Wednesday, July 5, 2006

 

 

 

Conditions

Beautiful day in the neighborhood!  The 42 teams arrived safely (some without their bags) at the well prepared Milwaukee Yacht Club.  All the 420’s are lined up in the parking lot in front of the Boat House, where registration is taking place.  We basically have the run of the parking lot and Boat House for the entire event…plus, it’s close to the pool!

 

A spaghetti dinner was served, followed by a short Opening Ceremony.  Cindy Kraus, Regatta Chair, introduced key people in the audience and then assisted in handing out some great raffle items, donated by Team One Newport, Harken, Quantum Sails, Aquarius Sail, Forespar, Sailing Angles, and Vanguard.

 

Afterwards, the competitors finished checking out their boats.  Host families began to trickled in around 6:30.  It was fine evening to be outdoors, with temperatures in the 60’s.

 

We would like to thank Vanguard Sailboats for their generous charter boats as well as Sturgess Boat Works for picking up the slack, to make this event bigger and better.

Read the Full Report and see photos


 Thursday, July 6, 2006

Another beautiful day – I think it’s raining every where else but here!  The projected weather for the day: sunny with winds clocking from NW all the way around to the SW later in the afternoon.

 Continental breakfast under the tent, followed by a quick introduction of more key people, including our surprise guest, Janet Baxter, first female president of US SAILING, who drove up from Chicago just to say a few words in person to the competitors.  To the group of 84 young ladies, she said that anything was possible, from being an Olympian to being the president of US SAILING.

The program then shifted over to the coaches, with Meg Gaillard, Head Coach, Brian Doyle, Jen Morgan-Glass, Emily Hill and Graham Bieh.  Graham gave rigging tips and B.D. reviewed the on-the-water drills they would be running today; the other coaches throwing in their two cents along the way.  The competitors geared up and launched by 11:30 and were out for the afternoon.  Lunch was served on the water.  After a debriefing session, a Mexican Dinner is planned under the tent later this evening.

Friday, July 7, 2006

Another beautiful day…with better wind! After a Continental Breakfast, the coaches had a morning chalk talk and live parking lot demonstration of proper spinnaker flying techniques, led by Jen Morgan-Glass and Graham Biehl.  Later, BD narrated several videos to illustrate good trapping and sail trim, both on and off the wind.  Today, the morning launch took only 30 minutes – we’re getting faster every day.

Drills were run for several hours as the winds built and the Southeaster began to settle in for the afternoon.  The prevailing winds of 155 with a range between 9-15 are expected for the next several days.  The Practice Race got underway at 2:00pm as scheduled, with several practice starts thrown in for both competitors and RC alike.  The winner of the Practice Race was Bow #01, the team of Molly Lucas and Charlotte Williams, from New Jersey.

Back on shore, there was another debriefing with the coaches and the Competitor’s Meeting at 5:30pm.  We will all board buses at 6:30pm for the Brewer’s - Cubs game tonight.  Dinner is at the new, cool Miller Baseball Stadium.  We promise to have them home by the 10:30 curfew!

 

Saturday, July 8, 2006

Another beautiful day…with excellent wind!  Steady all day at 225, with oscillating shifts in the late afternoon.

 

After breakfast, the coaches had their final morning chalk talk and everyone left the dock at 9:30.  First warning signal was at 11:00.  Wind was 10-15kts and steady from 225 all day long, with big oscillating shifts late in the afternoon.

 

Race One, a W4 course at .8 mile weather leg, was a clean P Flag start, with the team of Lucas and Williams showing the same winning form they showed us in the Practice Race.  The finish line was crowded with some very close finishes.

 

Race Two, a W4 course at .8 mile, started with a P Flag, but turned quickly into a General Recall with most of the fleet pushing the line and bringing out the I Flag.  Two boats were OCS, but both came back.  The wind appeared to die down and the course was shortened to .7 mile.  Again, it was a very crowded finish line with some great, close calls.  The team of Lihan and Wright finished first with a commanding lead.

 

Race Three, a W4 course at .8 mile, saw steady direction with the oscillations beginning, as big righties and lefties came down.  We started with the I Flag, and there were 5 boats OCS and no one came back.  The race is heating up between Johnson and Lihan, as the two boats duel it out on the race course.  This race was all Lihan’s.

 

Race Four, a W4 course at .8 mile, started under the I Flag (all clear), coincided with big oscillations, great for making or breaking your game plan, depending on how far to one side you went.  This race was all Johnson, with Lihan scoring a 4th.

 

The RC decided to run a 5th race, as weather tomorrow is forecasted to bring thunderstorms and wind from a variety of directions.  As the sun was shinning and the winds were steady, Race Five started under an I Flag, with a W5 course at .6 mile.  There was one boat OCS, who quickly cleared herself.  This race was great to watch because the huge oscillations really took its toll on some of the competitors.  Wisconsin’s own team of Haeger and Kent led wire to wire, who was steadily climbing up the leader board all day long. 

 

The race day ended with blustery winds and clouds rolling in ahead of the front.  There will be a quick debrief and the girls get to spend the evening with their host families.  Scores and photos are posted, so check those out, too.

 

One quick note about last night’s game at Miller Park….We got off the buses in a large parking lot already chock full of young, male tailgate partiers, who immediately gaped at all the girls, pointing fingers and whispering.  We decided to take our group picture and snapped the last frame just seconds before several male revelers were about to crash the scene!  It only got better.  “Are they part of a pageant?” was one comment.  “Where are you sitting?” went ignored!  Really cool facility and the seats go up pretty high as well.  But, the Cub’s fans were a blast to watch!  The Brewers weren’t getting it done on the field, so we all turned our attention to people watching….WOW!!  Suffice it to say, everyone made it home safely and still talking about the girl with the glitter paint and the constant tripping up the stairs!

 

 

Sunday, July 9, 2006

 

Another beautiful day…really.  It can’t get any better than this!  The predicted front did not arrive today, so winds were shifty 4-16 kts.

 

Boats left the dock at 9:30 and, like clockwork, the first warning signal was at 11:00.

 

Race Six, a W5 course, wind from 225 at .7 mile weather leg, had a General Recall and a huge shift at the start.  The RC went to the I Flag and set a new course of 250 at .5 mile.  Huge puffs at 265 came rolling down and going back to 240.  The RC changed course at the second mark and the leaders went right and were gone.  The team of Lambert and Gunnarsson held on to a huge lead to win the race.  The entire fleet is showing improvement and now that Race 6 is in the books, the fleet gets a drop and the standings changed dramatically.

 

Race Seven, a W4 course at .9 mile, wind at 255 at 5 ½-10 kts, started under the I Flag, but resulted in another General Recall.  A big righty came through just before the start.  The restart under the I Flag caught 8 boats. After hailing, only four returned.  The team of Hudson and McKenna won the race and the leaders compressed in a tight race.  The standings for second through fifth places are separated by 5 points.  The OCS took its toll, putting Lucas and Williams from 11th to 2nd back to 11th place. Lihan and Wright went from 2nd to 5th to 4th.  Patten and Rew went from 6th to 3rd.  Haeger and Kent went from 4th to 2nd.  Johnson and O’Brien still have a commanding lead.

 

Race Eight, the final race at the end of a hot day, a W5 course, wind from 260 at .7 mile, started under the I Flag.  Less then 2 minutes to start, the wind went to 220 and the RC went into postponement.  The course was reset to 245 at .6 mile in a dieing breeze of 4-5 kts.  The restart under the I Flag was all clear, a four boat-length sag in the middle of the line, and a big, fat lefty seconds after the start signal!  The course was changed at the first leeward mark due to an increase in velocity (8 kts and slowly building) and shift to 235; the course was stretched out to .7 mile.  Annie Haeger sailed a very good race: at the second weather mark, she almost a full minute’s lead on the second place boat.  However, the Team of Maxwell and Baker almost caught them at the finish line.

 

Things are definitely heating up in the standings, as the team of Johnson and O’Brien had their worst race yet, an 18th they will discard.  They are still 13 points ahead, but must sail both races tomorrow. Meanwhile, Haeger and Kent have been tearing up the leader board.   Patten and Rew are six points out of 2nd place and two points ahead of the 4th place team of Lihan and Wright.  With the front being late in arriving, tomorrow’s weather is a guess and it could be anybody’s game! 

 

It’s been great watching this group of competitors race in all sorts of conditions.  The PRO, John Strassman, has dealt very well with very shifty conditions, keeping the time of these races between 45 minutes and 55 minutes long.  The MYC Race Committee professionals have been fabulous to work with: they have a computer hard-wired into their signal boat, with a wireless card and are able to score the finishes, post them to the website and have them printed and posted on the notice board before the third boat is out of the water! 

 

Please check out photos and score….tomorrow’s going to be a great final day of racing!

 

 

Monday