Laser Midwinters East

It is Monday morning and I am sitting in Denver airport on my way home after Laser Mid Winters East. The regatta was sailed between February 23 and February 26. There were 48 boats entered in the Laser and I finished 16th. The full results can be found here.


I took the day before the regatta off. This felt great after the busy training schedule that we had been on. The morning of the first day of racing we woke up to solid white outside of our apartment windows. We got to the club at 9 for the 11 o’clock start only to be postponed on shore due to the fog. The fog started to clear around 10:45 and we were racing by 11:30. We did three races on the first two days of racing. With hour long races and 18-20 kts of wind out of the S they were tiring days. Day two was a lot like day one with fog and an on shore AP in the morning.


For the third day the wind did a 180 and we got even more of it out of the N and with the current going S it made for some BIG waves. It was a day when not tacking too much and putting the bow down paid.


On the last day the wind started out looking a lot like the day before but as the day went on the wind started to swing to the E. However with the waves still rolling N to S it made for some really interesting sailing. It was easy to lose track of where the marks where when sailing downwind if you started to sail with the waves. I was able to make some gains by going what looked like high road but really was the rum line.


I am happy with the way that I sailed. I am still going fast up wind in breeze but I think that the biggest improvement for me is the fact that I am not losing on the runs.


As for now it’s back to Vancouver for some time at home. After almost 2 months away I am looking forward to my own bed. I will be doing some sailing in Vancouver and a lot of gym work. As always after a windy event one thing is clear, you can’t be too fit. Then around March 14 I will be heading down to LA for laser Mid Winters West.

-Kyle

Clearwater Training

After the Miami OCR regatta I traveled to Clearwater Florida to spend three and a half weeks training before competing in the Laser Mid Winters Easts. We have now been here for just over three weeks and training has been going great. During our time here we have only missed out on sailing three of the days due to lack of wind.

I am here with Ricardo and our coach Al. We have been sailing three hours plus a day as well as fitness with biking and gym which have made for full days and good sleeps. The days are starting to blend but on most we did cardio in the morning then on water around 11 and gym after dinner.

On the sailing side of things we did it all; long up winds, short course, long course, mark rounding, and some really long down winds. For those we would drive the truck 25km down the coast to a landing spot and bike back to the sailing center. After sailing down the out side in the open ocean in some huge waves we would de-rig the boats, put the spars in the truck and tow the boats back to the sailing center with the coach boat on an inland water way. It does take a bit of work but it is totally worth it. We get 25km of amazing down wind sailing in big
waves and great wind.

It is funny how when you stay in a place for long enough the weather will give you a bit of every thing. The norm seems to be 22°C and sun with winds of around 15kts but lighter in the morning.
That said there was a two day cold snap that brought some high wind and then there was the day it was over cast with light wind. We have had a bit of it all but only one day with rain.

We are staying in a awesome corner apartment on the 16th floor. The place is nice with two bed rooms, two bath rooms  and a great chilling
area - Ricardo is happy about that. There is a pool and hot tub down stairs which we have been getting some use out of.

With the training portion of our stay coming to an end I am starting to get stoked to race again. The forecast is looking good and I think that we are going to be in for a super event. From what I have seen in my time here Clearwater is one great place to sail.

-Kyle

Rolex Canadian Sailor of the Year Awards Dinner

Last Friday I traveled from my winter training base in Clearwater, Florida to Toronto to attend the Rolex Canadian Sailor of the Year Awards Dinner where I was awarded the Bill Burke Youth Elite Memorial Award. I felt honored to be recognized for my achievements over the last year. We were treated to an amazing four course meal and a night in a very nice hotel. My mom was invited along and we had a great time exploring Toronto. My coach Al was also honored as the CYA Male Athlete of the Year. After spending the weekend in Toronto it is really nice to be back in Clearwater and the warmth. Today we are doing a 23km down wind and towing the boats back up which is going to be awesome.

-Kyle

Miami OCR

The Miami OCR regatta is over and I am heading up the coast to Clearwater. The Miami OCR was held from Jan 22^th to Jan 28^th. I finished 50^th out of the 74 boats entered. Find results here. I was happy with this result but more than that I was happy with the way that my down wind speed had improved. I felt like I was going fast and even able to pass people. This is a big step forward for me as last year I was getting to top marks is good shape but being passed by boats on the downwind.

The weather for this event really could not have been better. I think that this might have been one of the most consistent Miami OCRs wind wise in quite some time. We never had a start delayed waiting for wind and every day there was enough to be hiking at some point in the day with most of the event being between 6kts and 15kts. The race committee did a great job getting off all the races at the scheduled time despite the fact that were 5 fleets on one course.

Our accommodation was the same place that we stayed last year. A nice apartment about a 10min bike from the sailing venue but right across the street from a gym and grocery store. By the time the event started there were 6 of us staying in the place. We did group meals every night and it seemed to work out quite well.

 This year the Lasers were sailed out of the US Sailing center which is a change as we have been sailing out of the convention center. The US Sailing center is nice but it does get a bit crowded at times and there is no parking. It was a nice spot to be biking to.

I was lucky enough to be able to fly in just over a week before the event was to start. I spent this time training and working on my down wind speed. After a 3hr on water session training with team Canada, Ricardo and I would finish off with a long down wind. Leaving ourselves with no options but to sail in one day this took us over an hour and a half. After we got in we would head back to our place, eat some food the then head over to the gym for a bit. It was great training and the weather was warm. Not much changed after the regatta started as we were on water quite early most mornings so had a fair bit of time in the afternoon to do stuff.

Now the trailer is loaded and we are driving up the coast to Clearwater for over a month of training. We are going to be focusing on downwind, doing some really long ones where we sail downwind then tow the boats back up with the coach boat.

-Kyle

This video was taken of me during a great, windy training session we had last week. The other boat in the video is my training partner Ricardo Montemayor who sails for Mexico (MEX). It is days like this that just do not come often enough to English Bay. But when they do you have to jump on them. On this day I did the double session. But now Vancouver is back to lots of rain and not so much wind.

Kyle

Dale Jepsen One Design Regatta Write up in 48° North

This Write up from the Dale Jepsen One Design Regatta appeared in the November 2011 issue of 48° North on page 38 and 39. 

Bluenose Regatta

The Bluenose regatta and the Royal Vancouver club champs were held out of the Kits Yacht Club. Day one brought no wind in the morning. We were postponed till around 1:00. The first race got under way in a really light easterly but by the last leg the wind had done a 180 and we were beating up wind in a nicely building westerly. The next three races were sailed in about a 6-10kt westerly. It was some good English bay racing with the beach paying as it most always does. Then it was down to Kits Yacht Club for after sailing homemade chili and fresh baked bread. I had a good solid day, three 2^nds and a 3^rd I was sitting in 2^nd just one point out of first

The morning of day two there was not a breath of wind to be had. The race committee did try to get a race off at the scheduled time of 12:00 but it ended in abandonment. Then we just played the waiting game till 2:30 when a bit of a westerly came in with a lot of south in it. We were able to get one shifty race in before the 3:00 time limit. I was 3^rd right behind my dad. It had been a long cold day of sitting around but it was nice to get a race off. After sailing it was back to Kits Yacht Club for more leftover chili and awards. Ricardo won 1st was 2^nd and my Dad completed the podium finishing 3^rd. Full results can be found here.

It was another great bluenose regatta with light wind, some tricky racing and as always awesome homemade food.

Kyle martin