I won the event with a 9 point gap to 2nd. The event results can be found here. I am looking forward to heading back to Halifax for the CYA National Sailing Championships next week.
Monday, September 19, 2011
CYA Youth National Sailing Championships
The CYA Youth National Sailing Championships were held at the St. Margaret Sailing Club, between August 26 and September 1st. There were 15 boats entered in the laser fleet. The first two days were a training camp. We had wind and a good training session the first day but the next day there was a hurricane predicted to blow through so the organizers canceled training for the day. Our Royal Vancouver team went out anyways and it was a great day of training although the wind was really starting to pick up during our sail in. After all the preparation for the hurricane it was downgraded to a tropical storm and almost missed us altogether.
For the first day of racing there was still a bit left over weather from the storm the day before and there was around 18 kts. The race committee got two races off, I finished 1st and 2nd respectively. The wind was out of the SW and it paid to go left.
The next few days saw the breeze lightening and swinging N as the passing storm had sucked the sea breeze out with it. The last day of racing brought one really light race in the morning then the wind swung around to the SW and the last race of the event was sailed in a fresh sea breeze.
I won the event with a 9 point gap to 2nd. The event results can be found here. I am looking forward to heading back to Halifax for the CYA National Sailing Championships next week.
I won the event with a 9 point gap to 2nd. The event results can be found here. I am looking forward to heading back to Halifax for the CYA National Sailing Championships next week.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
CYA Youth Champs
Write up in the local paper after the second day of racing at the CYA Youth Champs.
Up to date results can be found here
Sunday, August 28, 2011
CORK Olympic Classes Regatta
CORK Olympic Classes Regatta started out great for me with my first race a 5th. The weather at this event was ok. The first day brought some wind for the first two races then dying for the last one. Day two brought thunder shower warnings and great wind, We got one start off just as the lighting started and it wasn't long before the race committee blew off the race and we returned to dry land. That was it for day two. On the third day we got one race off right away. There was ok wind for this one. I had a good start near the pin and headed to the left witch had been the favored side all week. I had good upwind speed I finished up 8th. Then there was a wind shift and it took two hours to reset the course. We got one more race off before the wind started to do circles. On day four the race committee was in makeup mode. We did four races in four hours. I did not have the best day, but it also was not the worst day. The wind was about 10-12kts and a little shifty. Last day, day five. When we get to the club the AP flag is up and there is great wind really great wind. Well it turns out that the race committee thought that there was too much to race in. According to the coach that went out there was only 20-22 kts. That was it- they called off the day. What sailing we did get I think was excellent training. I ended up 15th overall and top junior. Results can be found here. Now we are off the CYA Youth Champs in Halifax.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
CORK International
CORK International was held in Kingston at the Portsmouth Olympic Harbor which is a fantastic place to sail. Most of the summer there are good winds out of the west, but not for the first three day of racing this time. Day one was ok wind was out of the north east, it was very shifty and there were some very big puffs. All three of our starts where really pin favoured, the first one you could not make on starboard. I made it work and I came out of the day with three bullets. On day two the wind started out coming from the west. We got one race off before the wind completely died. I managed to work my way to the front and win the race. We sat on the water for a long time but did not get any more races off. Day three was a lot like day oneand we did five races I got a 4th in the first and bullets in the rest. It was definitely the kind of wind that keeps you on your toes. On day four we finally got the wind that we had all been expecting. It was out of the west at 10-15 kts. There was only time to get off 2 races. I finished 2nd and 1st accordingly. I won the event with 9 points over the 11 races including two drops. Results can be found here. This event was a great tune up event for CORK OCR which starts in two days.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Laser Junior Worlds
Write up by my coach Al Clark
We decided after the good experience last year in Hayling Island , UK, that we would go again to the Jr Standard Worlds (under 21) this year in La Rochelle. The Mens Radials Worlds were held in conjunction.
We had Alexander Heinzman, Ricardo Montemayor and Kyle Martin in the Standard Rigs. In the Radial we had Alex Kroitzch, Gabe Frame and Cameron Ho.
The plan was to fly to Paris and drive down 400kms to La Rochelle, we ended up with 5 in the car with Alex H driving from Germany and meeting us on July 12th . Lilliah Martin (Kyle's Mum) had booked us 2 nice apartments right beside the marina and we were happy to have full kitchens in both. We did all our grocery shopping the first day and were out training for 4 days prior to the start of the event on the 18th July.
Of course the weather was sunny , warm and light breezes for the early training, that changed to the opposite by the weekend.
The wind came and eventually the rain and stayed for the regatta with the exception of the last day, when we still had plenty of breeze but with sunny skys, ( a nice way to end an excellent event).
The racing was pretty standard for a Worlds, 2 races a day running about an hour or so long, generally we started around noon, (they posted the schedule each night at 6).
The routine was awake 3 hours before sailing, then breakfast, then walk to the dock,get course assignment, rig the boats, get all gear to coach boat , sail to the race course, plan to be there 30 to 45 min before the first start , (the fleets were split into 3 starts).
So the racing commenced and it soon was clear that Ricardo and Alex were well in the hunt, (they were posting single digit results all thru the qualifying series). Kyle had also improved greatly since last year and was in the low teens many races.
The Radial boys were in tough with a high calibre fleet , (some were full rig sailors too old for the Jr Worlds), but improved daily and hung in till the end.
As the regatta heated up fine tuning was needed to increase boat speed in the heavy air, as well as a lot of work on starting techniques. The boys worked as a team each evening and as we got to the club each morning to help each improve, (it was a pleasure to have such a agreeable group of sailors).
In the end Alex H had a super event finishing 12th , (very close to the top 10), Ricardo was 20th and Kyle was 67th in a 147 boat fleet. Excellent results and both Alex and Kyle will have another chance next year.
Alex , Gabe and Cam learned heaps about big fleets at a worlds in heavy air and had very respectable results for their age and experience. Mostly I think it was the experience of living together in a foreign land competing against the best in the world.
With close to 300 sailors with many coaches and parents at the site and it was quite a spectacle.
Always nice to see our up and coming sailors representing the club in a fine fashion on the world stage.
Al Clark
We decided after the good experience last year in Hayling Island , UK, that we would go again to the Jr Standard Worlds (under 21) this year in La Rochelle. The Mens Radials Worlds were held in conjunction.
We had Alexander Heinzman, Ricardo Montemayor and Kyle Martin in the Standard Rigs. In the Radial we had Alex Kroitzch, Gabe Frame and Cameron Ho.
The plan was to fly to Paris and drive down 400kms to La Rochelle, we ended up with 5 in the car with Alex H driving from Germany and meeting us on July 12th . Lilliah Martin (Kyle's Mum) had booked us 2 nice apartments right beside the marina and we were happy to have full kitchens in both. We did all our grocery shopping the first day and were out training for 4 days prior to the start of the event on the 18th July.
Of course the weather was sunny , warm and light breezes for the early training, that changed to the opposite by the weekend.
The wind came and eventually the rain and stayed for the regatta with the exception of the last day, when we still had plenty of breeze but with sunny skys, ( a nice way to end an excellent event).
The racing was pretty standard for a Worlds, 2 races a day running about an hour or so long, generally we started around noon, (they posted the schedule each night at 6).
The routine was awake 3 hours before sailing, then breakfast, then walk to the dock,get course assignment, rig the boats, get all gear to coach boat , sail to the race course, plan to be there 30 to 45 min before the first start , (the fleets were split into 3 starts).
So the racing commenced and it soon was clear that Ricardo and Alex were well in the hunt, (they were posting single digit results all thru the qualifying series). Kyle had also improved greatly since last year and was in the low teens many races.
The Radial boys were in tough with a high calibre fleet , (some were full rig sailors too old for the Jr Worlds), but improved daily and hung in till the end.
As the regatta heated up fine tuning was needed to increase boat speed in the heavy air, as well as a lot of work on starting techniques. The boys worked as a team each evening and as we got to the club each morning to help each improve, (it was a pleasure to have such a agreeable group of sailors).
In the end Alex H had a super event finishing 12th , (very close to the top 10), Ricardo was 20th and Kyle was 67th in a 147 boat fleet. Excellent results and both Alex and Kyle will have another chance next year.
Alex , Gabe and Cam learned heaps about big fleets at a worlds in heavy air and had very respectable results for their age and experience. Mostly I think it was the experience of living together in a foreign land competing against the best in the world.
With close to 300 sailors with many coaches and parents at the site and it was quite a spectacle.
Always nice to see our up and coming sailors representing the club in a fine fashion on the world stage.
Al Clark
ISAF Youth Worlds
ISAF Youth Worlds
Report from Kyle Martin
The 2011 ISAF Youth Worlds were held in Zadar, Croatia from July 7 - July 16. I was sailing radial, a change from my usual full rig so was hoping for big winds. There were two sailors, Natalie Montemayor and Kyle Martin from Royal Vancouver YC as well as a team in 420 and 29er from back east. There were 49 countries represented in the boys Radial fleet and 41 in the girls.
For the first 3 days there was check in, training, and a practice race. The winds were light, 3 - 7kts and the temperature was in the high 30's. The opening ceremonies were spectacular. They were done from a barge at night with a "Beatles Yellow Submarine" theme. I got to carry the flag for Canada so was taken to the barge by boat. There was an incredible fireworks display with hundreds of people from the town crowding along the sea wall to watch.
The first 3 days of racing were in the same very light wind and high temperature. The race committee managed to get off all the scheduled raced despite some long days on the water. By the time the lay day came around we were all starting to think that it would never get windy.
On our lay day we did touristy things. We walked in to the old part of town, which is still surrounded by ancient walls. We walked up the spiral stairs of an old bell tower and got an amazing view of the city.
Racing the next day (day 4) was in the same very light winds but for the last 2 days the wind came up. We had 16kts for the first race on day 5 building to 18kts for the second race. I finally got to hike and I led to the first mark and finished 5th. Day 6 also had wind, with me finishing a 9th in one race, so it was a great way to finish up the regatta. Natalia sailed very well finishing 21st overall with her best result a 3rd on the last day. I finished 38th overall. I had a lot more fun in the wind and was wishing the entire event was windy.
Report from Kyle Martin
The 2011 ISAF Youth Worlds were held in Zadar, Croatia from July 7 - July 16. I was sailing radial, a change from my usual full rig so was hoping for big winds. There were two sailors, Natalie Montemayor and Kyle Martin from Royal Vancouver YC as well as a team in 420 and 29er from back east. There were 49 countries represented in the boys Radial fleet and 41 in the girls.
For the first 3 days there was check in, training, and a practice race. The winds were light, 3 - 7kts and the temperature was in the high 30's. The opening ceremonies were spectacular. They were done from a barge at night with a "Beatles Yellow Submarine" theme. I got to carry the flag for Canada so was taken to the barge by boat. There was an incredible fireworks display with hundreds of people from the town crowding along the sea wall to watch.
The first 3 days of racing were in the same very light wind and high temperature. The race committee managed to get off all the scheduled raced despite some long days on the water. By the time the lay day came around we were all starting to think that it would never get windy.
On our lay day we did touristy things. We walked in to the old part of town, which is still surrounded by ancient walls. We walked up the spiral stairs of an old bell tower and got an amazing view of the city.
Racing the next day (day 4) was in the same very light winds but for the last 2 days the wind came up. We had 16kts for the first race on day 5 building to 18kts for the second race. I finally got to hike and I led to the first mark and finished 5th. Day 6 also had wind, with me finishing a 9th in one race, so it was a great way to finish up the regatta. Natalia sailed very well finishing 21st overall with her best result a 3rd on the last day. I finished 38th overall. I had a lot more fun in the wind and was wishing the entire event was windy.
Waves
Sailed my radial in waves and used it as a tune up event for youth worlds. I was pleased with the way that I sailed. The winds were light for all but 1 of the races and in that race I finshed 2nd. Overall I was 6th tied for 5th.
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