| Lessons Relearned On Day 2 Of Radial Worlds | | Print | |
|
July 10, 2010
Largs, Scotland
Today didn't go so well at the 2010 Radial Worlds . It was a tough day with tricky conditions. I pulled off two very bad races to drop a lot in the overall standings. I haven't even looked at the results to see where I am, but I know that I have to sail exceptionally well for the rest of the event for a good finish. 
A Busy Start
Photo: (c) Marc Turner, July 2010
But instead of whining during this blog about how I didn't do well and
had bad luck, which today, I created, I decided tol share the mental debrief that I had with myself on the way in from the course.
I asked myself what went wrong today. In the first race, I had a great start, but then focused in on my own boat and speed and stopped looking around at the fleet. Next thing I know, the fleet from the pin end of the line was crossing me and I was down 15 degrees on my compass. I had two choices: Icould either tack at this point under those boats, and be on the lift, or cross behind them, and tack on their hip where it looked like there would be a bit more pressure. Well, I did the latter and it didn't work. In the second race, I chose similarly badly; I was so adamant about the right hand side, I sacrificed my start to start on port at the boat to get out to the right first. 
Windward Mark Rounding
Photo: (c) Marc Turner, July 2010
That's what I decided on the course. But today's conditions were not good for legging it out to the side and hoping for the best. I was trying to be a hero in my head, but ended up being a zero. Today was the type of day where you had to sail on the lift and sail in and towards the pressure. You couldn't chase the pressure, and you didn't always get the lane you wanted. Sometimes a shift would come unexpectedly, but you had to sail it as you would if no one was in front of you. If this meant that I had to tack under the boats from the left side of the course, then so be it. If we were in a left shift now, then the wind would come back right a little bit at some point. If you are in 15th place, you can pick away at the boats one by one to finish the race top 10. If you risk it all early, and put yourself in 40th place, you will run out of time picking back boats. Debriefing the second race, I decided that because it was so shifty, I shouldn't have committed myself to a side early. Again, I was putting all my chips on the table at once and hoping for the best, but as it turned out I lost them all. It wasn't worth sacrificing a good start, to get to a side early. If I had started properly, then I would have been even with everyone off the line and could have tacked on the first shift. I would have had more options and no doubt a better result. These are simple tactical decisions that I learned a long time ago, but for whatever reason, couldn't grasp them today. It was a frustrating day for me because I used to be a conservative and consistent sailor. I wouldn't take big risks on the course and I would be satisfied with being close to everyone at the top mark and making my move from there. It was a big wake up call to return to that style of sailing. But I'm glad that it happened now. There is a lot of regatta left, and although I have made my regatta very difficult at this point, anything is possible. I have a renewed appreciation for big fleet racing and tactics. Tomorrow is a new day, and I am very much looking forward to taking to the water again tomorrow. You can check the results out at the regatta website . I would like to thank Carmeuse and Trinity Yachts for their continued support of our campaign for the 2012 Olympics in London. I would also like to thank US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) and its sponsors for their support. Sail Hard, Anna Team Tunnicliffe |