able to work on the sailing aspects I had planned. In lieu of gold fleet starting practice I tried to work on the mental part of sailing. I had some success with this during the event although it was made more difficult by a change in the weather pattern. The qualifying series of SOF had strong winds, sometimes cold temperatures and was downright stormy, one day was called off completely due to strong winds with no races even attempted. As soon as finals started the sun came out and the wind shut off. We were postponed onshore every day and only managed to get in three extremely light finals races, all of which took place late in the afternoon/evening. While the conditions were less than stellar, it was good practice trying to stay focused and stoked to race.
Only the top ten boats going into the last day race the medal race, everyone else just gets an early start on packing trailers. Canada had two boys in the top ten, Dave and Mike. Mike is my training partner, dave is my roommate, and both are teammates and friends so it looked like an exciting race ahead. I joined Dave for what I think must be his favorite breakfast ever, characterized by relaxing on a patio in southern france, munching on croissants and baguettes while sipping a cafe au lait. We were joined by our countrymen Chris Cook, Larry, and Colin. Chris is Canada's Finn sailor going to the games while Larry and Colin are his coach and the team Sports Psych respectively. During the course of breakfast the topic came up that I might be interested in sailing the Finn Europeans between SOF and the Delta Lloyd regatta in Medemblik. It seemed like a great opportunity to try something new and with the assurances of support from Chris, Colin, and at least five of the top ten world ranked Finn sailors, I decided that I'd join them in Italy. Now, I know that it may seem crazy to sail a European Finn Championship as my first experience in the boat, especially when I am at Laser weight and sailing Lasers competitively. Let me make you privy to some of my thoughts. I think that I may be getting to know people too well in the Laser fleet. For instance I suspect that my tactics upwind are not solely based on what I think, but on what other top Laser guys think, I mean, if the top five guys start at the pin and go left, I'm not too likely to tack right after the start. I think this regatta should be good as I know almost none of the 90 boat fleet. I am also excited to learn about another boat, especially one as technical as the finn. It should be a nice bit of time off before an intense training and racing block without being totally away from the boat. In any case I'll be back to laser sailing in Holland on May 12th again.
I seem to have gotten a bit away from myself on the finns and forgot about the medal race. I was invited to watch both finns and lasers from Chris's coach boat so as to be able to hear some "finn talk" as tommy calls it. Wind was very light with little or no swell, the finns started and Chris rounded the mark first. Unfortunatly on the second beat the wind really shut off and became very patchy. When it came back in it came from the left really favouring those sailors on the left side of the course. Chris had taken a conservative route and fell back in the standings. It looked like one of those times when a great race was sailed to poor results. The wind built up to around five knots for the Laser race. Expectations were high as Mike and kiwi Andrew Murdoch were for all intents and purposes tied, whoever bested the other person would be the victor, the other second. Third place was too far away to be of consequence.
The sequence began with the boats well seperated, Mike holding to starboard of the committee boat while Murdoch went upwind for a few moments. Around three and a half or four minutes to go, Murdoch came gunning for Mike who immediatly initiated circling. There were two jury boats right beside them as they madly tacked and gybed, chasing each other in endless circles. Mike broke off first, letting Murdoch overlap to weather of him as he made his way towards the line, about ten lengths away with around twenty five seconds remaining. Doc looked like he was going to try to hook mike who was looking upcourse but mike bore off quickly, scooting down towards the pin and the favoured end. Doc stayed high in the top third and tacked straight after the start while Mike started with the pack at the bottom, pinned left by Goodison (GBR) and above Christian (NOR), if memory serves me correctly. Doc went hard right while Mike stayed going left for most of the beat. He tacked back about two thirds of the way up, crossed and led to the top. Doc rounded around seventh or so. Goody passed Mike on the run and the two stayed quite close together up a relatively uneventful second beat. Goody took the gun with Mike taking the regatta win, what most would call the fourth biggest laser event of the year.
The day far from over we started loading the trailer for me to tow some friend's lasers and our coachboat around Europe. If the final few things fall into place I should be en route to Italy tomorrow.
It was a shock to go from this lackadaisical state to the mad rush to pack up the boats and get everything ready to drive away from the event.
Only the top ten boats going into the last day race the medal race, everyone else just gets an early start on packing trailers. Canada had two boys in the top ten, Dave and Mike. Mike is my training partner, dave is my roommate, and both are teammates and friends so it looked like an exciting race ahead. I joined Dave for what I think must be his favorite breakfast ever, characterized by relaxing on a patio in southern france, munching on croissants and baguettes while sipping a cafe au lait. We were joined by our countrymen Chris Cook, Larry, and Colin. Chris is Canada's Finn sailor going to the games while Larry and Colin are his coach and the team Sports Psych respectively. During the course of breakfast the topic came up that I might be interested in sailing the Finn Europeans between SOF and the Delta Lloyd regatta in Medemblik. It seemed like a great opportunity to try something new and with the assurances of support from Chris, Colin, and at least five of the top ten world ranked Finn sailors, I decided that I'd join them in Italy. Now, I know that it may seem crazy to sail a European Finn Championship as my first experience in the boat, especially when I am at Laser weight and sailing Lasers competitively. Let me make you privy to some of my thoughts. I think that I may be getting to know people too well in the Laser fleet. For instance I suspect that my tactics upwind are not solely based on what I think, but on what other top Laser guys think, I mean, if the top five guys start at the pin and go left, I'm not too likely to tack right after the start. I think this regatta should be good as I know almost none of the 90 boat fleet. I am also excited to learn about another boat, especially one as technical as the finn. It should be a nice bit of time off before an intense training and racing block without being totally away from the boat. In any case I'll be back to laser sailing in Holland on May 12th again.
I seem to have gotten a bit away from myself on the finns and forgot about the medal race. I was invited to watch both finns and lasers from Chris's coach boat so as to be able to hear some "finn talk" as tommy calls it. Wind was very light with little or no swell, the finns started and Chris rounded the mark first. Unfortunatly on the second beat the wind really shut off and became very patchy. When it came back in it came from the left really favouring those sailors on the left side of the course. Chris had taken a conservative route and fell back in the standings. It looked like one of those times when a great race was sailed to poor results. The wind built up to around five knots for the Laser race. Expectations were high as Mike and kiwi Andrew Murdoch were for all intents and purposes tied, whoever bested the other person would be the victor, the other second. Third place was too far away to be of consequence.
The sequence began with the boats well seperated, Mike holding to starboard of the committee boat while Murdoch went upwind for a few moments. Around three and a half or four minutes to go, Murdoch came gunning for Mike who immediatly initiated circling. There were two jury boats right beside them as they madly tacked and gybed, chasing each other in endless circles. Mike broke off first, letting Murdoch overlap to weather of him as he made his way towards the line, about ten lengths away with around twenty five seconds remaining. Doc looked like he was going to try to hook mike who was looking upcourse but mike bore off quickly, scooting down towards the pin and the favoured end. Doc stayed high in the top third and tacked straight after the start while Mike started with the pack at the bottom, pinned left by Goodison (GBR) and above Christian (NOR), if memory serves me correctly. Doc went hard right while Mike stayed going left for most of the beat. He tacked back about two thirds of the way up, crossed and led to the top. Doc rounded around seventh or so. Goody passed Mike on the run and the two stayed quite close together up a relatively uneventful second beat. Goody took the gun with Mike taking the regatta win, what most would call the fourth biggest laser event of the year.
The day far from over we started loading the trailer for me to tow some friend's lasers and our coachboat around Europe. If the final few things fall into place I should be en route to Italy tomorrow.
It was a shock to go from this lackadaisical state to the mad rush to pack up the boats and get everything ready to drive away from the event.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
One true statement. Ernest Hemingway insists that if he writes one true statement, others are sure to follow and he will end up giving truths, not describing things. I am writing from Hyeres in the south of france where I am mid way through the French Olympic Week. The week has not gone very well at all for me. I came here and did a few days of training with Mike, Dave, and coach Tommy. This was the first time I was in the boat since Laser Worlds in February and I was pleased that I could still sail reasonably well. I was very excited for the first day of the regatta and happily went through the pre race motions of registering, applying sail numbers and getting my sail all measured in. The first day dawned windy (It always seems windy here) and I felt good about the day. I started off with a 6th in the first race which I was very happy about. I had great speed around the course and I was very excited to be in the top ten after not sailing for a few months. My good mood didn't last long. After the race I rafted up with Tom and Matieus (AUS and CHI) to discuss the race. JP, the Chilean coach came up and told me that I had been scored BFD due to being over the start line in the last minute of the race. Practicing starting had been one of my goals for this event so I didn't let the setback affect me and went over the start in my mind, determined to use it as a learning experience. The next race I had a good but conservative start closer to the boat. I used my speed and stayed close to the fleet rounding the top mark inside the top fifteen right beside my countryman Dave Wright. I had an average reach and started the run determined to catch some boats. I carved aggressively trying to get every advantage possible out of the waves on the course. During one carve up I felt an odd feeling in my tiller but ignored it. Soon it got worse and I thought that maybe my tiller came out of the rudder head. I looked back but nothing looked wrong. All of a sudden I rounded up hard and had no feeling at all in the helm. I looked back to see the rudder blade broken right below the rudder head, dangling by a small piece of fiberglass. At this point I was quite angry and ripped the blade the rest of the way off to keep it from damaging the hull. At length a powerboat came take me in tow for the harbour. Even the simple act of towing in was difficult as I had no means of steering at all, meaning I had to let my sail luff completely and direct the tow boat, the operators of which spoke no english. Using hand signs i was able to get them to take me to the dock where I was helped ashore by many very helpful radial girls waiting to launch. Perhaps the worst part of the day was the difficulty I had getting into the dock which resulted in a capsize, all while about one hundred girls were watching. Very embarrassing. Anyways I managed to get through the first day with two last place finishes, a broken rudder and a flogged sail. I was last place in the regatta with nothing much to show for it.
The second day was very tough. We were treated to a Mistral which is the local name for the strong wind which blows off the shore creating flat water and shifty conditions. The first race I had a good start near the pin and held my lane through a right phase until I could tack and cross boats. I sailed some shifts at the top of the beat intelligently and got to the top around tenth place. I had a great reach but decided to go high on the runl. I think I must have been a bit rusty as I didn't look around as much as i should have and I missed the puff on the left side of the course. Most of the fleet was able to sail through me to leeward and I rounded the mark around 35th place right next to some guy from Kuwait. I passed a few guys on a very one sided beat to finish a poor 31st. The second race I got a little lost on the first race after starting at the boat and holding a lane above Julio from Argentian most of the way up the course. A big lefty came in at the top and I battled below the fleet trying to stay in it and sail to the mark. I had a mediocre rounding but sailed a great rest of the race passing people all the way around the course to finish 14th overall. With only one drop scheduled for qualifying and my being in 119th place it didn't look good for gold fleet and I was going to need a few good scores on the third day just to get into silver (remember I was holding a fleet score). The third day had 35 knot winds and no racing so I'm destined to sail the rest of the event in Bronze. I have taken some great lessons away from this, the sort of thing that I have never thought of before regarding events as a whole. Also I have been sailing very well so I have nothing to complain about.
I wouldn't be telling truths if I said i wasn't disappointed, especially after racing got called off today. I have been reading a book my sister Miriam loaned me called "Movable Feast" or something like that by Hemingway. I felt like I needed some alone time so I bought some ham, cheese, tomatoes, a baguette and a bottle of wine and had a wonderful feast on my balcony, reading Hemingway and feeling the Mistral blow over me and onto the Mediterranean sea where so much has happened and so much is yet to happen.
The second day was very tough. We were treated to a Mistral which is the local name for the strong wind which blows off the shore creating flat water and shifty conditions. The first race I had a good start near the pin and held my lane through a right phase until I could tack and cross boats. I sailed some shifts at the top of the beat intelligently and got to the top around tenth place. I had a great reach but decided to go high on the runl. I think I must have been a bit rusty as I didn't look around as much as i should have and I missed the puff on the left side of the course. Most of the fleet was able to sail through me to leeward and I rounded the mark around 35th place right next to some guy from Kuwait. I passed a few guys on a very one sided beat to finish a poor 31st. The second race I got a little lost on the first race after starting at the boat and holding a lane above Julio from Argentian most of the way up the course. A big lefty came in at the top and I battled below the fleet trying to stay in it and sail to the mark. I had a mediocre rounding but sailed a great rest of the race passing people all the way around the course to finish 14th overall. With only one drop scheduled for qualifying and my being in 119th place it didn't look good for gold fleet and I was going to need a few good scores on the third day just to get into silver (remember I was holding a fleet score). The third day had 35 knot winds and no racing so I'm destined to sail the rest of the event in Bronze. I have taken some great lessons away from this, the sort of thing that I have never thought of before regarding events as a whole. Also I have been sailing very well so I have nothing to complain about.
I wouldn't be telling truths if I said i wasn't disappointed, especially after racing got called off today. I have been reading a book my sister Miriam loaned me called "Movable Feast" or something like that by Hemingway. I felt like I needed some alone time so I bought some ham, cheese, tomatoes, a baguette and a bottle of wine and had a wonderful feast on my balcony, reading Hemingway and feeling the Mistral blow over me and onto the Mediterranean sea where so much has happened and so much is yet to happen.
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