French Olympic Week

I have just arrived home after racing in the French Olympic Week. We had a complete mix of conditions throughout the event, and for the most part, it was very chilly! After a couple of days of training, everyone was running off to the shops to stock up on warmer sailing gear.

I arrived about a week before the event, and planned to train relatively hard with a fair bit of intensity and duration. Unfortunately, I got sick while I was travelling and had to cut the volume of my training, resulting in just a couple of days of training prior to the event with Abe Torchinsky, my training partner. We were both feeling very rusty, as neither of us had done any full rig training since the end of the Worlds back in February. We went straight back into our 'generic' training session, which involves a bit of speed testing, followed by starting work, a bit of match racing, and then a difficult tacking drill.

The first two days of racing were windy-the first day being a steady onshore breeze, and the second, a shifty/gusty offshore breeze. I managed to put up four good scores on these days. The third day of the regatta was blown off quite early in the morning as the breeze was up over 30 knots. The next two days were gold fleet racing. I managed a solid 10th in the first race, but in the second, I sailed my drop(46)-a big mistake-more on that later.

Going into the final day of Gold fleet racing, I was sitting in 2nd place overall and was very nervous as the wind was light and patchy(one of my stronger conditions, but still very difficult). I had a cracking start in the first race of the day, which set me up for a great score(3) in that race. Most of the contenders had dropped back a bit after that race, and I knew Andrew Murdoch and I had a bit of a lead. However, at that stage, Murdoch's drop was a low teens score, while mine was a 46th. I knew going into the race, that he would go after me and try to push me back as far as possible to secure himself a lone solid lead.

Not much happened in the prestart between the two of us, but I made sure I kept a close eye on him. At about a minute to go, he tried to get a leeward overlap, but I managed to minimize the gap to leeward, leaving insufficient space for him. He found a hole a couple of boats down. At about 15 seconds to go, I could see that my start was going to fall apart as there was just too much congestion forming around me. I backed out of my spot and tried to tack out onto starboard; however, there was a starboard tacker that was there and refused to tack, leaving me with the only other option of gybing out, and being a few second late for the start on port. Fortunately, I was able to foot out and have a clear lane going right-where I had wanted to go. After about 1 minute, the breeze had shifted right, and there was only about 5 guys ahead of me. Three of them took this shift back across the course. I saw more pressure coming down out of the right and kept going. I dug in a bit more, and found a bit more pressure and even more shift, resulting in a healthy lead at the first weather mark.

Around the bottom mark, the course was changed, and the put a new compass bearing of 210 up on the board. This seemed strange as it was practically the same bearing of the old mark, but there was a red mark there, so I headed there. Long story short, the board had the wrong compass bearing and the change of course mark was the altered radial weather mark who were sailing on the outer loop. Our mark had been been up by the yngling course hidden in the glare of the low sun. This was very disappointing for me as Murdoch had been back in the race, and I would have had a nice lead heading into the medal race.

The race was then re-sailed and started at 7pm. After my performance in the abandoned race, I knew Murdoch wouldnt give me that sort of space again, and attacked in the pre-start. I tried to keep the match race a slow speed affair, as I knew that as soon as we started circling, and doing aggressive maneuvers, penalties were going to arise, which would work in Murdoch favor. Amusingly, at about 3 minutes to go, one of our more social mates thought we were just having a chat, so he came over to join us. It wasnt until he got quite close that he realized that we were engaged in a match race.

I was aware that I need a cracking start as if Andrew ever got close to me on the course, he would be able to slow me down considerably. At about 1:30 to go, we approached the line-Andrew was directly to leeward, and we were about 1/3 down from boat. Again, there was just too much congestion around(and having Andrew to leeward didnt help), so I backed out of the spot, and preceeded up the line to the boat. The gap between Andrew and I was quite tight, and I wouldnt be able to complete my tack, unless I found a spot to call for room to tack. Luckily for me, there was a gap that was just wide enough at the boat, which I was able to tack into, but forced Andrew to sail around about 5 other guys who were barging at the boat. I ended up tacking immediately as it looked like there was more pressure out right. I made nice gains out right, and then tacked back taking a couple of transoms. The breeze kept shifting right, and by the time I was about 5 boatlengths away from the mark I had a couple of boatlength lead over the fleet. However, there was a quite a bit of coach boat swell that had kicked up as they all blasted up around the course to get to the weather mark. I went through a bad set, and worked the boat to get through it. I'm not sure if the jury saw the chop or not, but they didnt like the body motions, and I took a yellow flag. I quickly did my spins, and managed to hole on for a low teens score.

Going into the medal race, I had a 2 point lead ahead of Andrew. Medal race scores are double points and non-droppable(medal race score breaks tie breakers), so it was who beat who would win the event. Andrew is a skilled teams racer having won a couple of world titles in that discipline, and I knew he would want to use the attacking skills he learnt while teams racing against me.

The breeze was very light and patchy. My only priority was to get off the line clean. I didnt want to put the decision of the race(and regatta) in the hands of the judges, and wanted to minimize Andrews ability to attack in the prestart. Because of that, I didnt tune up before the start, as I didnt want to get caught above the line in a inferior position. Instead, I waited to the right hand side of Andrew and the starting box until he approached me at about 3 minutes to go. We went into the typical circling that happens often in match racing. At this stage, all I was concerned about was when I should bail out and approach the line-too soon, and I would get caught in death corner, and too late, Andrew would have better positioning(pin end favored) and be able to push me back. At about 1 minute to go, I bailed out of the circling and led us back to the starting line. We both got off the line cleanly. I was on top of the pack at the pin, and Andrew was about 2 boat lengths to weather. I had a slightly better start, and when the pin end starters tacked out, they were unable to leebow me, but tacked under Andrew-forcing him into less pressure out right.

A couple of boats down at the pin tacked and crossed everyone. I sailed a bit past there line, and then followed them back making a small gain as the wind shifted further left. They then came back left, and dug in for more. I kept sailing, as I thought there was more pressure out right. Also, I wanted to consolidate the gains I had made on Andrew who was out right. I sailed until lay, when the right hand pressure filled in nicely and slammed Andrew, thus slowing him down. I managed to round in first, with Paul Goodison on my tail, and the others several boat lengths back. Paul Goodison slipped by me on the run as I was trying to extend my lead on Murdoch, and if I had tried to defend, we would have lost our healthy lead on the pack. Goodi won the race, and I followed a couple of boatlengths behind in second to win the event.

Overall, it was a gerat event for me. It is the first time I have raced the full rig down at the 79-80kg range, and I regret not racing at that weight sooner. In the past, all the Canadians have been up at the 84-85kg range, and I didnt want to give them an advantage going into our trials. I'm not far off my China weight, and I am still very pleased with my performance in the breeze even at this weight. I head back to Europe in just over a week, and will get back into the training in a big way. My coach, Kev Black, and other training partner(Luke Ramsey) will join up with Abe and I for the remainder of training leading up to the Games.

A Few Lessons From the Last Few Months

After taking almost 2 months off after the Laser Worlds, I am getting back into full rig sailiing. Over that time, I have been working on my fitness, and have taken the opportunity to sail on Farr40, Sydney 38, and Laser Radial with some succes(2nd at Australian Farr40 Nationals, 1st at Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta-Sydney 38, and 1st at the Mens Radial World Championships). It has been a wonderful opportunity, and I have learnt heaps sailing these other boats.

I have had some really big takeaways during that time. First, I realized how important fitness is to sailing success-no matter what boat you sail. From my laser experience, fitness has a direct and dramatic impact on your boatspeed, however I thought that you just needed to be reasonably fit to sail on a yacht. Not so... Being fit will improve your grinding, trimming, hoisting, and most of all, will make you less likely to fatigue from race to race and day to day. On boats like Farr40s where there is a set weight limit, you need to make sure that every pound counts, and is more then just moveable ballast. Races are won and lost by feet, and if you are able to consistantly hoist 1 second faster then your competition, those gains will add up over the course of an event.

Second, I learnt the importance of pacing yourself in your preparation for a major event. While you don't want to slack off until the month or week before, you need to have an understanding of what needs to be done and when. More isn't always better, which brings me to my next point. All to often, people(myself included) have gone out and put in hours and hours of junk miles. While they will help your fitness they often detract from the ultimate goal. Training should always be done with purpose, and by going out and putting in hundreds of hours of junk miles, you often diminish your motivation, and typically end up practicing bad habits. If the intensity isnt there, then go in, and come back when you are ready. It is as simple as train like you would race. If you train at 50% intensity, you shouldnt expect to race at much more then 50% intensity. Obviously, you need to make sure that you break the skills down into managable chunks, but always train them with intensity.

Third, all to often, people follow the the basic general rules of thumb way to much(eg tack when you can cross, sail the long tack first, etc). Rules are meant to be broken. To call tactics successfully, you need to constantly be analyzing what is happening on the course in terms of pressure, wind direction and current. Then you need to assess what other boats are doing, your confidence in your judgement, and determine the amount of risk you are willing take. Often, you will end up following the general rules, but there will be plenty of times when you successfully dont.

Fourth-be prepared to back yourself. I have seen many different tactical styles of racing. Some people are very conservative and not willing to take much risk while others as much more likely to take risk. This has been one of the biggest things I have learnt over the last couple of months. Watching Slingo call tactics on the farr has really opened my eyes to why he wins so many events, as when he is confident in his decisions, he backs them.

Mens Radial Worlds

The mens laser radial world championships ended a couple of days ago. Being my first radial event, I did not expect much. My preparation did not help my confidence, as the total amount of radial sailing I had done in my life consisted of 4 days of training immediately prior to the event.

Going into the event, I knew that my unpwind rig setup would need the most attention, as the radial and full rig setups are quite different. Being at least 10kg overweight for the boat, I thought I would try to power up the rig like I do in the full rig by dropping the foot out and leaving the cunningham completely off until I started to get overpowered. However, with the help of Brad Funk and Eric Stibbe, I quickly learnt that the extra power was ineffective as the foot quickly became too deep, and leaving the cunningham off meant the draft was to far aft leading to excessive weather helm. Also, I found the leach quite tight and hooked, and pulling on a touch of cunningham helped add a bit of twist into the sail allowing a bit wider groove.

Fortunately for a fatty like myself, we had good breeze all week, with the breeze dropping below 10 knots in only one race. The conditions were absolutely prefect with waves that were ideal for downwind surfing. We spent all week catching amazing rides-I wish every event I sail has conditions as great as we had in Takapuna!

Along with my surprising result at this event, I had many takeaway lessons from this event. My two major goals for the event were to expand my knowledge of sail trim, and to determine where the breakdown in my decision making process is when I am under stress. I am happy to report that both goals have been accomplished, and it is a huge relief to have isolated the mental hurdle that has plagued me in the past. I am really excited about figuring this out, and now will focus extensively on improving this area.

Transfusion Farr 40 Racing

Over the past few weeks, I have enjoyed a bit of time away from sailing my laser, and have gotten back into the Farr 40 racing for the remainder of the Australian circuit.

The first regatta back was the Sprint Series held out of the CYCA. This was a two day regatta, and follows a slightly different format then the normal Farr 40 regattas: the races are shorter, and racing was held inshore on the Sunday. It was a bit of a rough event for team Transfusion as we had not sailed together as a crew for quite some time. We ended up 5th overall, but came away with some good takeaways from the event.

The following weekend, we raced the Australian nationals out of RSYS. After a bit of boatwork during the week, and the crew hiking significantly harder, our boatspeed showed considerable improvement from previous regattas earlier on in the season. This certainly reflected in the results as we were sitting second after the first day of racing. We had the same scores on the second day of racing, and went into the final day on equal points with second. On the last day, Tom Slingsby, the boat's tactician, did an awesome job of getting us off the line and putting us in solid positions around the racecourse. We ended the day with a 1,4,1 to win boat of the day. Unfortunately, it was not enough to catch Kokomo, who sailed consistantly at the front of the fleet for the entire event. We ended up 2nd in the nationals, and 2nd on the Australian circuit-a great way to end the boat's first season!

Laser Worlds Report

So the laser worlds finished up a couple of weeks ago, and after a difficult event, I managed to qualify for the Olympics. I have quite mixed feelings about the event, as although I am ecstatic about qualifying for the games, I was incredibly disappointed with my overall worlds score of 23rd. I had put in a heap of work in the months preceeding the Worlds, and had been sailing much better at the regattas in lead up.

For the most part, I executed my trained skills very well. I had consistently good starts, and my speed for the most part was significantly better then my standing indicates. The area where I ran into trouble was from 30 seconds after the start until the first weather mark. I had not adapted my decision making to the worlds style of racing, and had far to many calls go the wrong way. It was not until the finals series races that I finally started to get my act together, and became more patient with the shifts.

For the majority of the regatta, my good friend and training partner, Abe Torthchinsky, led the Canadian olympic trials. Abe has worked with me tirelessly for the last few months, and I would like to thank him for all his help during that time. I would also like to congratulate him for sailing an excellent event. He is becoming an exceptional sailor, and his performance at the worlds is just a sign of what is to come!

I wouldn't be making the trip to Beijing later this year without the help of so many people and organizations. I would like to thank the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, BC Sailing and the Canadian Yachting Association for their continued over the years. Also, I would like to thank the PJ Phelan Sailing foundation as without their help over the last couple of years, I would not be able to sail full time and pursue my goal of winning an Olympic medal.

Sail Melbourne-Day 6-Medal Race

Sail Melbourne-Day 6-Medal Race-Today started out under postponement as there was very little wind on the course area. Eventually, we headed out to the course area. After watching several other fleets before us, we got underway in a very light gradient. I had a poor start three boats up from the pin, and spent most of the first work getting bounced around by boats infront. I rounded the top mark in 8th. On the first run the fleet split to either side, and I managed to find a great lane down the center of the course to round the bottom mark in second. Up the next work, the group split again. I got stuck in the middle for a little bit, but eventually headed out right to get a bit more pressure up the top of the course to round the top in 2nd. On the last run I went down the middle of the course again. At the bottom I had two guys setting up to attack on the inside of me. I choose to stay on the outside, to protect my position against my closest rivals in the overall standings who were also on the outside. I ended up third in the race which moved me up to 5th overall.

Now I am back in Sydney for a few days of light training, before heading up to Terrigal on the 24th.

Sail Melbourne Day 5

Day 5-Sail Melbourne-Today's forecast calling for 20-25 knots from the East never materialized. Instead, we were greeted with drifting conditions, and a two hour postponement. Finally the racing got under way with a light gradient breeze. Like every other day, the fleet had several general recalls, and finally got away under a black flag start.

With about a minute left in the sequence, I noticed a right hand shift which squared up the line. I immediately headed up to the boat to get away from the majority of the fleet fighting for the pin, and started underneath a small pack at the boat.

I managed to pop out from underneath my pack at the boat, and headed left with the fleet. There were a few boats that popped out from the pin, but most boats down at that end struggled for speed and crossed behind me. Eventually, the lead boats from the left came back, and I tacked to leeward of them, leading them back to the mark to round tenth.

The first run was difficult as the main pack behind sprawled out across the course, making it very difficult to find clear air. We all came back into the bottom mark together, and I managed to sneak around a few guys on the run. The rest of the race a bit of follow the leader with no major passing lanes, ending with an 8th. To my disappointment, that was the only race of the day. I now lie 8th overall heading into tomorrow's medal race. It looks like it will be a very tight race as 6th-10th are only separated by 3 points.
Cheers,
Mike