Issue date
It has been a few months since I have updated on what I’ve been doing and where I’ve been racing. Trust me, that it is not because there has been a lack of news to update everyone on – quite the opposite, it has been a very action packed few months!
I spent the first few weeks of November 2012 in Auckland getting some good basic skills back training in my Laser. It was good to get rid of some of the cobwebs, after being so in and out of the boat for the previous few months.
At the end of November I was off again, to do my final ‘big boat’ events of 2012. First stop was Ft. Lauderdale in Florida, USA to sail with team ‘Warpath’ in the Melges 32 Gold Cup regatta. We had awesome windy, big wave, extreme conditions for the three days of racing. Plenty of crashes, wipe outs and action throughout the week made for some exciting and fun racing. We finished 5th overall, but had a great week of fun and I continued to learn different things from sailing on the same boat as other very experienced sailors such as Paul Goodison (who was our tactician for the event).
The night that racing finished in Ft. Lauderdale, I was immediately on a plane to Rio, Brazil for the final event of the 2012 Extreme Sailing Series. It was the first time I had been to South America and I was excited to get to race on the 2016 Olympic waters as well as check out the city and experience a totally new culture for the first time.
This was my final event racing with team ‘Oman Air’, and our performance at this event would ultimately determine where we finished overall for the 2012 season. We sailed in VERY tricky, shifty conditions all week and managed to be in the running for a podium position going into the final day of racing. The entire season for us ended up coming down to the final downwind of the final race (in very ‘unpredictable’ conditions) and after a nail biting finish to the season we ended up 3rd for the final Rio event, and 2nd overall for the 2012 season which was an awesome result. The whole team did a great job throughout the time I was sailing with them and I can’t thank them enough for the opportunity to be part of such an experienced team!
During the week I was in Rio, I didn’t have much spare time to check the whole place out but the culture and weather was amazing. Racing under the Christo Redento Statue (Christ the Redeemer) was pretty cool, the statue really is massive! Trying to keep my fitness up while away at ‘big boat’ events is always a challenge but early morning runs and circuits by the beach were a daily occurrence in Rio. A ‘Rio Style’ gym which is just a sand pit by the beach with some pull up bars and a whole bunch of weights made from concrete and steel rods. Pretty cool place to do a workout with an awesome view!
I flew out at 2am the next morning/night racing finished for my next stop – Sydney. A short flight to Buenos Aires, followed by a mammoth flight to Sydney (15 hours+!) and I had finally arrived...slightly jet lagged I have to admit. I was in Sydney to do the Sydney International Regatta, my first Laser regatta since Kiel Woche six months earlier in the year.
Sydney International Regatta is known for the very difficult conditions Sydney Harbour has to offer. A combination of shifty offshore conditions inside the harbour and thousands of other boats sailing around make the racing very much a ‘head out of the boat’, tactical game. You have to dodge keel boats, other dinghies including the high speed 18ft skiffs, motor boats and the huge Manly Ferries which don’t stop for anything! In the Laser fleet, timing your upwind tactics well for the shifts as well as for other boats waves which are going upwind is very important, and if you get it wrong you are in a bit of trouble way behind the leaders. Often the speed of the Laser is just fast enough to catch the waves coming off the big ferries or other motor boats, and once you get on those waves you go way higher and faster making your VMG sometimes more than two times greater than someone who hasn’t got on the waves!
Over the four days of racing in Sydney, I managed some good and bad results. I was never on ‘fire’, and lacked a little bit of basic feel for the boat and the simple things weren’t going as smooth as usual. My speed right next to a competitor was often good, but not that extra something special that makes a big difference in the Laser fleet. I ended up 5th overall at the end of the week, pretty disappointed with my result but knowing what I needed to work on which would make a big difference in closing the gap to the front of the fleet. A lot of it was just time in the Laser which was lacking the few weeks prior to the event. My NZL Sailing Team mate Sam Meech won the event after sailing awesome all week – congrats! Results
I returned to NZ and had a couple weeks off the water, just having a break from sailing and keeping my fitness up over the Christmas and New Year holiday period. It was nice to spend time with family and friends and just relax a little bit over this time, getting psyched up for a fun-filled 2013 season!
After a couple weeks back in the Laser the first regatta of 2013 had arrived - the New Zealand Laser National Championships (16-20 Jan). I travelled down to Napier (about a five hour drive South of Auckland) a few days before the event and spent my time getting used to the sailing conditions and making sure my boat was ready to race. We had every wind strength, coming from every direction over the four days of racing. Sam Meech and I had a tight contest throughout the event but I managed to string together some good racing in the second half of the regatta to become the 2013 Laser National Champ! Results
It’s awesome to win my first New Zealand Laser Nationals and get my name on the trophy alongside some sailing legends like Dean Barker. Thanks to my Mum for travelling down to Napier with me and accompanying me at a regatta for the first time in a while! It was a nice addition to have good food brought to me after coming in from racing each day, pretty sweet! Final Regatta Report here
I returned back up to Auckland and organised my boat to load into the Yachting NZ container heading to Europe, arriving for the first of the European ISAF World Cup events which start the beginning of April. Getting my boat and gear into the container and closing the doors was a good feeling, thanks to a couple of my suppliers Harken NZ and NZ Sailing for setting my boat up with the best blocks and ropes out there. I’m definitely getting excited for the 2013 European season which is fast approaching!
My next regatta is Oceanbridge Sail Auckland which begins on the 2nd of February. I’m looking forward to getting a week of training in and then getting back out on the race course and competing!
Thanks for all of the support,
Cheers!
Andy
