Back to practice

It sure does feel good to be back on the water in a catamaran! It has been a few weeks since I have been able to sail and boy does it feel nice to be back out there. I had been practicing for the Laser Midwinters East up until the event which was last weekend.

Start of a practice race

This last practice went very well for the team. The conditions ranged from 10-15 knots of breeze with some bigger gusts with mild chop. On the way out I decided to wear my GoPro Hero2 on my head as a way of trying something new. I got some interesting footage of my crew Erick Weinstein and I on our sail out and of us doing some speed testing before sailing in some practice races. After not sailing together for a few weeks we felt a bit awkward at first but after a while we got back into the groove. One of the things we realized that we immediately were doing wrong was the setting of out daggerboard height, which can be seen in our GoPro footage. At around 10:45 we realized this and pulled them up to a higher setting and immediately saw improvement in our speed testing.

Downwind practice

When we started doing practice races it was all business and the GoPro came off (it was giving me a headache anyways). After a few bad starts we end up tacking off to the right every race, getting the favorable shifts on that side of the course and tacking off and taking them back over to the left side before the other boats could. Our tacks have really improved since January! We hardly lose any ground during the tacks and we are getting out on the wire much faster. We worked on our kite sets which have also improved and our wire-to-wire downwind jibes, which could use more practice.



On the downwinds Erick and I worked on sheeting and steering in unison. Erick worked on keeping the kite trimmed well during waves and puffs and on moving body weight around on the wire to keep the boat powered up in the lulls. I worked on playing the traveler more than steering during the puffs and on keeping the boat powered up in all situations as well.

Erick Weinstein mid-tack

Over all this was a very productive practice. Both Erick and I felt fast and in a steady and controlled groove by the end of the day. Also, the entire team was very lucky to have Mrs. Le Patourel, the mother of one of the sailors, out on the water. She took some amazing action shots of the entire team out training! Thanks again!

Orange Bowl 2011

Even though I did not place as well as I had hoped, the Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta was a good learning experience and I had a good amount of fun on and off the water, especially while waiting for the wind to fill in! Off the water I attended the different club-organized dinners and events, including the college night where students from several colleges with sailing teams came down to speak to the older sailors. On the water we had varying conditions, including a steady 10 knot breeze with small chop to very little wind with lots of the infamous Miami powerboat wake. Here's some GoPro videos taken on the practice day.

Goals

I am a competitive youth sailor who races in multiple fleets including Lasers and 420s. Additionally, I have substantial experience as helm and crew in other classes including V15s, F16s, F18s, Nacra 20s, and J24s. I train daily in the gym and on the water in these boats, and attend frequent local, district, national, and international events throughout the year.I have previously competed internationally in the Optimist class attending both the IODA South American Championship in Salinas, Ecuador, and the British National Championship in Larges, Scotland. My future goals include advancing my racing and tactical knowledge through training and competing in both monohulls and multihulls.

• Increase the amount of time I spend sailing multihulls.
• Train as hard off the water as I do on on the water in order to maintain physique and stamina.
• Compete and place well in upcoming District, National, and International events.

A look back at the US Youth Multihull Championship

Here's an article written after the event:

 This past weekend three teams from the Sarasota Youth Sailing Race Team traveled across the country to compete in the US Youth Multihull Championship, myself included. This event was one of the most competitive events we had ever been to and it could not have turned out any better. After being introduced to catamarans in December, our teams began training for countless hours with numerous experienced coaches, including Bryan Paine, Jim Zelmer, John Casey, and Dalton Tebo, and ended up sailing A fleet in all 5 races that were held, placing 4^th overall. 

The venue was very well organized and the weather cooperated every day of the event, beginning with a light morning wind with some clouds and ending with a strong sea breeze when the sun began to shine. I learned many different lessons at this event, from how to keep myself organized onshore to how to handle certain situations on the water. Mostly, I learned how important it was to have fun, keep a good and focused attitude, learn from your mistakes, and to work hard even if things aren’t going the way you would like. 


This gained knowledge will help me progress as a competitive sailor and as a person in general. Our growing Sarasota Youth Sailing team is working towards adding multihulls into the program by introducing younger kids to the boats that we have been allowed to use by generous members of our program and by involving more of the experienced sailors in some of the racing. This event was our sailing team’s first major multihull regatta and was the first stepping stone on the path towards a future of competitive catamaran sailing.