US Olympic Trials Final Results: 5th Overall!

photo credit- Amory Ross www.amoryross.com


On the final day of competition in the US Olympic Laser Trials, I scored a 6th and a 7th to secure Fifth place overall out of 33 sailors. The conditions were excellent for our last day, with a 12 to 18 knot west wind and a moderate chop and swell. I had good speed overall on the day, and felt relaxed and energized because it was the last day of one of the most difficult, amazing, intense experiences of my life.

Over the next few days I will try to describe the experience in more detail and give a more complete debrief of how it feels to be done, but I'm really proud of how I did, and so happy with all the support I received over the last two weeks. Thank You.

Two Days To Go

After 6 race days, the competition is still tight and the last two days will be the toughest yet. With 5 races to go, Brad Funk and Andrew Campbell are solidly in first and second respectively, with Funk 6 points ahead. It should be a tight finish. There is another battle brewing for 3rd, with Clay Johnson, Trevor Moore, Ben Richardson, and Myself all within 3 points of each other.

The last two days have been disappointing for me, with a 10, a 12, and a 24. There were certainly some opportunities that I've missed, but I'm still in third place thanks to my early regatta consistency, and the important thing is that I want to finish this regatta HARD. I've trained for this for a long time, and despite the setbacks, this is still the culmination of a lot of work. So I'll leave it all on the water and leave it at that.

KEEP IT REAL.

Another good comeback on Tuesday, Lay-Day Wednesday

John rounds the weather mark in sail # 22.

Tuesday was the fourth day of racing, and once again it was windy in the morning when we arrived. It was a shifty northerly fading to north-east, and the breeze was quite unstable in direction and velocity, making for big gains and losses throughout the hour and ten minute races.

In race 1 I had a solid start and stayed in phase with the wind, hiking hard in the 18 knot puffs. I was able to round the first mark in the top group, and then pass boats on the run, rounding the leeward mark in 2nd behind Andrew Campbell. On the second beat, I choose to be conservative and sail up the middle of the course, while regatta leader Brad Funk took a risk and worked out to the far right side, finding the new easterly wind and passing me and Andrew to win the race. I finished 3rd.

The breeze dropped to 8 to 15 knots and became very shifty for the second race, and I had a pretty bad start, forcing me to tack a lot on the first upwind leg to look for clear air. I was back in about 20th at the 1st mark, and passed one boat on the run. On the second beat, I tacked onto starboard right away on a big right shift. A few minutes later, I got a small left shift with a puff, and that was my chance for a jail-break. I tacked onto port and sailed all the way across the course, back into the new easterly wind, and up into 8th place! I passed two more boats on the way downwind to the finish, ending up in 6th place.

That comeback means that my worst score so far is an 8th, making me the most consistent sailor in the fleet so far. That is hugely helpful for the rest of the regatta, because it means I can be more aggressive in the final 8 races without fear of making a mistake and scoring a bad race. I'm in third right now, and hopefully I can maintain my consistency and stay in contention for the overall title. Wednesday is a day off from racing, so we can relax and rest before the last 4 days.

A Pair of 6's on Day Three

Todays breeze started out strong with 15 t0 18 from the southwest and a big swell on the ocean race course. The swell stayed with us, but the wind gradually died throughout the morning during our two races. I scored a pair of 6's for the day, based mostly on good reaching and downwind speed and OK upwind racing. It is good to be consistent in this regatta, because we only get one throw-out race out of 16 races. So I'm pleased with how things are going, and I'm sitting in 5th overall and still within the striking distance of the top three.

October 7th

Day two of the Trials greeted us with a 15 to 20 knot Northerly wind that filled in after a cold front cleared last night. The breeze gradually faded throughout the day, ending with 8 to 12 knots in the last race.

I had a solid first race, finishing 5th after working the windshifts fairly well and having good boatspeed in the windy and flat water conditions.

In Race two I nailed the midline sag and got off to a good start, and then successfully worked my way up the beat in a left-hand shift, rounding in 1st with Andrew Campbell just behind. It was fun to hear my friends and family cheering from the spectator boat and banging the cowbell as I rounded. I rounded the second weather mark in second behind Campbell, and caught up for a tie for 1st with only the last two downwind legs to go. The last run was a battle between Campbell, Brad Funk, and I, and unfortunately I missed the last puff and finished 3rd. Still a good race!

In the third race, I had a terrible start when I lost my speed and got caught in a pack of boats, so I was last off the line and needed to catch up. Luckily the wind was shifty and hard to predict, so many people made mistakes and I was able to grind back to 8th place in the 33 boat fleet. Although it wasn't pretty, that was probably the best thing I have done so far, because I saved a lot of points by coming back to a respectable finish.

4 Races down, 12 to go over the next week, so there is plenty more to come.

Race 1- October 6th

Race number one was held today in a SW wind of 10-15 knots and a large swell. The breeze was steady and so boatspeed was the most important factor. I finished a solid seventh after passing a few boats on the first reach leg and on both downwind legs. Several competitors were over- early during the start, resulting in disqualification from the race, but I was lucky not be one of them, although unfortunately my training partner Emery Wager was. Bummer. Race 2 was canceled due to very thick fog enveloping the course. The forecast for tomorrow is for a breezy northerly and it should be an exciting day.

October 5th- Regatta Update

The forecast for the first day of racing is for light to moderate southerly winds, with fog in the morning and evening. Low tide is around 11:00am and the first race is scheduled for 11:30, so there should be a bit of flood tide flowing downwind throughout the afternoon. The race course is located at the mouth of the Sakonnet River where it meets the Atlantic Ocean, so depending on the wind direction the swell can be pretty big, or there can be relatively flat water. Each race will be roughly 50 to 70 minutes long, with two races each day scheduled between the 6th and the 14th, aside from one lay-day on Wednesday. All in all, the fleet should be very tight and it will be important to take calculated risks only and remain conservative during the early days of competition. As the saying goes "you can't win the regatta in the first race, but you can lose it" (by scoring a deep race or by being over the starting line early).

My great friend Cameron Hoard, who I have been sailing with and against since we were about 12, is here as my coach, driving the support boat that I've chartered from Providence Community Boating. I'm very pumped to have him here to help me keep track of the wind and race strategy and share some laughs with to lighten things up throughout the week. Thanks Cam!