District 18 Champs

My sailing adventure for this past weekend was to drive to Vermillion, OH to sail in the District 18 Championship on Lake Erie. I arrived friday night and stayed with the Shockey brothers who happened to be hosting the event. Saturday morning we awoke to the sound of rain drumming on the windows, and a forecast for a cold and windy day. Of course this was not going to stop the show from going on, so around noon the first race was started with the breeze coming from the North Westerly direction at around 14 to 15 knots. This breeze held for the first three races until a significant left shift came through and the breeze died off a bit. My scores were 1,3,1,4 consistent enough to be tied for the lead at the end of the day. The next morning was similar to the day before just amplified. More rain, more wind, and about 10 degrees colder! After looking at the harbor entrance, the wind direction, the 25+ wind velocity, and the 8 to 12 foot + wave height the RC would not let us sail in these epic conditions. After much persuasion from the locals I reluctantly decided not to go out on what I thought was sure to be an awesome sail, and so that was that. I packed up my boat, getting the best of the tie breaker I gathered my winning trophy, thanked everyone for a great time, said bye to my friends and headed home.

C-Scow Regatta

It was back to my home turf this weekend as I returned to Lake Fenton to sail in our club C- Scow regatta. It was a well attended event with many boats coming from as far as New York and Iowa! Saturday started off rainy and stormy but with good timing the RC had us heading out just as the rain had ceased. The wind had decided to show up as well which made the three races we sailed that day very enjoyable.It was Team O'Mara to the races with my Dad crewing and myself at the helm, we had a lot of fun and pulled off some solid races in the process! Our finishes were 3,2,3 which made us the most consistent finishers and also tied for the lead! The second day of racing was much less promising with very spotty wind at best dotting the lake. We all new it was going to be shifty small lake sailing conditions and Lake Fenton did not disappoint. During the course of the race we went from 5th, to 3rd, to 10th, back to 3rd, passed again back into 9th, and managed to luckily squeeze by a few in the end to finish 6th. It was a hairy race but it was good enough for 2nd place! What a fun weekend!

Training

I had a great day out on Lake Michigan today with JP De Solar from Chile. The skies were sunny and the winds were a wonderful 12-14knots from the North West. After classes I headed over to MBYC and JP and I got out on the water by 4PM. The conditions were as good as you could ask for so we stayed out until the sun set which was around8PM. It was a great way to get used to the full rig again, an intense session which was an excellent work out. My legs are hurting but my soul feels good, a nice way to end the day.

Lake Lansing

Lake Lansing Laser Regatta was held on saturday at the beautiful sailing club they have there. An amazing 37 boats showed which was more than we could have hoped for! There was some great competition and good company! After a nice day of sailing in 5-10 knots and a great battle with Tom Labelle I ended up coming in second to a worthy competitor. I highly suggest anyone in Michigan to come this event next year, same time, same place!

Also I will be hosting a speed clinic there sometime in spring of 2011!

CORK FINAL

VICTORY!!! Yesterday concluded CORK OCR, which ended with a forced race in around 2-3 knots of wind. I got off to a solid start but played the course pretty conservatively so I ended up in the high teens around the windward mark. On the first downwind however I pulled off a nice pass of about 15 boats by getting on the right jybe around the windward mark, and taking the pressure straight to the leeward mark! And from then on I had a nice beat to the next windward and was able to keep my position for the finish, increasing my lead to 15 points. Then after about an hour of waiting for more wind the RC called it and I went down in the books as the winner of CORK OCR 2010!

Thanks to all my supporters who helped me out this summer and thought of me as a worthy investment! And to Avon Sailboats for their continued support! I could not have done it without you!

CORK Day 4

Today started off with an exciting twist when after the third attempt to get a race off, the black flag went up. The fourth attempt ended on a general recall but I along with about ten other boats where over near the pin end. This meant I had to sit out the first race of the day. After a start in the second row a few well timed tacks on the first beat led me to take a second place finish in the second race! The wind had died down to about 4 knots by the beginning of the third race, and the black flag was still in effect. With the need to be cautious on the start line(due to my previous BFD(black flag)), I ended up with another poor start. After having a very slow upwind I rounded the windward mark in about 8th lo last, needless to say I had some sailing to do. After the fleet rounded the reach mark I took off at hot angle by the lee until I had gone far enough I could take that same angle towards the mark which worked out well. The next upwind was a much better than the first and I passed another chunk of boats. On the last downwind I managed to do the same thing and move up the ladder even farther rounding just in front of a large pack. I finished this race in 6th which I was very pleased with considering where I came from! One more day of racing to go, my black flag is my current throw out, and I am in the lead by ten points.

Cork Day 3

Windy is a little understatement for the conditions we saw for the three races that were run today. It was the most breeze I have sailed in all year! The first race got off to a good start with a New Zealander and I taking off at the start. We round right next to one another at the windward mark, reached off, and he said goodbye at the jybe mark as my lack off experience in this wind and awkward wave conditions became apparent. I hung on to second for that race. The next start gave me some work to do and after some trying downwinds I finished that race with a 7th, the New Zealander taking 2nd. After a solid 3rd start and a windward mark rounding with the lead group I hung on in the 20-23 knot breeze for a 4th to finish the day, which leaves me in first place by one point ahead of the guy from New Zealand. I have been working on recovering and getting my body ready for more breeze tomorrow!