Daredevil wraps up Charleston race week in 11th

It was a successful week for the team on Daredevil. This was my first time helming a Melges 24 in over 2 years and it took a couple races to shake off the cobwebs but by Race three I was feeling pretty good. The team came together well and stayed focused on improving every race. USA 659 had good speed despite using a 2nd hand Quantum main that was over a year old. I was happy to see the Quantum Sail last so long and still delivery good performance and shape. We did have a new Jib and running Asail. The mast and sails fit together well and we were well sorted after one day of tunning. This was key because on the short courses you needed to have your head out of the boat or you were going to miss something. We are not heading to the worlds which would of been fun and I think we could keep improving on our results there. Instead the boat will head back to the midwest and sail in 4 events in and around the great lakes. We will wrap up with the US National Championships in Lake Geneva. The goal of this event was to set a good starting piont for reaching the end goal of winning the US National Championship. We have a lot of work to do to sail in the top 5 but I think it is possible. Thanks to the crew of Arthur Anosov and Dave Jochum for the hard work and effort. Most of all thanks to owner Tim Anto for making the whole event possible.

12th after 4 races in Charleston

It was a perfect day in Charleston for the Melges 24 Class. We had everthing Charleston is known for strong currents, a challenging race course and good breeze. The courses were short and each race was only about an hour long. This kept the fleet close together. Boat handling was key and by the 3rd race we were starting to get it right. We have a lot of room for improvement. At the moment the forcast for saturday is looking a little ugly with strong winds and thunderstorms. For now we are happy with a solid start in this 47 boat fleet.

Charleston Race Week

I have been in Charleston since Monday evening getting ready for Charleston Race Week. I am sailing for Tim Anto on his Melges 24 "Daredevil". We have a new team with two days of practice under our belts. There will be 47 Melges 24's racing this weekend and many teams ramping up for the Melges 24 worlds. The competition will be very good. I am not sure how it will all pan out but so far we have used our time here well. We have Star sailor Arthur Anosov calling tactics, Dave Jochum on the Bow and Tim on downwind trim. Looking forward to the next three days and 10 great races in Charleston.

Better Sailing on the last day of Bacardi Cup

We made some improvements as the Bacardi Cup progressed in Miami. On the last day the Right side of the course looked to be better for pressure. So we made a nice start about 10 boat lengths to leeward of the committee boat. After sailing for a couple minutes on starboard we floped onto port and got into drag race mode with a nice lane to leeward.

The whole week I had been playing with the mast butt position and rake understanding that we were not really prepared for a good result and taking the oppurtunity to experiment with the set up. I ended up moving the mast butt two holes aft. This seemed to decrease the weather helm. I stood the rake up a bit to 37 inches (94cm) to try and add some more power in the boat. I think this was a better set up and made the boat easier to drive.

We rounded the top mark in the top 15 and passed a few on the downwind leg rounding the leeward mark in 12th. From here our lack time sailing together started to hurt and we lost places on each of the next 3 legs. We finished a disapionting 30th after what looked like a promising last race.

Its hard to get really upset at a mid fleet result when you dont put the time in at a major event like the Bacardi Cup. For the first time in two years 8077 will not be going to europe and I am looking forward to having the boat local so I can sail her more often and particapate in the North American events.

Next on the schedule is Charleston Race Week.

Stuck in 40

After 4 days of sailing and lay day(due to a storm front) we have been stuck around 40th place, just a little better than mid fleet. Today we had two races in a nice North West breeze with cooler temps and short bay chop. We had a nice first beat in race one, rounding 15th at the top mark only to find we were BFD. Race two was a 5 leg windward leeward race course we sailed well and we rounded the last leeward mark in 30th but things got a little tricky on the last beat and we slipped a few places. Its been tough to get back into the boat after not sailing for 3 months. I'm not shifting gears as well and today was the first day that I felt like I was actually hiking well. We have one more race on Saturday, last shot to break out of the mid fleet rut.

Digging Out of a Hole

The start is probably the most high risk time in any race. Today we had 2 starts a general recall and a start under the black flag. For us the first start was great and we would of been very happy to carry on sailing with a nice space to leeward. During Start number 2 we were fouled as the weather boat did not keep clear on the line and laid all over us as the gun went off. The race got worse from there as we were fouled by a port tacker trying to cross our bow and forcing us into a tack to avoid a collision. The Star Class is usually known for playing by the rules but in the basement of the fleet there seem to be some people that don't think it matters. We sailed the rest of the race with a protest flag flying. It was a long day of picking our way through the bottom feeders. Marek my crew for the week did a nice job of picking a few shifts on the 2nd beat and we worked our way back to the top half of the fleet. Finishing 40th on the day. It would of been hard for things to go much worse so I expect to do better over the next four days. We are currently in 35th much will change in the standings when the drop race comes into play later in the week.

39th after Day 1 at Bacardi Cup

We finished how I expected slightly better than mid-fleet. I have not sailed the boat since December and I am sailing with a new crew for the first time. We didn't even have a chance to sail last week so this was the first time sailing at all together. Many teams are making the hard push for the 2012 Olympics, putting in many days on the water and improving there equipment. We can do much better and I think we can work our way into the top 30 over the next couple days. The trimming and driving need to improve first and then everything will get easier. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week and 5 more races on Biscayne Bay.