New Zealand Team report from Day 3 of Optimist Worlds in Malaysia
by Robert Burn on 2 Jan 2011
Jayvee Buchanan - 2010 Optimist Worlds, Langkai, Malaysia International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA)
http://www.optiworld.org/
New Zealand Yachting Trust Optimist Team report form the Optimist World Championships being staged in Langkawi, Malaysia:
Warning: Disclaimer and Health warning. This message may or may not be completely accurate, depending on the availability of the completed Racing results, the addled memories of Crispy fried parents manning a spectator boat and dodgy recollections of sailors who may , or may not have had good races.
New years Eve didn't have a great effect on our sailors as Coach Willzy imposed discipline and herding them to bed reasonably early. They were all impressed by the line up of 'Boy Racer' cars at the front of the sailing centre, lit up brightly coloured and making more noise than a row of 747s at full throttle. Some of us parents relished the opportunity to sit and drink with the Peruvian Opti President, non- English speaking Italians, partially English speaking Bulgarians and our own very chatty Portuguese photographer, Mario. For a 'Dry' sailing centre, piles of beer and other strong beverages were plied on us as we enjoyed the ambience of the 747's and the drifting smoke of the ring of BBQ's .....a bit like the scene from Apocalypse Now... All this while a Malay cultural party was putting on an elegant show under canvas. The organisers did a great job for the sailors, even the hotel put on an early evening do with Party packs ....but who in their right mind would give kids a whistle and mini vuvuzela each in a confined space?
As with yesterday the forecast didn't promise much but the breeze was up for the early start, the sailors hit the water...even our friendly fisherman turned up on time with our spectator boat.
Race 6.
First start was in 6 plus knots and the right side was favoured. Jayvee and Liv were first up, Jayvee was 31st at the wing mark, Liv 55. Both sailors made a lot of ground up to finish 17th and 34th respectively. The wind was starting to lighten and shift left but most sailors were favouring the right up the course.
Second start was Markus and William. Both had great starts and Markus was 2nd around the top mark. He was third at the wing mark but got caught on the wrong side of a shift and finished 12th, his best race so far and another confidence builder. William rounded the wing mark around 30th and finished strongly at 26th.
Third start was Taylor as lone Kiwi, with a judge boat following him almost all the race he couldn't blink ...rounded the wing mark 35th, finished 28th.
Race 7
First start William and Liv. Liv was up the front of the pack straight away, 7th around the wing mark and finished well at 11th. William was 29th around the wing but lost ground in the heavy traffic on the beat up, finishing 35th.
Second start was Jayvee alone. Jayvee hit the front early on and increased his lead all the way around the Course. Another Win for Jayvee and the Kiwis.
Third start was Markus and Taylor. The breeze was getting softer and becoming very shifty. Markus was 35th at the wing mark, Taylor 9th. Markus clawed back some places to finish 31st, Taylor lost a couple of spots right on the finish line to end up 11th.
Race 8 has become very controversial, a large wind shift played havoc with all the flights, some benefited, some went from the front to the back in a matter of minutes. All Flights became mixed up, some sailors got wind and streaked away, others just went nowhere ....some sailors rounding the Top mark as others in their Flight finished.
At the time of writing, several protests against the Race Committee have been lodged and the outcome is not yet known.
First start Liv as Lone Kiwi was first up. Most of the fleet went right in a dying breeze and the whole fleet ended up spread from the top mark to the finish line. Liv finished 61. She was in good company, the overall Championship leader so far, a Thai sailor, was 3rd to last going around the wing mark ...not happy.
Start two Taylor and William this time, both started ok but Taylor went hard left to follow what breeze there was, most of the flight went right again. William got caught the heavy traffic and Taylor was in a small group that steamed up to the top mark and were away. Taylor finished 3rd, his best so far. William was 56th.
Start three Jayvee and Markus in the last race of the day. There was breeze but you had to be in the right place. The third start soon caught the other fleets and they become very mixed, it was pretty hard to work out who was who. Markus was around 65th at the wing, pulling back some places to finish 57th. Jayvee finished 33 but was OCS. We are gutted for Jayvee, the tragedy, or irony, was the Indian sailor starting beside Jayvee was also OCS. He went round the Pin end to restart and such were the conditions, finished second.
It was a really tough day for some and very trying conditions, the positive thing for most will be that this is a great learning experience that they will become stronger from. There were many sailors that only see the course from the very front most races, and found themselves as 'tail end charlies' The breeze was beautiful again as we all went in.
The provisional results for eight races are up for everyone to see, Taylor 16th, Jayvee 46 (plus OCS to come), Liv 67th, William 92nd and Markus 131st. The regatta is half way through and much will change with each race. We are 200 points ahead of the Aussies in the Rankings so far so that is positive.
Team sailing today, our sailors will have a chance to do something different, refocus, have some fun and be fired up the Fleet racing again in three days time.
View the Tracking system, it is easy to use, each race for each sailor can be replaying, out sailors are loving it.
Go Kiwis
Rob
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