You win some you lose some, that’s the name of the game. This past week I experienced this first hand while I competed in this years Youth Match Race Championship for the Rose Cup. I sailed on the foredeck for Skipper Porter Killian (BCYC), Mid Derek Pickel (BCYC), and Jib Trimmer Marbella Marlo (NHYC) from Team Saber Racing.
This event lasted 5 days with a two day clinic before hand with all the skippers and teams together followed by 3 days of full on racing. The scheduled format for the event was a Round Robin followed by Quarterfinals, then Semi-Finals, and Finals. The two day clinic before the regatta was a great learning experience that helped us work on boat handling specific to these boats which many of us had not sailed, as well as specific drills that focused our training on maneuvers we were likely to see in the racing. Each morning and evening constituted of rules talks, video debriefs, and great Q and A’s. This helped us get into race form so we all could be at peak performance during the racing.
When the regatta started on Friday June 29th, we were immediately met with a wind hold, as anyone who has sailed on the Long Island Sound during the summer knows is VERY common. We did not start racing until about 3 p.m. when the wind finally filled in. We were sailing in a venue called West Harbor which is on the ocean but very closed off, which creates a lake feeling. The wind was very shifty and puffy which made it difficult sailing. Our team went 1 win and 4 losses on the day and we were not pleased with our results.
Overnight we met and tried to figure out what we could do better for the next day of racing. As we drifted out to the race course we were yet again met with no wind. Another long postponement went by and the wind finally decided to show up. The team instantly found a new groove and won the first race right out of the gun. We took another loss to Cameron Feves, a great sailor from the Long Beach Yacht Club, due to a very unlucky right hand shift but, kept our heads high and carried on to win the next two. After that we had a record of 4 wins and 5 losses which put us in 6th, losing the tie breaker to Rose Cup Veteran Conrad Vandilik.
We were not totally content but, we were happy to have found a groove and wished that we could have redone the first day. If we sailed like we had the second day we would have done a lot better. But, that is the goal of every regatta ever sailed, you always leave better than you started. Going into the final day the Organizing Authority at Oakcliff Sailing Center revised the format to consist of knock outs due to lack of breeze. This meant we had one last chance to climb one more spot before the regatta was over. The team was pumped and we were ready to go to work, but were met with no wind yet again. Unfortunately the wind never filled and they called off sailing for the rest of the day, thus ending the regatta. So, it was decided off the Round Robin and the team and I took home 6th place.
We would like to congratulate Jack Parkin and Team for a regatta well sailed and Conrad Vandilik and Team for taking home the Sportsmanship award. We would also like to thank Oakcliff Sailing and Sewanika Yacht Club for hosting a great event given the conditions, as well as the Balboa Yacht Club’s Maritime Sciences and Seamanship Foundation, and The Bahia Sail Racing Association for helping us attend this fantastic event.