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!

Game On

The Trials are almost here. Starting on Saturday, October 6th, 33 of the best laser sailors in the US will compete for 8 days in a winner-take-all battle for the US berth at the 2008 Olympics. The practice hours have been logged, the preparations have been made, and now it is finally time to race. It feels great to be on the verge of such a high profile event, but I already get a lot of satisfaction out of all the sailing and adventures I've had in the lead up to this goal. I've sailed over one hundred days on San Francisco Bay, one of the most amazing sailing venues in the world. I've traveled to France and Brazil and raced against guys from most countries in the world (and beaten a lot of them). and I've made great friends who share a love for sailing and competition. And it all stemmed from a day-dreaming kid in Upstate New York who didn't know any better.

So now it is time to compete with no regrets and no hesitation. I often tell the sailors that I coach to keep it simple and sail in-the-moment, and now it is time for me to practice what I preach. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped make this possible for me, especially all the teammates, coaches, and friends who have helped me get better, and everyone who gave money and other support to help me train full-time this August and pay for this regatta. I really appreciate your support!

I will update this website daily throughout the event. Game On! JP

The Cocoon of Concentration

Harvard's Cardwell Potts and I focus on our next move during a close race at the 2004 College Team Race Nationals




The saying goes: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, Practice, Practice!" It is certainly true in laser sailing, because technique and execution are the only things that seperate the champions from the pack. But what is accomplished in days upon days of practicing boathandling and speed testing? In the past week I've sailed in a three day training session in Massachusets with fellow competitors Emery, Clay, and Ben, and now I am sailing for three more days with the team at my alma mater, Hobart.

The benefit of dedicated practice is that it not only hones the skills and techniques that we use to make our boats go fast, but that it also gives us a daily dose of pure concentration. Practice is a time when we leave behind distrations and enter the "cocoon of concentration", a place where your thinking mind becomes quiet and your actions and instincts take over.


Reknowned basketball coach Phil Jackson writes in his book "Sacred Hoops": "Basketball is a complex dance that requires shifting from one objective to another at lightening speed. To excel, you need to act with a clear mind and be totally focused on what everyone on the floor is doing. Some athletes describe this quality of mind as a 'cocoon of concentration.' But that implies shutting out the world when what you really need to do is become more acutely aware of what's happening right now, this very moment. The secret is not thinking. That doesn't mean being stupid; it means quieting the endless jabbering of thoughts so that you body can do instinctively what it's been trained to do without the mind getting in the way."

9th at CORK

This past week I placed 9th at the CORK regatta in Kingston, Ontartio. This made me 4th American in the 120 boat fleet against the best competition that we have had in North America this summer. Canada's Bernard Luttmer, who is ranked 12th in the world, won the regatta on his home turf in tricky conditions that made it very hard to be consistent. A frontal weather system was fighting the normal southwest Kingston lake-breeze, which made the wind shifty and random throughout the five day event. Many sailors were heard screaming at the wind mid-race as it shifted away from them or as a huge puff filled in on the opposite side of the race course.

I sailed well overall, although I kept myself from having a really great result by being too conservative on the second day of the regatta. The Pin end of the starting line was heavily favored, but there was a black flag up throughout the day, meaning that any sailor who sailed over the starting line before the starting gun would be automatically disqualified. I didn't want to take that risk, and so I started away from the pack. It was a safer move, but it essentially gave half the fleet a head start in each of the three races we did that day. I learned my lesson, and I will certainly be on the attack throughout the Olympic Trials Regatta in October! It is a winner take-all event, so the challenge will be knowing when to make aggressive moves and go for the win, and when to play it safe and mark down some consistent scores. Ah, sailboat racing!

Training Camp in Kingston

Emery Wager and I will be in Kingston, Ontario from August 15th- 22nd for 8 days of training and competition. We are staying in the Dorm's of St. Lawrence College, with our own refrigerator's to fill with good, nutritious food, which is a real treat when you spend most of your time on the road! There is also a gym right across the parking lot for some post- sailing work outs. We'll be practicing with some of the top Canadians over the next three days, and then competing in the Canadian Olympic Training Regatta, CORK, from Saturday to Wednesday. It brings back memories for me, because CORK was the first big regatta I ever did, back in 1998! It's nice to be back almost ten years later.

4th at US Laser Nationals

Charley Williamson and I pose with our awards after the US Nationals. As a teenager, I spent my summers practicing with Charles, who is also a world reknowned physics professor at Cornell.

Last week the Laser Tour took us to Mallet's Bay, Vermont, just north of Burlington, for the 2007 US Laser Nationals. Mallet's Bay is just off of the main body of Lake Champlain, and is surrounded by green mountains on three sides. I arrived at the Mallet's Bay Boat Club on Tuesday evening, and I was happy to see about 15 lasers ready to go out for the local Tuesday night race! I joined the group for the evening races, and it was a great opportunity to get to know the local sailors and enjoy a really nice sunset. Sometimes Laser sailing is pretty nice. I retired to the van/RV for the night, excited about the week to come.

After practicing on Wednesday and Thursday out in the main bay, the racing started up Friday with a great 10 to 15 knot breeze and warm weather. I was feeling pretty sharp that day, and my new boat was all dialed in and going well. I scored a 2nd and three 4th's based mostly on good starts and staying out of trouble around the course. That put me in 2nd after the 1st day.

Day two was a trying day, because there was hardly any wind. After sitting on the water for 5 hours in postponement, we finally raced starting at 3 pm, but the wind completely died half way through, and we were left to drift to the finish. The race took two hours and was very frustrating for everyone, but it is the regatta organizer's decision to keep racing.

On the last day, we managed to get in two races in a variable wind that ranged from 0 to 15 knots. In race one I put my faith in the left side of the course, but it soon became clear that the right was going to pay. And to add to that problem, the 1st place competitor, Canada's Dave Wright, was putting a tight cover on me and forcing me further to the left side! Dave knew that I was the closest threat to his lead, and so he decided to focus on me rather than the fleet, putting me in a tough position. Meanwhile, USA's Trevor Moore was in the lead in the race, with Kyle Rogachenko in second! They sailed a great race, and that shifted the results so that Kyle placed second overall and Trevor placed Third. I finished 4th and training partner Emery Wager was 5th out of 83 total competitors.

Leaky Boat, 2 OCS's make BBR a tough regatta

The Buzzard's Bay Regatta (August 3-5, New Bedford, Mass.) didn't go as well as planned this weekend, although it was a good warm-up event for the upcoming US Nationals and CORK regattas. After a week of driving cross country and getting organized on a new coast, I wasn't feeling too energetic, and it showed with a couple of big mistakes mid-way through the regatta. On Day Two I started two out of three races just over the starting line, meaning that I was scored OCS (on-course-side) and received 65 points per race. Each competitor is allowed to drop one score from their overall point total, so I was able to not-count one of these big scores, but the other 65 I had to count, driving me well down on the results page. I did win the final race of the regatta, but overall I was feeling a bit off-point and my concentration was lacking. I finished 14th out of 64.

Another setback was the fact that the brand new boat that I purchased on Thursday was a lemon and leaked over a gallon of water into the hull on Friday and Saturday. I made sure that Vanguard Sailboat's knew that I wasn't so happy about that, and so on Monday I went to the factory and traded the boat in for another new boat that hopefully will not leak at all. No permanent damage done, but it was a distraction.

This week the Laser Tour takes us to Lake Champlain, Vermont for the US Nationals. The Regatta will be held from August 10 to 12th, but I will be there for practice starting on Tuesday the 7th.

Thanks to the Nadler family for housing me along with friends Trevor Moore, Emery Wager, Mora O'Malley, and JM Moddisette. Your generosity is appreciated!

IYC Sailing Presentation

Thanks a ton to everyone who came to IYC tonight for my presentation "The Road To The Olympic Trials".

The turnout was awesome, and I really enjoyed talking with all the sailors and supporters who came! And on top of that, it looks like we raised over $1500!!!!!! I really really appreciate everyone's generosity and this money will really help me be as prepared as possible for the Olympic Trials this fall. It was also great to see that the young sailors are still playing WallBall at a championship level! Just like old times. Thanks again, and I'll be back in Ithaca in the end of August!

On The Road

Like many sailors, I've seen a lot of this country traveling to and from regattas. I pulled into Ithaca last night after 2900 miles of driving from San Francisco, and the funny thing is that I enjoyed it. The wide open spaces of Neveda, Utah, and Wyoming are spectacularly empty, and the constant hum of the road gives you plenty of time to think and dream.

Although my goal is to win sailboat races, what I'm doing isn't really even about sailing. It is mostly about doing something that I WANT to do, something that I am fully engaged in and attentive to. Whether it is driving across America, exercising in the gym, or reading the wind on the water before a race, the job of the sailing campaigner is to pay attention to the details, and to dedicate themself to improvement and awareness.

"The real cycle you're working on is a cycle called 'yourself'."

"The study of the art of motorcycle maintenance is really a miniature study of the art of rationality itself. Working on a motorcycle, working well, caring, is to become a part of a process, to achieve an inner peace of mind. The motorcycle is primarily a mental phenomenon."

-Robert M Pirsig

Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance

Presentation at Ithaca Yacht Club, August 1st, 6:30 pm

I will be giving a presentation at my home Yacht Club, ITHACA!, on Wednesday August 1st at 6:30 pm (right after the Junior Roast). Please come by to hear about The Road To The Olympic Trials and to help me raise money to support my campaign. See you there!

Big Breeze Training in SF!

Training partner Trevor Moore (2007 College Sailor Of The Year, Hobart '07) and I are have finished 4 out of 5 days of our training camp on the San Francisco Bay sailing out of The San Francisco Yacht Club. The breeze has been ON (as usual) and we have been averaging 3 to 4 hours a day on the water, but we are still psyched and pushing each other hard. Tracy Usher joined us yesterday for a 20 mile sail that took use out into the pacific Ocean to Point Benitas and then back under Angel Island. Trevor was a little dismayed to hear from Tracy that we were out in shark territory, but no shark attacks today! One more day of grinding, and then the cross country drive begins. Keep checking this site throughout August for regatta and training updates!

GOING BIG!

Ripping downwind in big breeze in a laser is one of the greatest experiences in all of sailing! The boat surfs wildly down, over, and into the waves, and aggresive yet smooth technique is needed to keep it from capsizing. The paradox is that you are often going the fastest just before you wipe out, so the best technique is to sail the boat on the edge of disaster without actually flipping over. However, in order to make this technique work, you need to go over the edge in practice so that you know exactly where it is while you're racing.

With this in mind, Emery Wager and I set off on Saturday, June 31st to sail downwind in the hardcore conditions of San Francisco Bay from the St Francis YC on the City Front to the Stanford boathouse in Redwood City. At over thirty miles, this is a long sail in a 14 foot laser, so we packed extra energy bars and a cell phone triple-wrapped in plastic as our safety gear, and went for it! Although we stopped for quick breaks every 30 minutes, the sail still took only 3 hours and 15 minutes, meaning we were averaging over 10 knots!

KEEP IT REAL

2nd place at Canadian Nationals!! June 22-24

The Buffalo Canoe Club hosted a great event at their beautiful club on the shores of Lake Erie, just 15 minutes on the Canadian side of the border. Big thank you's to Cam for lending me his boat for the weekend, to Kate Pearce for lending me her Forester to drive up and back from Ithaca(since my boat and car are in San Francisco), and to the Jordan Family for the fantastic housing! Meghan Jordan is a current student at my Alma Mater Hobart, and her parents, two sisters, and wild little brother may have given us the most fun housing ever!

I picked up training partner and friend Emery Wager at the Buffalo Airport on Thursday, and headed to the regatta site to get oriented and have a quick practice session. Emery is a recent graduate of the Stanford program (where I coached during 2005-2006) and is the 2007 Collegiate Laser Champion! It is essential to have talented and fun training partners in singlehanded boats, because you can push each other, share ideas, and stay motivated much more easily. I'm psyched to have Emery and other great sailors to train and race with, because it makes me better.

The conditions were great for the event, with 3 races sailed in a puffy offshore breeze of 15-22 knots, 3 races sailed in light winds of 6 knots or less, and 3 races sailed in a perfect thermal breeze of 10 -18 knots with great waves. In sailboat racing, the weather conditions play a central role in what techniques and strategies you employ in order to sail well and win. Interestingly, Emery won all three races in the thermal breeze of 10-18 knots and waves, while I won all three races of 6 knots or less. That makes me quite excited to practice and race with Emery in the future, because he is fast!

Emery ended up winning the regatta with 18 points in 9 races (3,6,1,5,1,1,1,2,4), while I had 21 points (4,4,5,1,3,5,2,1,1) and Third place Evan Lewis had 47 points. For you math wizzes out there, each competitor is often allowed to discard their worst score from their overall score, and low points win!