Final race day...."Howling" Island!

In Scott's pocket....#'s of best possible finishes for closest competitors

Al, Andy, Arnoud, Scott

Peter, Scott, Andy

Go Canada-eh!

Well, Hayling Island decided to slap us all on the a@!^ one last time and send us all home with the same conditions that she welcomed us in with -epic!

Sailing out to the race course was super hairy with the current ripping out and the breeze honkin' in kicking up enormous waves...yes another "Shackleton day" as I call it...surfing down monster waves with a constant saltwater fire hose in the face. I was only going to sail one race as my piriformis and hip flexor had been bothering me but just had too much fun in the first race that I had to stay out for the second .... unfortunately, I flipped on the final reach but did come in with a huge smile!

Going out to the racecourse Scott had his cheat sheet in his pocket. He knew that with two more races to go there would be another throwout so he just had to finish one race in the top 10 and he would be set as he could throwout the other. His training partner, Peter Shope was in the top 10 already but unfortunately drew an OCS (over the start line early...for my friends who don't race) in one of the final two races!

Let me back up a bit...there were 4 races that broke the 82 Standard sailors into two fleets. The top half went into the Gold fleet and the bottom half into the Silver fleet. Six races were eventually completed in the championship round making it a total of 10 races finished. With 10 races finished each competitor was allowed 2 throw outs but only one of those throw outs could be taken from the championship round. Both throwouts could be taken from the qualifying round or one from each, but not two from the championship round.

If two throwouts had been allowed to be taken from the championship round, then Scott could have stayed on shore for the final day and just thrown out the two final races. As for Peter Shope, he already had an OCS in the championship round going into the final day, which meant that he had to count the second OCS from the last day-ugh! Scott was truly bummed when he heard as he said that Peter had sailed so well!

Scott winning the Worlds twice in a row certainly makes it look easy although that couldn't be further from the truth! He's the first one to say, 'Man, it's not easy at all!' One Canadian sailor said that if you look at the subtleties in Scott's performance it's things like, 'when Scott looks over his shoulder to tack after the start, he goes, he doesn't hesitate or deliberate....'

So, with another Laser Master Worlds come and gone we leave with a sense of relief but also a little sadness... sailing in from the final race on The Solent, which has so much history in itself...it's hard to explain... After such an intense week, there is always a little bit of sadness when packing up and saying goodbye to friends that you know you won't see for another year and an experience that can never truly be repeated.


Final results and wrap-up

Day 4- Oh mon Dieu!

Which Laser body? Laser built tough on right or super small on left!

Radials gearing up

Ben Richardson rockin' out while he gets ready

He's the man!

Today, I felt like I was surrounded by the beautiful French language on the racecourse and a flood 7th grade French class came back to me. "Oh mon Dieu" is "oh my God" in English....and it's all I could think of when I came in today to find that Scott who was trailing by one point going into today was now leading by 11 points after today. If he can finish one race in the top 12, assuming Arnoud has two firsts, then he will be golden.

It was a super tough day on the water. First race was started on both courses in a Northerly, which died and forced race abandonments until the thermal filled in around 2pm. The next two races on both courses started in steady breeze with strong first beats but turned light and more shifty towards the end. Truly testing conditions!

After the racing, several sailors came up to me and said, "Man, how does he do it?!" Personally, I am convinced that he has some kind of magic but truly, he does spend time in his boat when he can and I think that is a huge part of the game. His dad was also a Final Four basketball player and drafted by the Lakers so there is that genetic component too!

One friend said, "Kim, he was in 15th just behind me and had to do a 720 for fouling a guy and next thing I know, he's friggin' 200 yards in front of me! What is he doing?' My comment, 'looking for breeze?'

For me, I had a total crap first race but managed to grab a 19th in the second race. I had a clean start and heard Scott's voice in my head saying, "Come on Kim, you can put one up there, forget everyone around you, keep a clean lane and sail to the shifts"

It's all about confidence ... confidence is learning to respond to only the things that you can control and accepting that. Keep it simple..."do I need to tack or go straight?'

Day 3 - Cold and shifty!

A muddle ...please tidy.

Radials are in and put away...watching Standard fleet come in...

Lovely English Lavender

This was a good one...'till I sailed into a hole!

Another gorgeous day on The Solent, with plenty of sunshine and a brisk Northerly breeze. Today was super shifty with big pressure differences all over the course. Today was also the day where the Gold fleet (the top 42 sailors of the 84 Standard masters) finally met for race 1 and 2.

In race one, three of the OCS finishes, finished in the top 5 which moved Scott from 2nd to 1st and Arnoud from 6th to 3rd. Due to the multiple recalls in the Grand Master fleet, there was about an hour and a half delay between races which was cold and not too comfortable! Once race two got under way, Scott found himself in trouble and not able to hold his lane about a third of the way up the first beat. He was struggling and not in the lead pack but eventually found a lane and managed to round the first weather mark in 12th. He then grabbed a great first run and was able to get back into the top 5 at the leeward mark, eventually finishing in 3rd - 'finding pressure was key', said Scott.  Scott won the day with a 1, 3 with John Bertrand right behind holding a 1, 4 although Arnoud still holds the lead by one point ...it's anyone's game now!

As for me...it was all about constant improvement! The highlight of my day was rounding the weather mark behind Steve Cockerill (Rooster Sailing guy) in 5th although that was short lived. I finished both races in 23rd (of 58). Super shifty but fun...I like having time to look and think... my boathandling was a little rough though...perhaps they might say that it was in a bit of a muddle.

Day 2- A different day....

Can you find our room?

Go Ferg!

Mamasita...so serious!

Well, today was a bit lighter than most might have liked but possibly the playing field just got leveled. It's easy to say that this was a "little" person day but when you see Arnoud Hummel and Scott Ferguson each have to do a 720 yet still win their respective races, it puts things into focus.

As for me...I am reporting from the perspective of only 9 days in the boat all year and what it is like to be competing totally unprepared. In all truth, I wanted to bail out right after I had signed up as I was losing interest in Laser sailing all together but.... thought I would suck it up and stick with my commitment and sail. Although I was just deeper than mid fleet today I was happy to find that I still do enjoy the sport... how do I know? When I feel like I could wet my pants at the 5-minute gun that means that I am psyched. OK, a little too much information but it's true!

A bit blowy on the Solent!

Dinner with Arnoud and Marion

D7 boys talking shop on a no-race day

For two days in a row racing has been cancelled due to excessive winds and extreme tides which in combination, kick up huge and confused waves. While neither Scott nor I are going to complain, it has been hard to keep up the enthusiasm as each day cancelled, we still woke up with the adrenaline going and ready to sail so... neither day was truly a full-on rest day. 

I had hoped to take the time on the scheduled day off to visit the Isle of White but we ended up going out to lunch each day then back to the hotel to work as time was limited by the time racing was called off.

Last night we had dinner with Arnoud Hummel (NED) and his wife Marion (Marion was the Women's Laser World Champion in the '80s). We talked about boats, kids and the regatta and well, Scott and Arnoud are just ready to race. Arnoud and Scott have had a trading of places in the last two LM Worlds with Arnoud winning the event in Roses, Spain and Scott taking "the cube" in Nova Scotia. Scott and I laughed on the way home as no matter how the regatta turns out, we would be just as happy for Arnoud to win as he is such a great competitor. Yet, Scott is quick to say, 'There are a lot of other people that could win this one...top 10 are tight.'

Today, hopefully, we will get some racing in. Scott is healthy and suffering from no ailments as seems to be the case from some of the blogs we have read. As for me...hoping for sun and light winds!

Cheers!

Day 1- little victories and big victories…

Skiing down The Face of Bell on Ajax Mountain is all I can compare it to…sailing downwind today was like running the moguls…you have to pick your line and fall into it but once you get out of sync it can get ugly really fast!

Today we had big waves, a steady 22 knots of breeze with gusts to 28. Below is a brief recap:

Scott finished 3^rd in race one. He started a conservative 1/3 way up from pin (pin end was super favored) meanwhile Tracy Usher of San Francisco who was relishing the familiar conditions was launched at the pin and gone, never having to look back. Scott, on the other hand, spent the entire race dueling with local sailor Nick Harrison (GBR) only to lose him when he over-stood the final weather mark. After a few downwind nose-dives came the final gate where Scott and a stream of sailors came flying in with two boats capsized in front of them (boats from another division)  … a quick decision… go between the carnage and the mark or go around it all…. Scott made it between, finishing upwind and more than happy to have held onto 3^rd.

In race two, Scott finished 1^st. He started 1/3 way down from the committee boat knowing that Tracy Usher was at the pin. Fortunately for Scott, the breeze filled in more to the right giving Scott a good lead over the fleet halfway up the leg…he even hit some waves and got airborne on the way! Halfway down the first run he filled the cockpit and flipped but managed to hang onto a narrow lead rounding just ahead of Peter Shope and 5 others. During the final reach Scott had a 5-boat length lead on everyone until Peter Shope blew by him to leeward with a big puff.  Scott rounded the leeward mark right behind Peter where both sailed to the lay-line, tacking together and shooting the finish line together. Scott was able to get Peter by a hair. Scott’s comment, ‘I was happy with a 1 and a 3 as it could have easily been a 5-5 day as the top ten were always close…I just made fewer mistakes.’

As for me (Kim), it was the small victories that made it fun. Coming into this regatta with only nine days in the boat in the last year, I had only one expectation, to have fun. In race one I had a great start but knew I couldn’t hang very long upwind with the big guys so I turned my focus to the only other person my size, Leslie Hotchin (GBR). She’s a great sailor who has crushed me in the past so I gauged myself by her.  She had me most of the race but during the last reach I was able to pass her and round the leeward mark ahead. Unfortunately, she got me back right at the finish. 

The downwind legs were certainly pretty hairy with big waves and the occasional rogue wave crashing in from the side. I managed to stay upright the entire time but once I finished race #1, with a smile mind you, I looked upwind at the darkening sky, the black water and the increasing pressure and couldn’t help but think of the explorer Ernest Shackleton battling epic conditions… I started to laugh thinking, do I really need to be doing this to myself? Race one was fun but another one? Really? The fun factor was slipping… I went back and forth in my head but finally, the thought of doing the whole downwind balancing act with a fire hose of salt water in the eyes one more time, was a bit much so I bailed out and instead, went for 1^st place to the showers!

Sailing in the UK is fabulous!

Team North America!

Organized measurement

My water bottle holder... copied from an AUS friend

Well, Scott and I have been happy to have a few days to get ready for this year's Worlds. It has been especially nice, to have slept two nights in a row for over 10 hours (not a normal thing in our lives.)

Scott has labored over sail choice (he sailed with 3 different brand new sails then raised them separately in the parking lot) and as one fellow sailor mentioned...'it's not the America's Cup Scott!' I had to agree, with a roll of my eyes, 'just pick one and get yourself registered!'

Registration was so organized with classical music playing and jovial measurers quick with a smile and a helping hand. I even had a problem with the boat that I was assigned which required an overnight repair but was greeted with, 'leave it with us at 5 and we will have it ready in the morning.' Wow!

Today we had a practice race...the weather was sunny and gorgeous and again, the one thing that stands out in my mind is how cordial and courteous the English are...even at a mark rounding when the proverbial S$%@ is about to hit the fan you hear a sweet and polite, 'excuse me but no wataaaa" Wow, hopefully I can take home a lesson or two.

I had a good practice race and was able to work out some kinks (including being off by 1 minute on my watch at the start) Scott was happy as well but didn't finish his race as he was focused on getting a feel for the race course and sailing in early in order to save his energy.

Tomorrow, for race one, the breeze is predicted to be 12-14 knots SE and Tuesday is predicted to be much windier but we will keep you posted!

Interview with John Bertrand and Scott