Brandon Wood, Megan Kenney, Colin Averill, Ryan Davidson, Gregg Kent, Jeff Tolan and Christophe Killian representing Balboa Yacht Club
On Tuesday, June 21st , Balboa Yacht Club’s team of seven sailors, Ryan Davidson and his crew; Gregg Kent, Megan Kenney, Jeff Tolan and Brandon Wood and his crew; Christophe Killian, Colin Averill (Walker Banks was not able to make it due to illness), left for a great match racing clinic and regatta opportunity at USSC Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Everyone was very excited to learn more about match racing tactics from Dave Perry. We had a couple hours of delay while changing planes in Dallas, Texas due to weather. We took off from Dallas through thunder and lightning storm. When we landed at the Milwaukee Airport and waited for one final passenger to arrive for our shuttle to Sheboygan, who ended up being our coach, Dave Perry. We arrived in Sheboygan around 3:00 a.m.
Wednesday began the clinic at the Sheboygan Yacht Club on Lake Michigan. The first day we were coached on boat handling in the Sonars. The first day’s weather was a downpour with approximately ten knots of breeze. Brandon’s team realized they need a fourth person to sail with them so they borrowed a local sailor. Lake sailing was also something that I had never done before, and the puffs, lulls, headers and lifts became extremely exaggerated. On Thursday we began practicing downwind tactics and pre-starts. Dave also gave his students a match racing playbook and he used a lot of footage from out on the water. We ended our full day soaked to the bone, but we had learned a lot.
The regatta began on Friday. In the morning classroom session, Dave covered killing penalties and then came the regatta. The day’s weather began with a little sun poking and a little rain. The racing day ended with Ryan Davidson in second, and Brandon Wood in fourth. On Saturday, we actually had sun, much to the elation to our team. The wind shifted after three races from the north to the southeast. During the last leg of one of our races, due to the shifty winds, a twenty boat length lead became a photo-finish. Further, the semi-finals began with the second and third placed teams, Ryan Davidson against Will Haeger, and the first and fourth place teams, Judge Ryan, against Brandon Wood, fighting it out for the finals. The day ended at the yacht club, with an amazing presentation from Vendee Globe skipper, Rich Wilson.
Sunday, our last day of racing, began with very light winds and it took a while for wind to fill in. When the racing began, Ryan Davidson’s team lost to Will Haeger, by a small distance. Brandon Wood’s team beat the undefeated Judge Ryan (SDYC), by over half a leg after catching a huge lefty. Judge Ryan and Lake Beulah’s Haeger sailed in the finals with Ryan earning the top spot and the final seat in the Governor’s Cup. Meanwhile, after finishing with the semi-finals, the two BYC teams sailed back to the docks, after spending a week full of great camaraderie and learning. The final standings were Judge Ryan (San Diego Yacht Club) in first, Will Haeger 2nd (Lake Beulah Yacht Club), Ryan Davidson 3rd (Balboa Yacht Club), and Brandon Wood 4th (Balboa Yacht Club). We left our host’s home by van to Milwaukee Airport, then by bus to O’Hare Airport. We arrived at LAX tired, but happy around 1:00 in the morning.
The match-racing clinic in Sheboygan was the best clinic I had ever attended, and the BYC teams took full advantage of this great learning opportunity. Thank you very much to the Sheboygan Yacht Club, USSC Sheboygan, Coach Dave Perry, and Zahn and Snyder families for housing out teams. Most of all, a big thank you to Balboa Yacht Club and the BYC Maritime Sciences & Seamanship Foundation for providing us with this generous chance to sail. All of us who were there will use the information to build upon in our sailing careers.
Submitted by Jeff Tolan