Dear BYC Maritime Sciences and Seamanship Foundation,
Thank you for your considerate support of my twin brother and me in the 2012 Junior Olympic Festival Regatta. The two of us were excited to improve our score of a 17th in the CFJ class in San Diego in 2011. This year’s Junior Olympics held at Marina Del Rey made us even more anxious to test our new skills and knowledge in light air, since we had grown up in the heavier winds of San Francisco Bay.
The first day we arrived, we unloaded boats, registered for the regatta, and rigged up. We then proceeded to get our boat in the water, and sailed out to the race course for some practice. The sail out took a little over an hour, but ended up to be good practice for our roll-tacks. When we got out of the jetty, we learned that we only had about 45 minutes until the rest of the fleet would come back in and de-rig. Knowing that, we practiced side-by-side with another fellow BYC boat, and then headed in ahead of the fleet.
The following day was the official start of the regatta, and the wind was lighter than ever. In fact, so light, the first start was postponed for about 2 hours. The chop and wind picked up as the day went on, keeping the level of difficulty up. Our first and third race came as a disappointment for us, as we reeled in a 20th (1st race) and a 21st (3rd race). However, during the second and fourth race, we grabbed a 7th (2nd race) and a 15th (4th race).
Saturday turned out to be a little heavier than Friday, but with less chop. Even with more wind than the day before, you had to navigate your way towards the sparse areas of good breeze across the racecourse in order to do well. Because of this, it was crucial to pay attention to where the wind was at every moment, so you could get a good start on the favored side of the line, and do well overall. With this knowledge, we got a 7th, 11th, 15th, and an 8th out of 32. Happy with our scores for the day, I prepared myself for tomorrow.
Sunday being the last day of the regatta, I pushed my crew and I to do the best that we could. Our standing before we raced on Sunday was an 11th, and our goal was to achieve a top 10th before the regatta was over. The wind was heaviest that day, which seemed perfect weather for us. However, as the day progressed, the wind became lighter and the chop started to increase, making races difficult for us. But in the long run, we tried our best, and got an 8th, 16th, 18th, and 10th that day, eventually getting us an 11th out of 32 in the regatta. Once again, thank you for all of your support. We look forward to representing the BYC-MSSF in the future.
Sincerely,
Wyatt Russell