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

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.

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.

Laser Canadians

Laser Canadians where held at Wabamun sailing club in Alberta. Al, Ric and I drove up, Ric and I camped on site. I think that this was the most fun event that I have done this year. There was great wind (18-20 kts) and every day we sailed 4 races a day that were around an hour each. I finished 2nd dropping a 3rd with my best race being a 1st.  Ric won the event.

District 6 champs

Good event but there was no wind the first day and we did not get any races off. The second day brought the wind in at 1 o clock on the nose, we got 4 races off.  I won all of them!

Kitten Cup

See my coach’s write up

Elvstrom Zellerbach Regatta

Elvstrom Zellerbach Regatta hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club was a fantastic event. The team drove down to San Francisco for the weekend. We left Thursday afternoon, drove to Portland that night, and then down to San Francisco the next night. The first day of the regatta brought lighter wind for the start of the first race quickly building as the day went on. I finished 12th in the first race. The second race brought more wind and more current, the current was out going, dragging you over the start line. This made for some fast up wind and long downwind legs. I was 10th in that race. By race 3 the wind was really starting to blow at over 20k. I had an ok start and got to the top mark in good shape, I think top ten. I then sailed a great down wind and went round the right gate. From this point on it was pretty much a drag race although I was able to make up one more spot on the next leg. I finished 4th in the last race of the day.

Day 2 brought more wind and 3 more races. I sailed a solid first race finishing 10. I could have sailed the downwind better. I tried to work my way in to shore to get out on the current but it did not come back with any great favors. The 2nd race was respectable. I sailed well and had better down wind speed and tried to just keep the boat rolling through the waves. It seemed to come together and I ended up 5th. By race 3 well over half the fleet had packed it in. I sailed an ok first half and a bad last beat ending up 8th in that race, which is the same place I finished over all out of 27 boats. We packed up the trailer and were out of San Francisco by 5:30. We drove to the Oregon border where we stopped for the night and then finished the drive home on Monday.