During my spring break I had the privilege of attending the 2012 CISA Clinic at ABYC in Long Beach, sailing Laser Radials. This four day Clinic and regatta elevated my sailing ability so much and this was due to the amazing, world class, coaching, and the high level of sailors.
The four days were broken down into four segments, one for each day. The first day began with boat handling and 15 knots. That day we mainly did wind sprints in order to strengthen our upwind and downwind skills, we focused mainly on sail trim and form. The second day comprised of boat speed, however due to 35 knots and white out downpours we were not able to go out until later on in the day. Once the majority of the storm passed we went out. The wind was at about 15-18 knots and a lot of waves, which made for fun downwind and long upwind beats.
The third day was mainly based on tactics and racing and the 10-15 knots proved for difficult conditions for all. The final day was the regatta which brought together all of the skills that we had learned over the last three days. The regatta comprised of 5 races; the first race I achieved a first as I had been the first Radial out on the course and was able to gain the best tactical knowledge for the race, and because of that I was able to come up with a good game plan which set me up for the race. The next two races I unfortunately overthought the tactics and had two bad starts which resulted in a 6 and 7, then in the final two races the wind began picking up to roughly 10-11 knots and I settled into good starts and clean air and was able to get a 4th then on the final race I was leading but unfortunately during the last four boat lengths of the last beat I dropped the main during a tack which resulted in a second. Had I not gotten that second and instead received 1st I would have ended up 2nd overall.
However this clinic was an amazing experience as it was last year, I learned so much and saw where I need to improve for the upcoming racing season. Thank you so much to the BYC Maritime Sciences & Seamanship Foundation for your continued support!
Gregg Kent