San Fran Training Recap
I've just returned home after three fantastic weeks of training in San Francisco. The camp was a huge success, and I can't emphasize enough how smoothly everything ran. I owe a huge thanks to our coach, Mike Kalin, for working with us everyday. Not only was it convenient to work with Mike--he lives about 100 yards from the yacht club, we had debriefs at his house everyday, and he had access to a coach boat and other resources in the area--but he is also the USSTAG Laser coach. He always gives thoughtful insight, provides us with great video and photos, and works hard to make sure our day is productive; any amount of time I can spend with Mike is worth it.
A second 'thank you' has to go to the Richmond Yacht Club. They welcomed our eight person Laser team (as well as three Radial sailors and a handful of 49ers) with open arms. We were able to keep our boats right on the dock next to the ramp, have access to the shower and locker room facilities, and make use of classrooms, tide maps, and their parking lot. We couldn't have had as successful of a trip as we did without their generous support, and Richmond Yacht Club was the perfect venue for training in the Berkeley Circle everyday.
Sailing through the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Photo Credit: Mike Kalin
The purpose of this trip to San Francisco was to get in as much heavy air sailing this month as possible in preparation for the World Championship in Perth, Australia, in December. While there, I trained for 13 out of 16 days in breeze that ranged from 15-25 knots. By the end of the camp, 15 knots now seems like a light air day! We were able to take advantage of the long reach out to the course by splitting it up into three lengthy segments. With three reaches out and three reaches back in everyday, my reaching skills certainly improved. We also did plenty of upwind grinding, long downwinds (including two downwind runs where we towed outside of the Golden Gate bridge before turning around and sailing downwind back in a strong ebb tide!), and plenty of boathandling drills.
While out there, I was also able to meet up with Tracy Usher, the President of the North American Laser Class Association. For those who don't know, the Laser class is currently in the process of coming out with a new sail and composite top section. Tracy had prototypes of both at his disposal and allowed us to try them out for a few days.
Sailing Upwind with the new Laser sail. Photo Credit: Mike Kalin
In my opinion, both the sail and the new top section are "no brainers" for the long-term success of the Laser. The sail is made from 4.5 ounce cloth (an upgrade from the 3.8 ounce cloth that we currently have) and is radial cut. It has a bigger window at the bottom to make vision on the course easier. It's also much more aesthetically pleasing. (ie there are no ugly wrinkles between the joint of the top/bottom section and the end of the boom.) We tested two sails while out there: one new one and one that had over 150 days of sailing on it! It was incredible to see that the new sail and the old one both looked and performed similarly. Most importantly, though, I think the sail was very comparable speed wise to the old one. It'd be interesting to try it more in a variety of conditions, but in general it was pretty even in the conditions we were training in.
Reaching Drill with the new Laser sail. Click on the photo for a larger view and to see the radial cut in more detail. Photo Credit: Mike Kalin
The top section is amazing. It weighs the same as a current top section and has the same bend characteristics, but is made of carbon fiber instead of aluminum. Everything is the same except that it does not bend at the end of the day! When this top section becomes approved, you will no longer see people trying to straighten their mast after a windy day, people won't have to twist their spars precisely to line up the rivets (there are no rivets with the carbon fiber spar because the collar is epoxied on), and you won't have to purchase a new top section every other regatta! During our training, we rotated the spar around to a few different sailors to try out, and they all said that they didn't notice any difference in performance. More importantly, our coach said that he couldn't even tell who had the spar and who didn't when looking at our rigs on the water. This thing is LEGIT!
It was really cool to be a part of the testing period for both the sail and the top section. I'm not sure what the time frame for either is (the dispute between Laser Performance and Global Sailing needs to be resolved first), but for sure neither will be released for use on the international circuit before the Olympics. Look for them to come out right after the Olympics or in 2013. I'm excited though!
Overall, the camp was a huge success. I definitely think my heavy air sailing improved, and I'm hoping that I can bring some of these skills to Perth with me this December. In the meantime, I'm home for a couple of weeks for some downtime. Next weekend I head up to Newport, RI, for my brother's wedding which should be exciting. Then I head to another four-day boot camp in Colorado Springs before going to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for the Pan American Games! It should be an exciting fall.
Stay tuned for some video highlights from my training the last two months!
