Kyle Martin Laser Sailing

ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami

2013-02-03T20:03:00.001-08:00

This is my third year competing at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami regatta and it was the best finish I have had yet. I finished 3rd in silver fleet and 43rd out of 70 bats that were entered. The regatta was held a week later this year, from January 28 to February 5. I flew down to Miami three days before the event stated, I was short of training time but it was the only way that I could make it work with school.

The weather was by far the best we have had in Miami in some time. There was hiking breeze every day but one and even in that day there was enough to get some good races off. I was a little rusty having not done that much sailing over the winter because of school. Most of the rust was in the boat handling stuff, my tactics and boat speed felt good. I felt fast upwind. I got to the top mark in good shape a few times during qualifying, getting to the top mark in third in one of the windy races. I was hoping to make gold fleet and was disappointed that I did not make it. After qualifying I was the 3rd boat going into the silver fleet and was able to maintain that till the end of the event. The last day of sailing was the windiest of the regatta, I had a good day coming second in the first race, fifth in the second and second in the last race of the regatta. I was happy with the way I was sailing as the event was coming to an end, the thus teaching me I need more than three days to get back in the boat after some time not sailing full time.

We were staying at a local hotel that had a full kitchen which was great allowing us to cook all of our own meals. It was also within walking distance to the club, meaning that there was no need to drive the truck there every day, which in Miami is a huge plus.

I am now going back to school and will be hitting the gym hard as well as trying to continue to sail as much as possible. After I finish school in the spring I will be back to sailing full time. The one thing that I am finding with not be able to sail all the time is it is really making me get all I can out of the days that I get.

-Kyle

Dale Jepsen One Design Regatta

2012-09-15T19:43:00.000-07:00

The Dale Jepsen One Design Regatta was held at the Bellingham Yacht Club on September 15th and 16th. This was the third year that I have gone to this event and the third year that I have won the regatta. There were 20 boats in my fleet. Full results can be found here.

As always this event was a ton of fun. There was delicious food after sailing on both days. Unlike in the past the winds were light for both days of the event. In the past there has been one light day and one day with great wind. The race committee did a great job with the conditions that we were given, learning after the first day and making some changes for the second.

This year the rest of the Royal Vancouver team came down to Bellingham and this was awesome as it made that event way bigger than it would have be otherwise. The team brought the 12 boat trailer, it was almost full, and the everyone had a great time. The regatta organizers were really helpful and welcoming to everyone. The huge amount of supplied food was a hit with the whole team. I am looking forward to coming back next year and I think the team will be making it an annual event.

-Kyle

CORK OCR

2012-08-25T22:47:00.007-07:00

CORK OCR was held in Kingston Ontario from August 18th to 22nd. I finished 8th out of the 33 boats that were entered in the event. The full results can be found here

I drove to to Kingston from Vancouver with the club trailer which was a 50 hour drive. There were two of us sharing the drive. This was an interesting experience and it certainly was a great way to see lots of Canada however it tuned out to be an uneventful drive in terms of any great adventures or problems. After arriving I helped coach the RVYC team for the CORK International youth event in which the team did really well finishing with seconds in both the Laser and Radial. This event ended on Thursday the 16th so I only had one day of training before starting the OCR (Olympic Classes Regatta). That one training day turned out to be a great day of sailing with strong wind and some awesome waves.

The regatta started off with light and shifty wind for the first race. As the day went on the winds built and steadied out a bit. The pattern of the first race being lighter then building for the second and third being the windiest of the day went on all week. The time at which the wind came in and the strength that it built to differed day to day but we did not miss one race for lack of wind. The laser course was lucky in the fact that we had the latest start of all the fleets which meant that there was more time for the thermal to fill in. It was also the farthest course from shore which meant that it was the first to get the thermal.

We had some very interesting racing, most of the time Kingston is a go left place but because of where our course was you could play the shifts and make some big come backs. However, as the wind built it was more and more important to get to the left side. This made it a lot more of a thinking game that it normally is in Kingston.

I am home how and am heading off to school for the winter. I will be doing my best to keep training as much as I can. The plan as of right now is to take some time off around Christmas and train in Miami before the Miami OCR.

-Kyle

Laser North Americans

2012-07-23T18:24:00.000-07:00

The Laser North Americans were held at the Gorge near Portland, Oregon. It was held from July 19th to 22nd. I finished 9th out of the 51 boats in the event. Full results can be found here.

I drove down about a week before the regatta with my boat on the roof. I was camping just off the regatta site at Cascade Locks. It was an awesome spot. I picked up a BBQ for our campsite and we cooked on that almost every night. Because of the winds there was never any bugs at our site.

The team and I got a lot of training off before racing started. The first day was windy. It was 19 kts gusting up to the high 20s. However on the second day of training it got properly wind. It was steady 30kts gusting 36kts as measured by the weather station on the side of the river. Day three was a lot like the second with huge winds.

After that the the days of training started to blend together but most of them were really windy. We did a lot of training, working hard on calling the lay lines in the current and finding the best way to take advantage of it up wind.

The day before the regatta started was my birthday so the team went Go Karting in Portland. It was a lot of fun and a great way to take our minds off sailing. That night the team got me an awesome birthday cake.

The first day of the regatta brought light wind and chaos at the regatta site. There were about 180 boats total in the event and all of them had to measure in their sails. The regatta organizers did a good job of sorting it all out. After an hour postponement to wait for wind we got the first race going. The wind built throughout the day however it never got that windy.

Day two started off light and again built throughout the day. Over the first two days I had some decent and some really bad races. Day three was a bit windier and it continued to build and build. By the end it was really windy. I won the last race having had a good start and getting to the right side. I was 2nd around the top mark and then the first boat and I ground it out on the right side. We had a big lead by the top mark. I did not look around on the down wind and by the time I got to the bottom I was winning. Then I just sailed a good reach and last up wind. I was pumped about this race. It finally felt like my sailing was all starting to come together.

The last day was the windiest of them all. I was really pumped. I had an ok first race and then a horrible second. However in both of them I was top three the the top mark. The third and last race I was first to the top mark having started at the boat and been the first to tack off to the right. After the great rounding I sail a solid rest of the race. I lead the whole race winning the race. I was really happy with it. It felt great to end the regatta on a high note.

I am pleased with finishing in the top ten and know that my result could of been better with the level of sailing I was doing however rounding the top mark in the top three spot a lot of the time and my up wind speed, which I think was some of the best in the fleet, are big achievements.

I now have some time off before CORK so I will be doing some coaching.

-Kyle

Waves Regatta

2012-06-25T18:14:00.000-07:00

Waves regatta was held at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club from June 23nd to June 24th. I finished 2nd out of the 24 Boats entered in the event. The full results can be found here.

Most of the regatta was sailed in light winds out of the west. It was really tricky sailing with lots of current as there always is on Waves weekend, you had to go the the beach to get out of the current but if you went too far you would run out of wind. We got eight races off in total over the two days. At the end of both days we got into the hiking straps. I was happy with where I finished and this was by far my best Waves Regatta yet.

Next up for me, I am off to the Gorge for the Laser North Americans.
-Kyle

Sail For Gold

2012-06-10T22:02:00.000-07:00

Sail for Gold was held in Weymouth, the 2012 Olympic site for sailing,from the 4th to the 9th of June. We only ended up sailing three of the days after the regatta was cut short when a storm came through and winds started to blow north of 30kts. I finished 79th out of the 95 boats that were entered in the event.
We arrived in Weymouth after Delta Lloyd and started training right away. We did five days of training before the regatta started. Training was really good because we were able to train with a group that included the three best Laser sailors in the world. It was a great experience.

The regatta started with one of the longest days that I can remember having at an event. We were at the club at nine and on the water at quarter to ten for the scheduled start time of 11 o’clock. After towing 45 min out to the course we started our first race on time. However the wind quickly died and the race committee was forced to abandon the race and send us all to shore to wait for wind. Finally at around 5 o’clock our AP flag came down and we all went back out with another 45min tow. We did get one race off but it was past 8:30 by the time we were off the water. The race that we did get off was in light wind with some really strong current.

Strong currents, shifty winds and skewed sloppy waves were the norm for the event. By day two the wind had started to build and we got three races off. Though they got us caught up and back on schedule, r it was another long day with a very long tow in. On day three there were about 18-20kts and the trickiest down winds that I have sailed in a long time.

On the fourth day the forecast was for the wind to build throughout the day so the race committee moved the sliver fleets start back in the day. This was to make sure that the gold fleet could get their races off before the storm came in. Gold fleet did get their races off but when it was time for our fleets to go it was too windy to send us out. We spent a long time at the club waiting around for something to happen but in the end the wind never did die down and we did not get any races off that day.

For our last day they moved all of the races until later because the wind was forecast to die later in the day. After some time waiting around it became obvious that the wind was not going to die and the race committee blew off the day. After that we packed up the trailer and that was the end of Sail for Gold. It was a bit of a disappointment not to get any sailing on the last two days of the event but we did get a lot of training before the event. I am now on my way home for bit of a break after almost two months on the road. I am looking forward to it. The next event that I will be sailing will be the Waves Regatta out of Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. Then it is off the Gorge for the Laser North Americans.

-Kyle

Delta Lloyd Regatta

2012-06-01T02:58:00.002-07:00

The Delta Lloyd Regatta was held in Medemblik from May 22nd to May 27th. I finished 30th out of the 43 boats entered in the event as well 3rd Canadian and 5th in the last race. I was very happy with that. The full results can be found here.

After the Laser Worlds Al and I spent two days in Berlin doing some sightseeing before flying to Amsterdam. Then it was a short drive up to Medemblik where we were sailing. The place we were staying was a three bedroom cabin on the other side of the dike from the sailing center and it was great.

It was windy the first day that we sailed. After that the days were pretty similar with winds out of the North at 5-15kts. By the end of stay the weather had started to get really nice and we were in shorts most days.

We had five days of training before the regatta started and I missed only one for a lack of wind. Sailing here was a nice change from Boltenhagan as the water was warm and because it is a man made lake, fresh.

Racing started with three races per day for the first two days which made for long days. On day three we were only doing two races but after sailing the first 4 legs of the race it was blown off for lack of wind. Then we sat around and waited for the wind to come in and finally at four o’clock we started the race again. In the end we did not get to shore until 6:10 and having launched at 9 am made it a really long day on the water.

The next day there was more wind. The combination of the lake and the wind made for some tricky waves. Sailing down wind was not easy. The last day of racing was a one race day. I had an OK start by the boat and then I flipped and went a bit right. I sailed a nice beat and got to the top mark in 7th. I sailed a good downwind rounding the bottom mark in 6th. I had another good beat and was 8th at the top mark, then a great downwind finishing 5th.

The Delta Lloyd Regatta was great event with a lot of good guys in the fleet although it was considerably smaller than in the past. Now we are off to Weymouth, the sailing site of the 2012 Olympics, for Sail For Gold.

-Kyle

Laser World Championships

2012-05-12T14:32:00.003-07:00

The Laser worlds were held in Boltenhagen, Germany from May 2nd to May 10th. I finished 140th out of the 168 boats that were in the event. I was 28th in bronze fleet just making the top half. I was pleased with that. The full results can be found here.

Ricardo, I and our coach Al landed in Hamburg, then Ricardo and I picked up our new boats from the Laser Dealer in Hamburg. We stacked both of them on top of our rental car and headed up north to Boltenhagen. The place that we were staying was a nice sort of cabin house. It had a big open living room/ kitchen which was great for putting on sail numbers. From our house it was about a 10min drive to the sailing center which was on the other side of the town. The nice thing with staying where we were was that we were right beside the gym and grocery store.

We were lucky to have about 10 days of training before the event started. For the first three of those the wind was over the land from light to 12kts and shifty. However for the remaining days of training there was a sea breeze and it was between 15kts and 28kts depending on the day. It was the kind of place that when you went outside you know that it was windy because there was this whistle in the air. Ricardo and I came to call it the howl. Every morning it was there until we started racing!

There was almost no wind on the day of the practice race. Ricardo and I went out, started, did an upwind and down wind leg before the wind completely died and we got towed in. The first day of actual racing was a bit winder to start but was dying by the end of the day. Race one was one of my best of the event, I started at the pin, flipped on to port right away and got a bit of a lane. After tacking a few more times on some shifts I rounded to top mark in 20th. By the end of the race I had bled some boats and was back to 35th. The next race was similar to the first but with a bit lighter wind.

Over the following next three days of the qualifying series we got off all the races that were scheduled. The wind was quite similar, light with almost no hiking breeze. The forth and final day of qualifying was by far the coldest day of sailing that we had had the whole event. It had been cold during all the training and that did not surprise us because we are in north Germany very early in the year. At the end of qualifying I was sitting 155th and would be sailing the rest of the event in bronze fleet. Ricardo had made it into silver fleet which was great for him as it meant that he would have a shot at getting an Olympic spot.

The temperature was warming up for the three days of finals and with that came some more wind. Day one of finals was still quite light but by the end of day two we were hiking. on the last day we were full out hiking but the wind still did not ever get over 18kts.

I had some great races in the finals. In the very first race I was forth around the top mark but lost it all on the second up wind when the wind from the right and I was on the left. The next race was also good for me I got a top ten. The next day I had a great start, starting at the boat and going right. I got a nice shift and was 2rd to the top mark. I lost one boat on the second beat and finished the race 3rd. My second race of the day was similar to the first one I missed a shift and was 22nd in the race. The last day of the event was the windiest one that we had had. It was still a land breeze and was really shifty. I had two solid races and a great start in the last race.

This was my first Laser World Championship and I was happy with how it went. There were some times that I would have liked more wind. Now we are spending some time being tourists in Berlin before we head over to Holland for the Delta Loyd Regatta.

-Kyle

Laser Midwinters West

2012-03-27T23:53:00.000-07:00

The Laser Midwinters West Regatta was held at the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in Long Beach California from March 23rd to March 25th. I finished 7th out of the 44 boats entered. The full results can be found here.

I drove down from Vancouver with a coach and we pulled a second trailer. Our big trailer had been driven out straight from Florida. We left on Saturday morning and rolled into Long beach on Sunday night. We were staying at a nice hotel about as close to the Yacht Club as you can get although it was still a 10min drive. Our Royal Vancouver Yacht Club representation at this event was one of the biggest that we have had in years. There were fourteen sailors plus two coaches,six of us in full rig Lasers and eight in Radial.

We had four days before the event, spending the mornings making sure that all of the boats were set up correctly and then sailing in the afternoons as the winds started to build. There was hiking breeze for every day of training with clear blue skies. It could not have got much better.

As is so often the case the first day of the regatta brought light winds, overcast skies and smog. We did get the three races off that the race committee was trying for but after the first race there was no hiking to be done. The second race was my best of the day. After a good start at the pin I immediately tacked and got going on the lifted tack. I was third to the top mark passing both boats on the reach. One of them got past me as I protected the fleet on the second beat finishing the race in second and really happy with that.

Day two was a lot like day one with light wind and no hiking. The Race Committee was trying for four races but only managed to get three off. I had a solid day and was reasonably pleased with how I was sailing. It was nice for us to get some sailing in lighter winds as we have not had much of that over the winter.

On the third day of racing we arrived at the club to see sand blowing and the palm trees swaying. Most of the team was quite excited about this. However, shortly after arriving the Race Committee put up AP saying that it was too windy and and that they were going to wait for the front to go through. At 12:00 AP went down meaning a 1 o’clock start. We got out of the harbor and did a long upwind warm up before going and finding our committee boat. It turned out to still be windy with gusts up to 25kts and some nice big waves. The start line was really pin favored I started up the line abit but not in an ideal position. There were four of us from Royal Vancouver that were loving the winds! I got to the the first mark in third. After two more laps of the course and some rearranging of the fleet I ended up fourth behind three sailors from our team. We were hoping for more but there was only one race sailed that day. I finished the regatta in seventh and happy with that as it is a step up from my tenth last year at this event. Royal Vancouver Yacht Club ended up winning Laser full rigs with the boat in first and four boats in the top seven.

Up next for me is lots of gym work and training as I prepare for the Laser Worlds in Germany at the beginning of May.

-Kyle

March Madness

2012-03-11T14:38:00.000-07:00

The annual March Madness Regatta was held out of Royal Vancouver Yacht Club on March 10th and 11th. I won the event and six of the nine races. There were 10 boats racing the results can be found here.

On Saturday the wind was out of the East with a lot of velocity changes. During the first four races the wind was quite light although for the 5th and last race of the day it started to build. On the Sunday the wind was stronger, out of the South and blowing right over the Yacht Club. This made for some interesting and shifty racing. We sailed four races on Sunday.

The race committee did a great job getting off lots of races without keeping us on the water so long that we all froze. Next up it is off to some warmer weather in LA and Laser Midwinters West regatta.

-Kyle

Laser Midwinters East

2012-02-29T11:15:00.001-08:00

It is Monday morning and I am sitting in Denver airport on my way home after Laser Mid Winters East. The regatta was sailed between February 23 and February 26. There were 48 boats entered in the Laser and I finished 16th. The full results can be found here.

I took the day before the regatta off. This felt great after the busy training schedule that we had been on. The morning of the first day of racing we woke up to solid white outside of our apartment windows. We got to the club at 9 for the 11 o’clock start only to be postponed on shore due to the fog. The fog started to clear around 10:45 and we were racing by 11:30. We did three races on the first two days of racing. With hour long races and 18-20 kts of wind out of the S they were tiring days. Day two was a lot like day one with fog and an on shore AP in the morning.

For the third day the wind did a 180 and we got even more of it out of the N and with the current going S it made for some BIG waves. It was a day when not tacking too much and putting the bow down paid.

On the last day the wind started out looking a lot like the day before but as the day went on the wind started to swing to the E. However with the waves still rolling N to S it made for some really interesting sailing. It was easy to lose track of where the marks where when sailing downwind if you started to sail with the waves. I was able to make some gains by going what looked like high road but really was the rum line.

I am happy with the way that I sailed. I am still going fast up wind in breeze but I think that the biggest improvement for me is the fact that I am not losing on the runs.

As for now it’s back to Vancouver for some time at home. After almost 2 months away I am looking forward to my own bed. I will be doing some sailing in Vancouver and a lot of gym work. As always after a windy event one thing is clear, you can’t be too fit. Then around March 14 I will be heading down to LA for laser Mid Winters West.

-Kyle

Clearwater Training

2012-02-21T16:16:00.001-08:00

After the Miami OCR regatta I traveled to Clearwater Florida to spend three and a half weeks training before competing in the Laser Mid Winters Easts. We have now been here for just over three weeks and training has been going great. During our time here we have only missed out on sailing three of the days due to lack of wind.

I am here with Ricardo and our coach Al. We have been sailing three hours plus a day as well as fitness with biking and gym which have made for full days and good sleeps. The days are starting to blend but on most we did cardio in the morning then on water around 11 and gym after dinner.

On the sailing side of things we did it all; long up winds, short course, long course, mark rounding, and some really long down winds. For those we would drive the truck 25km down the coast to a landing spot and bike back to the sailing center. After sailing down the out side in the open ocean in some huge waves we would de-rig the boats, put the spars in the truck and tow the boats back to the sailing center with the coach boat on an inland water way. It does take a bit of work but it is totally worth it. We get 25km of amazing down wind sailing in big
waves and great wind.

It is funny how when you stay in a place for long enough the weather will give you a bit of every thing. The norm seems to be 22°C and sun with winds of around 15kts but lighter in the morning.
That said there was a two day cold snap that brought some high wind and then there was the day it was over cast with light wind. We have had a bit of it all but only one day with rain.

We are staying in a awesome corner apartment on the 16th floor. The place is nice with two bed rooms, two bath rooms and a great chilling
area - Ricardo is happy about that. There is a pool and hot tub down stairs which we have been getting some use out of.

With the training portion of our stay coming to an end I am starting to get stoked to race again. The forecast is looking good and I think that we are going to be in for a super event. From what I have seen in my time here Clearwater is one great place to sail.

-Kyle

Rolex Canadian Sailor of the Year Awards Dinner

2012-02-08T21:35:00.000-08:00

Last Friday I traveled from my winter training base in Clearwater, Florida to Toronto to attend the Rolex Canadian Sailor of the Year Awards Dinner where I was awarded the Bill Burke Youth Elite Memorial Award. I felt honored to be recognized for my achievements over the last year. We were treated to an amazing four course meal and a night in a very nice hotel. My mom was invited along and we had a great time exploring Toronto. My coach Al was also honored as the CYA Male Athlete of the Year. After spending the weekend in Toronto it is really nice to be back in Clearwater and the warmth. Today we are doing a 23km down wind and towing the boats back up which is going to be awesome.

-Kyle

Miami OCR

2012-01-30T20:30:00.000-08:00

The Miami OCR regatta is over and I am heading up the coast to Clearwater. The Miami OCR was held from Jan 22^th to Jan 28^th. I finished 50^th out of the 74 boats entered. Find results here. I was happy with this result but more than that I was happy with the way that my down wind speed had improved. I felt like I was going fast and even able to pass people. This is a big step forward for me as last year I was getting to top marks is good shape but being passed by boats on the downwind.

The weather for this event really could not have been better. I think that this might have been one of the most consistent Miami OCRs wind wise in quite some time. We never had a start delayed waiting for wind and every day there was enough to be hiking at some point in the day with most of the event being between 6kts and 15kts. The race committee did a great job getting off all the races at the scheduled time despite the fact that were 5 fleets on one course.

Our accommodation was the same place that we stayed last year. A nice apartment about a 10min bike from the sailing venue but right across the street from a gym and grocery store. By the time the event started there were 6 of us staying in the place. We did group meals every night and it seemed to work out quite well.

This year the Lasers were sailed out of the US Sailing center which is a change as we have been sailing out of the convention center. The US Sailing center is nice but it does get a bit crowded at times and there is no parking. It was a nice spot to be biking to.

I was lucky enough to be able to fly in just over a week before the event was to start. I spent this time training and working on my down wind speed. After a 3hr on water session training with team Canada, Ricardo and I would finish off with a long down wind. Leaving ourselves with no options but to sail in one day this took us over an hour and a half. After we got in we would head back to our place, eat some food the then head over to the gym for a bit. It was great training and the weather was warm. Not much changed after the regatta started as we were on water quite early most mornings so had a fair bit of time in the afternoon to do stuff.

Now the trailer is loaded and we are driving up the coast to Clearwater for over a month of training. We are going to be focusing on downwind, doing some really long ones where we sail downwind then tow the boats back up with the coach boat.

-Kyle

2011-11-16T20:20:00.001-08:00

This video was taken of me during a great, windy training session we had last week. The other boat in the video is my training partner Ricardo Montemayor who sails for Mexico (MEX). It is days like this that just do not come often enough to English Bay. But when they do you have to jump on them. On this day I did the double session. But now Vancouver is back to lots of rain and not so much wind.

Kyle

Dale Jepsen One Design Regatta Write up in 48° North

2011-11-10T23:46:00.000-08:00

This Write up from the Dale Jepsen One Design Regatta appeared in the November 2011 issue of 48° North on page 38 and 39.

Bluenose Regatta

2011-11-06T22:30:00.000-08:00

The Bluenose regatta and the Royal Vancouver club champs were held out of the Kits Yacht Club. Day one brought no wind in the morning. We were postponed till around 1:00. The first race got under way in a really light easterly but by the last leg the wind had done a 180 and we were beating up wind in a nicely building westerly. The next three races were sailed in about a 6-10kt westerly. It was some good English bay racing with the beach paying as it most always does. Then it was down to Kits Yacht Club for after sailing homemade chili and fresh baked bread. I had a good solid day, three 2^nds and a 3^rd I was sitting in 2^nd just one point out of first

The morning of day two there was not a breath of wind to be had. The race committee did try to get a race off at the scheduled time of 12:00 but it ended in abandonment. Then we just played the waiting game till 2:30 when a bit of a westerly came in with a lot of south in it. We were able to get one shifty race in before the 3:00 time limit. I was 3^rd right behind my dad. It had been a long cold day of sitting around but it was nice to get a race off. After sailing it was back to Kits Yacht Club for more leftover chili and awards. Ricardo won 1st was 2^nd and my Dad completed the podium finishing 3^rd. Full results can be found here.

It was another great bluenose regatta with light wind, some tricky racing and as always awesome homemade food.

Kyle martin

CYA National Sailing Championships Training

2011-10-24T16:22:00.001-07:00

CYA National Sailing Championships

2011-10-02T21:13:00.000-07:00

The CYA National Sailing Championships regatta was held at the St. Margarita Bay Sailing Club between Sept-28th and Oct-1st. I finished 16th out of 22 boats. The regatta results can be found here.

Ricardo and I flew out four days before the event started. The first day there was not a breath of wind so we unloaded our boats from the trailer and did not sail. Later on that night Al (my coach) got in after multiple flight delays. The next day brought more of the team and enough wind to sail. We had a great session sailing, at the end the wind swung a round and we got some hiking breeze out of the SW. There was more of the same the next day and we got great training in with some really good sailors. The day before the regatta started we went out for a shorter session and it was by far the best wind we had had so far.

The first day of the event brought winds of about 10-14kts. I had a good first race after which I had some good up winds and some slow down winds. I was not overly happy with the way I sailed. Day 2 brought almost a carbon copy of the first day and I sailed about the same. On day three I was just hoping for something different and I got just that. We woke up to some serious fog but by the time we were to start racing it had burned off a little. There was 12kts for the start of the first race then it built to a round 18kts by the end of the day. This was my best day so far, I could finally make the boat go. My results got better throughout the day although my down winds were still nothing special. The last day was a lot like the first two; I had a good start although I was OCS. Despite that it was a good race and I was happy with how I sailed.

Overall the event was excellent. We had great accommodation as we were staying a 30sec walk from the sailing club and we had our own launch ramp and dock right outside of the place we were renting.

As for right now I am happy to be home and looking forward to spending some time here which is something I have not done in a long long time.

Dale Jepsen One Design Regatta

2011-09-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

The Dale Jepsen One Design Regatta was held in Bellingham Harbor out of the Bellingham Yacht Club on the weekend of September 17 and 18. There were 17 boats entered in the laser fleet.

Day one brought around 20kts building as the day went on. The wind was shifty and unstable we got three races off before the wind got to be too much and the race committee sent us in. My scores the first day were 1,1,2.

On day two the race committee held us on shore for an hour because it was too windy. By the time we went out the wind had died off to about 18kts and it would continue to die throughout the day. There were 5 races run with the last two almost drifters. In fact the wind did completely die on our sail in. My results from day two were 1,2,1,6,3. I won the event with 10 points between me and the boat in second. The event results can be found here.

CYA Youth National Sailing Championships

2011-09-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

The CYA Youth National Sailing Championships were held at the St. Margaret Sailing Club, between August 26 and September 1st. There were 15 boats entered in the laser fleet. The first two days were a training camp. We had wind and a good training session the first day but the next day there was a hurricane predicted to blow through so the organizers canceled training for the day. Our Royal Vancouver team went out anyways and it was a great day of training although the wind was really starting to pick up during our sail in. After all the preparation for the hurricane it was downgraded to a tropical storm and almost missed us altogether.

For the first day of racing there was still a bit left over weather from the storm the day before and there was around 18 kts. The race committee got two races off, I finished 1st and 2nd respectively. The wind was out of the SW and it paid to go left.

The next few days saw the breeze lightening and swinging N as the passing storm had sucked the sea breeze out with it. The last day of racing brought one really light race in the morning then the wind swung around to the SW and the last race of the event was sailed in a fresh sea breeze.

I won the event with a 9 point gap to 2nd. The event results can be found here. I am looking forward to heading back to Halifax for the CYA National Sailing Championships next week.

CYA Youth Champs

2011-08-31T14:40:00.000-07:00

Write up in the local paper after the second day of racing at the CYA Youth Champs.

Up to date results can be found here

CORK Olympic Classes Regatta

2011-08-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

CORK Olympic Classes Regatta started out great for me with my first race a 5th. The weather at this event was ok. The first day brought some wind for the first two races then dying for the last one. Day two brought thunder shower warnings and great wind, We got one start off just as the lighting started and it wasn't long before the race committee blew off the race and we returned to dry land. That was it for day two. On the third day we got one race off right away. There was ok wind for this one. I had a good start near the pin and headed to the left witch had been the favored side all week. I had good upwind speed I finished up 8th. Then there was a wind shift and it took two hours to reset the course. We got one more race off before the wind started to do circles. On day four the race committee was in makeup mode. We did four races in four hours. I did not have the best day, but it also was not the worst day. The wind was about 10-12kts and a little shifty. Last day, day five. When we get to the club the AP flag is up and there is great wind really great wind. Well it turns out that the race committee thought that there was too much to race in. According to the coach that went out there was only 20-22 kts. That was it- they called off the day. What sailing we did get I think was excellent training. I ended up 15th overall and top junior. Results can be found here. Now we are off the CYA Youth Champs in Halifax.

CORK International

2011-08-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

CORK International was held in Kingston at the Portsmouth Olympic Harbor which is a fantastic place to sail. Most of the summer there are good winds out of the west, but not for the first three day of racing this time. Day one was ok wind was out of the north east, it was very shifty and there were some very big puffs. All three of our starts where really pin favoured, the first one you could not make on starboard. I made it work and I came out of the day with three bullets. On day two the wind started out coming from the west. We got one race off before the wind completely died. I managed to work my way to the front and win the race. We sat on the water for a long time but did not get any more races off. Day three was a lot like day oneand we did five races I got a 4th in the first and bullets in the rest. It was definitely the kind of wind that keeps you on your toes. On day four we finally got the wind that we had all been expecting. It was out of the west at 10-15 kts. There was only time to get off 2 races. I finished 2nd and 1st accordingly. I won the event with 9 points over the 11 races including two drops. Results can be found here. This event was a great tune up event for CORK OCR which starts in two days.

Laser Junior Worlds

2011-07-28T21:21:00.001-07:00

Write up by my coach Al Clark

We decided after the good experience last year in Hayling Island , UK, that we would go again to the Jr Standard Worlds (under 21) this year in La Rochelle. The Mens Radials Worlds were held in conjunction.

We had Alexander Heinzman, Ricardo Montemayor and Kyle Martin in the Standard Rigs. In the Radial we had Alex Kroitzch, Gabe Frame and Cameron Ho.

The plan was to fly to Paris and drive down 400kms to La Rochelle, we ended up with 5 in the car with Alex H driving from Germany and meeting us on July 12th . Lilliah Martin (Kyle's Mum) had booked us 2 nice apartments right beside the marina and we were happy to have full kitchens in both. We did all our grocery shopping the first day and were out training for 4 days prior to the start of the event on the 18th July.

Of course the weather was sunny , warm and light breezes for the early training, that changed to the opposite by the weekend.
The wind came and eventually the rain and stayed for the regatta with the exception of the last day, when we still had plenty of breeze but with sunny skys, ( a nice way to end an excellent event).

The racing was pretty standard for a Worlds, 2 races a day running about an hour or so long, generally we started around noon, (they posted the schedule each night at 6).

The routine was awake 3 hours before sailing, then breakfast, then walk to the dock,get course assignment, rig the boats, get all gear to coach boat , sail to the race course, plan to be there 30 to 45 min before the first start , (the fleets were split into 3 starts).

So the racing commenced and it soon was clear that Ricardo and Alex were well in the hunt, (they were posting single digit results all thru the qualifying series). Kyle had also improved greatly since last year and was in the low teens many races.

The Radial boys were in tough with a high calibre fleet , (some were full rig sailors too old for the Jr Worlds), but improved daily and hung in till the end.

As the regatta heated up fine tuning was needed to increase boat speed in the heavy air, as well as a lot of work on starting techniques. The boys worked as a team each evening and as we got to the club each morning to help each improve, (it was a pleasure to have such a agreeable group of sailors).

In the end Alex H had a super event finishing 12th , (very close to the top 10), Ricardo was 20th and Kyle was 67th in a 147 boat fleet. Excellent results and both Alex and Kyle will have another chance next year.

Alex , Gabe and Cam learned heaps about big fleets at a worlds in heavy air and had very respectable results for their age and experience. Mostly I think it was the experience of living together in a foreign land competing against the best in the world.
With close to 300 sailors with many coaches and parents at the site and it was quite a spectacle.

Always nice to see our up and coming sailors representing the club in a fine fashion on the world stage.

Al Clark