As well as racing there was a pre-regatta training camp with high level coaches. We trained from Tuesday to Thursday with racing on the Saturday and Sunday. We had light winds on the Tuesday and Wednesday morning with big swells creating a difficult environment to train in. Wednesday afternoon was a bit chaotic with a storm rolling in with strong gusting winds forcing everyone ashore. Thursday had rough conditions from the aftermath of the storm with big swell and very little wind.
Saturday- The laser fleet only managed 1 race on the first day due to a lack of wind, but the 1 race completed was a good opportunity to race in light winds, i started the race poorly and could not find a good line upwind or downwind and as a result my position suffered and ended up with a 10th out 16 racing.
Sunday- Sunday featured more wind and an earlier start allowed us to have 4 races in quick succession. Race 1 was challenging as we had 3 general recalls, with everyone pushing the start line it was very hard to get away clean in a good lane. As a result i had to play the catch up game upwind and downwind, i felt fast on the upwind and this helped me close the gap on the leading group of boats. I sailed each downwind very well resulting in the minimizing of the distance between the lead group and myself. Race 2 was a good race for me, i got off to a good start and felt fast upwind and downwind but made a few mistakes in strategy selection which let my position slip during the race. Race 3 was good but i got off to a bad start and had to sail fast upwind and downwind to catch up again. Race 4 was very good as i got off to a very good start and was second around the top mark, but on the downwind although i was sailing fast i got stuck in a micro-battle with the boats around me which allowed them to catch up resulting in the loss of positions down to 4th, and then again on the upwind i lost another spot.
The competition was very tough with the best under 21 Laser Radial sailors from Victoria attending, the top 5 were my friends and training partners and we all had a good regatta, my results from races 1 to 5 were (10),6,4,5,5. These results allowed me to finish the regatta in 5th overall and only 3 points behind 4th.
Over last week i was also accepted for the Laser Radial men's world championship in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland. This regatta will take place from July 23-30. My current plan now is to train as many days a week as possible in order to build up my racing skills and boat handling in trickier conditions as well as going to gym to increase my fitness levels.
Laser Radial Results
Well done also to Jeremy Gray and Hugo Vandame who competed in the Optimist class and Lucy Gray who skippered a 420.
Last Modified on 14/04/2016 22:34