BCSC Travel Racing Team: Gibson Island Junior Regatta - Race Report

Going against traditional norms and a initiating a first to launch policy proved the way to go at the 2007 Gibson Island Junior Regatta. The tacks and gybes were alot smoother and the sailors looks more comfortable on the water and sure of what they are doing on the course. Weather.com has it that it will be doing WSW from 10 and shifting S @ 12 and back to WSW @ 2. It did exactly that 'cept for a few mins off from the hour, but of course the predictions were all rounded off to the nearest hour, so I would say that it was pretty accurate.

The wind was blowing a constant 6-8 knts, gusting 10-12 knts. Conditions was tricky to sail as it was very gusty, there was patches all over in different directions. Sailors will have to be very alert of what's going on around the race course and what lies ahead and behind them.

Michael took the first race by a mile tacking up the middle of the course, the way to go when you couldn't figure out exactly which side of the course is more favoured. And Chris lost out on a 1st place as he tacked away from a gust, a SSA sailor lying in 4th caught the gust and he went on a home run.

William showed what he is made of - sailing his best race of the season so far. Finishing 9th overall, with two race finishing in 8th. He is one happy puppy.

Matt had a good last race, placing 10th after washing off some of the bad luck stains from his boat.

Jeff has a great last race, finishing 5th, only to be scored DNS (did not start) which wasn't possible cos he did, the other possibility was an OCS (On Course Start) which means that he started early and did not exonerate himself. GIYS has not came back to us at press time.

The winner - Lauren Schoene came from a mile behind in 7th position, to overtake 6 boats to claim first and ran away with the title. Although I thought she was rocking, pumping and cajoling the boat too much, with nobody protesting her, there's nothing much that could be done. Given that she overtook her own brother who was in first. Chris and Michael on the other hand was having their own duel, Michael choosing to go on a port tack sailing on a lee and Chris staying on a starboard. Chris eventually won the battle. On hindsight however, both of them shouldn't even be sailing there at all. The wind was shifting or rather has shifted to the left of the course, where the whole fleet was, and they were still in their own world on the right handside of the course. Looking back at the scores, all Michael need to do for the last race is to finish 3rd and he would have won the regatta.

On the Opti Course,
The wind was pretty light and and fluky. Josh, in his first Blue Fleet race, did pretty good to finish 13th and even managing to start at the favoured pin end on port in race 2 , and Bryan, with the wind not in his favour, finished a little behind in 19th. Both sailors did really well to keep their boats flat and well trimmed in the trying conditions. They will need more races to improve on their tactics on water.

Lesson to be learnt -
Although I often stress that you are sailing against yourself. I find our sailors being caught up with doing better than their own team mates, as long as they finish infront of the other team mates, they are happy. Which, in my opinion, is really unhealthy. Why pit yourself against a sailor that you can beat or try to beat everyday during training? Look at the big picture. Are you allowing the rest of the fleet to catch up with you while you are "dog fighting" with your own team mate? Are you sailing away from a favoured position on the course? Why not share the information with your teammate? and then the both of you may benefit? Wouldn't that feel alot better than beating this other team mate while the rest of the fleet sails infront of you?

I remember an incident during the Radials championship in Singapore, a coupla old boys came back to race in the regatta and they are still pretty good. I was on port lifter with no rights and there's one of them coming on starboard, I couldn't really make across his bow without him dipping, preparing myself to dip his stern, he shouted "Hold your course, you are on a lifter!" He dipped me and sailed into clear air and tacked onto port. Both of us were enjoying clear air and I had a warm fuzzy feeling of friendship. We were not in a position for 1st place or a podium finish. We were in the regatta for fun and see how well we can do. Unless you are in a 1st place position, please, go ahead and be as selfish about information if you want to. If not, I believe everybody in the regatta just wants to improve on their standing in regattas and to learn more.

Knowing your competition -
Now if you are in a position to gun for a 1st place finish, or aspiration for one. You will have to start knowing your competition and start doing a little math in your head. Let's take this regatta for example.

1st place - Lauren Schoene - 3 - 1 - 6 - 1 <-- Total 11 points
2nd place - Michael Gorman - 1 - 3 - 4 - 6 <-- Total 14 points
3rd place - Matt Schoene - 5 - 5 - 2 - 2 <-- Total 14 points

Consider these three sailors. Now do not ever bank or count on having a race to drop to get first. Becuase it will never happen. Besides, in the case of a tie breaker, your discard race will be taken into consideration. At the end of the 3rd race. This is how their standing looks

Lauren Schone - 3 - 1 - 6 <--- Total 10 points
Michael Gorman - 1 - 3 - 4 <---- Total 8 points
Matt Schoene - 5 - 5 - 2 <-- Total 12 points

Who's lying in 1st place? Michael! All he needed to do, is to keep himself in front of these two sailors, and he would have won the regatta, he wouldn't need to bother about the rest of the sailors. He could even afford to drop 1 point against the girl to get a clean win without having to go down to the tie breaker. Instead, he got himself caught up with Chris, in an ego battle, and lost the war in entirety. How the race is to be sailed, is going to be different altogether. It is no longer about the favoured side, favoured end. When it is a battle between 2 or 3 sailors, it is about keeping yourself between the mark and them. and knowing where they are all time, and giving thoughts to who to cover. Who could you afford to set free and who you must win. It becomes a mathematical game and a game of weighing the losses.

How to do it?
1. Know your competition - After sailing in so many regattas, there's bound to be familiar faces, and you'll notice who's around you most of the time. You'll also know who wins and who to avoid.
2. Keep a mental score - If it is a small fleet, it is easy to keep score, if you are in the first pack. it is easy to keep score, if you are at the back of the fleet, it is also easy to keep score. 1st from last.. 2nd from last... etc. hahaha...
3. Know how your competition are doing - If it is a one day regatta, it maybe hard to keep track, but it is possible. But if it is a two day event like the JO's or the adult's weekend or nationals that happens over a few days. It is important to check out your competition's points and their worst races and such at the end of each day.

Sailing by the nose -
There are many times where you can literally smell the new wind. When there is a major wind shift, caused by the weather, eg. storm, new front... etc. You can be certain that the new wind brings new smells. Be aware of how the wind smells all the time! And you may just be sailing your way to a podium finish!

Josh - 10415 - 2nd boat from right with Bryan 11197 slightly behind. Josh needs to sit over faster after a tack.

Josh (first from left) keeping up with the lead pack

Notice the two group of boats - Michael & Chris on the right, Michael on port tack, if he wants to do that, he have to ease his boom beyond 90 degree and bear away more to go towards the wind - in this case - the left of the picture. He would have gained more speed that way and pulled infront of the other boats and won the regatta.