A top six finish was
all that was needed today to secure the silver medal.
After a conservative start Josh was in around tenth spot
by midway up the first beat but more importantly GER was
only a few places ahead and FIN was behind. As the race
went on Josh shadowed GER sticking just behind him as
they both moved up the fleet. Half way up the last beat
Josh made his move and slipped ahead of GER to round the
mark in fourth place. He stayed out of trouble on the
down wind legs and finished in fourth place and has
taken out the silver medal. Yeehah!!
ISAF Youth
Worlds - Day FIVE
Abandonment flag
flying
We woke up to
torrential rain, thunder and lightning this morning. The
race committee had the postponement flag up early. By
2.00PM the weather was beginning to abate but the wind
had all but disappeared so the decision was made to
abandon racing for the day. The RC has decided to stick
with the schedule as published in the sailing
instructions so there will be just one race tomorrow.
This means the gold medal is now out of reach but the
silver is still within grasp. Lets see what tomorrow
brings.
What a day!! The
temperature was in the late twenties and the racing has
been equally as hot on the laser course. After a delay
of about an hour race one got under way in about 5-8
knots of breeze. The Cypriot obviously had Josh in his
sites and lined up to windward of him on the start line.
Both sailors had good starts but after about one minute
Josh had squeezed ahead and bounced the Cypriot off to
the less favoured side of the course. From there Josh
sailed a clean race to come home 4th while CYP recorded
his worst result to date.
Race two - the breeze
has increased by a couple of knots. What do you know CYP
is locked to windward of NZL once again on the start
line. Josh does a nice job off bouncing him off only to
find CYP picks up a shift in the right and is ahead on
the next cross. Josh also finds a favourable shift and
this time when they cross Josh is four boat lengths
ahead and on the favoured board. A miscalculation as to
what is the top mark see Josh overlaid and reaching to
round in 8th with CYP in 10th. By the bottom gate Josh
is a clear 4th with CYP back in 12th. Josh establishes a
cover on CYP with both boats tacking in tandem six times
before Josh settles into a lift. CYP extends on his hip
by ten boat lengths and tacks. The wind starts clocking
right and increases in pressure and boats 10, 11, 12 are
suddenly 1, 2 and 3! CYP does a nice job of captalising
on the situation and finishes in 2nd place while Josh
settles for 7th.
Race 3 and the
breeze is up to 12 knots. Once again CYP and NZL are
locked together on the line. This time CYP manages to
roll Josh to windward and Josh tries his luck heading
out to the right hand layline. CYP shows his class
winning from start to finish and the right ends up not
being a good idea with Josh back in 13th place.
Three more races
to go - anything could happen. Bring it on!
ISAF Youth
Worlds - Day THREE
Launching on day
three
Day three results Josh J:
2, 4, 2nd overall Cushla: 18, 1, 14th overall Paul & Blair: 3, 3, 2, 2nd overall Sarah & Emma: 17, 1, 7, 9th overall Tim & Ben: 10, 8, 6th overall Josh N: 11, 6, 8th overall Justina: 10, 10, 8th overall
You
need QuickTime software to view this.
A light race and a
couple of moderate races today. Paul and Blair moved
closer to the top spot with three good races in which
they beat the current leaders. Tim and Ben had a worse
day and now find themselves locked in the middle of a
tight group that extends from 4th through to 8th. The
NZL team scored a couple of bullets today with the Berry
sisters and Cushla each winning a race comfortably.
Race 1 on the laser
track was sailed in about 5-8 knots of breeze. Josh
recovered from 9th at the top mark to be 3rd at the
bottom gate. From there he slowly ground his way into
second place and had a match race along the last reach,
eventually finishing 2nd, 1 metre behind the German.
Race 2 saw the breeze
rise to a steady 15 knots. After a good start and a drag
race to the left Josh missed a right hander which saw
him placed 8th at the top mark. By the bottom gate he
had surged through a tight group to round in second
place a boat length astern of the Cypriot but clipped
the buoy in the process. A good recovery from the
penalty saw him placed 4th at the finish.
Tomorrow is a lay
day, then six more races over three days to complete the
series.
ISAF Youth
Worlds - Day TWO
Sponsors flags
Day two results Josh J:
3, 6, 4th overall Cushla: 2, OCS, 19th overall Paul & Blair: 4, 5, 2nd overall Sarah & Emma: 13, 4, 10th overall Tim & Ben: 5, 5, 5th overall Josh N: 15, 2, 9th overall Justina: 10, 6, 7th overall
You
need QuickTime software to view this.
It was a windier day
today. Racing started in about 15 knots of breeze and
built to a peak of about 25 knots. Most of the team had
a good day today. The hard luck story of the day
involves Cushla who was judged OCS and was pulled off
the course at the top mark when she had a comfortable
lead.
Josh had a bit on
in the Laser fleet with some very close racing. The
Cypriot sailor is looking particularly fast in the
breeze upwind. The conditions were great with one side
favoured but not so much that you could ignore the
shifts to get there. The leading group changed positions
frequently throughout both races today. A pattern is
starting to emerge although it still to early to really
tell.
The forecast for
tomorrow is for more of the same although not quite so
fresh.
ISAF
Youth Worlds - Day ONE
Josh J finishing 2nd
in race 1
Day
one results Josh J:
2, 18, 10th overall Cushla: 27, 12, 21st overall Paul & Blair: 1, 2, 10, 2nd overall Sarah & Emma: 14, 8, 10, 11th overall Tim & Ben: 9, 8, 5, 6th overall Josh N: 10, 16, 14th overall Justina: 7, 6, 6th overall
You
need QuickTime software to view this.
Racing got under way
without a hitch yesterday. The three courses were all
pretty close to shore providing great viewing for the
fans.
The first races
were started in about 10 knots of breeze fading to
around 8 knots as the race went on. As the day
progressed the breeze began to disappear and became very
unstable, shifting through 90 degrees. Race 2 was sailed
in 3-5knots of breeze. This dying breeze then caused the
abandonment of race 3 on the laser track and meant the
boards went home early.
Paul and Blair
have got away to a good start. Josh J had one good and
one not so good. Tim & Ben have done particularly well,
especially as race 1 was their first major race in a
Hobie.
Early days.
The opening
ceremony
The sailors gather
Kiwi flag in the crowd
Josh J
Sarah, Emma, Paul, Justina
This boat shot a cannon to gets things underway
Best dressed award
Only in Canada!
The town crier begins the march
The procession led by pipers
ISAF and regatta officials
Crowd action 1
Here come the kiwis
Emma, Ben, Justina, Tim
Sara (laser coach), Paul
Crowd action 2
Crowd action 3
The Wellington girls
Tim, Justina, Josh N
Josh N
Sarah
Cushla, Ben, Emma
Flags away
The speeches begin
One rep from each country on stage
Three
guesses as to what is wrong with this photo
We are in a f#*=>n
car! Everything went well from Portugal to Philly then
things started to go bad. Our plane to Canada was
delayed but we got on with just enough time to make our
connecting flight to Kingston. But then we got parked on
the tarmac for an hour. Next we arrive in Toronto but
our luggage doesn't. We've missed our next flight and
there are no places on any flights that night so we
hired a car ... and that is what is wrong with the
photo. After two days most of the luggage has arrived
and we are now back in business.
Canada here
we come
Today was the last in
Cascais. We had one race for each of the gold, silver and bronze
fleets then it was the medal race for the top ten sailors. Most
of the team had a forgettable day but Andrew had a great one. He
finished 2nd in the medal race and as a result picked up second
in the world championships. The overall results for the NZ Men's
Laser team were:
Andrew Murdoch
2nd
Matt Coutts 25th
Michael Bullot 26th
David Weaver 31st
Blair McLay 67th
Josh Junior 79th
Matt Blakey 86th
The main goal for this
regatta from a YNZ perspective was to qualify as many classes as
possible with a country spot for the Olympics. It looks like all
of the classes will get spots with the exception of the 470 M &
W.
In many ways this regatta
has been a warm up for the Youth Worlds for Josh. It would be
hard to imagine a better event in which to get some serious
starting and race practice! In most races he has been able to
hit the line in the first row but has tended to be out muscled
after a minute or two and as a result has had diminished options
as to where to sail. In the two races where he managed to hang
on in there he was able to finish on the podium. He is still
feeling fresh and none the worse for wear ... so ... Canada here
we come.
Talk to you from over
there!
Race day five
No racing yesterday.
It blew a good 40 knots all day. They held off
making a decision until 6.00 PM when they decided
to call it off for all fleets except the medal
race for the Stars. They went out only to turn
around and come in again leaving Hamish Pepper and
Carl Williams in fourth place.
0ne thing that has
been interesting to observe is the different ways in
which the various nations support their sailors and
market their teams. GBR would have to be the most
impressive on both counts. All their sailors are well
kitted out with shirts, jackets and shorts. They make
sure the team branding is on all their hulls and sails.
They have an expandable trailer that is set up as
a meeting base for the team with deck chairs, tables,
umbrellas, fridges etc. It is hard to estimate the number of GBR branded vehicles here but it must come
close to being as many as the official regatta vehicles.
The team have set up their own wireless network for
their sailors. Their coach boats are all near new. They
have their own satellite enabled mobile broadcast
centre. All and all a very impressive show.
We took a train trip
to Lisbon for the lay day. Nothing spectacular but
worth a visit. It was back to business
yesterday with racing on track three in about 18 knots
of breeze. Andrew Murdoch, David Weaver, Matt
Coutts, and Michael Bullot sailed in the gold
fleet while Blair McLay, Matt Blakey and Josh sailed in
the silver fleet. It was good to get all sailors
in the top two thirds of the feet after the
preliminary series.
All the silver feet
guys had an average day with mid to late fleet placings. Andrew had a second in race 8 in the gold
fleet which keeps him near the top of the leader board.
Matt Coutts had another top five finish and is looking
comfortable in the mid teens.
We were back into
our race day routine of finding a restaurant in town for
dinner. We have a cooker in our hotel but it
is usually to late before we get off the water to
cook at home.
Check out the two videos to the left to get a feel for
our morning and evening strolls.
Downwind action
On race day three we
caught some photos of the downwind action from race six. Firstly we
shot Josh surfing to a third place in the yellow fleet. Then
we got David Weaver winning the red fleet race. Enjoy!
here
Race day three
YNZ coach Elliot Cree
YNZ coach Clifton Webb
What a day! We
started heading out to course three at about 1.00 after
a delay ashore because of no wind. Course three is the
closest to the mouth of the river that flows from Lisbon
so it was a tow out day. We spent an hour or so with the
race committee trying to set a course before they pulled
up the anchor and steamed off back towards Cascais. They
tried another spot before deciding to up anchor again
and head past Cascais and onto course five where the
radials had already finished their racing for the day!
Finally racing got
underway at 4.30. Race five was reasonably uneventful
with no general recalls for the first time in the
regatta. Race 6 was a different story altogether. We
watched the starts then shot across to the gate on the
outer course to find the breeze blowing at around 30
knots. The downwind action was amazing. We then went back
to the inner gate which was about 300 m closer to shore
to find boats parked up in less than five knots of wind.
The stand out
performance for the day was another bullet for David
Weaver in race six for the red fleet. It was also great
to watch three kiwis (Josh Junior, Matt Coutts and Andrew
Murdoch) finish in the top ten in race six for the
yellow fleet.
It was 8.30 before
we got ashore and we started heading home at 10.00 - a
long day at the office. It is a lay day today so we will
catch a train through to Lisbon and have a look around.
The tow out (Andrew, Matt C, Mike, Dave)
Matt Coutts
Blair McLay in no wind at the gate
The Worser Bay salute for a third place in race 6
David Weaver about to win race 6
Late finish means a walk home in the dark
Race day two
Our hotel
Reach 1 race 1.
Well 2.00PM came and
like clock work so did the breeze. It started off at a
steady 20 knots and quickly built through to a solid 25
with gusts into the early 30s. Course two was a little
more steady in terms of wind direction but featured a
top mark reasonably close to shore, which meant the top
third of the course was a little shifty.
Yesterday was a day for
the heavy weather guys. Of the New Zealand team David
and Andrew had the top results both scoring a bullet in
their respective fleets. Matt Coutts also had a strong
day scoring two top ten finishes.
Today the breeze
is a lot calmer in the morning than it has been since we
got here. Last night was a different story! We are on the
eighth floor of our hotel and it sounded like there was
plenty of wind blowing outside well into the early hours
of the morning.
Lasers,Finns and Yinglings
They are to far away, I'll look
at something else!
Beach action 1
Beach Action 2
Beach action 3
Semi chaos at the Star dock
Race day one
Getting rigged
Waiting for a start.
Racing for the Lasers
got underway yesterday on course 5. This
course is one of the two 'outside' courses. The
breeze started off around 15 knots and built
through to about 25 knots at times. This
course is reasonably tricky as it has two breezes
- one from the left and one from the right.
As always starting well was the key with the aim of
getting to the first pressure line. The difference
in wind strength was at least 10 kts between being
in the pressure or not. Those who got to the pressure
first were off!
The race committee
struggled at times with the changes in breeze.
They abandoned one race half way up the first beat which was hard luck for Andrew and Matt B as they
were both at the front of the fleet. Highlights of
the day were a 2nd for Josh in race 1 and a 2nd
for Andrew in race 2. It ended up being a long day on
the water. We were out there at 12.30 and got
ashore again at 7.00 PM.
Today the Lasers
are on an inner course. The breeze looks a little
lighter but who knows what 2.00PM will bring!
Checking the breeze
Andrew Murdoch at the gate race 1
David Weaver
Matt Blakey
Surfing to the finish
Josh Junior finishing 2nd in race 1
Racing starts today
Racing gets underway this
afternoon. Yachting NZ Laser coach Elliot Cree gives some
insights into the venue and what the sailors can expect
today.
Let the games begin
The opening ceremony
was held last night. There was a march past with
representatives from each of the nations. There were sailing videos projected onto a fountain of
water in the bay. After a lot of speeches in Portuguese they let
off a whole heap of fireworks. Let the games begin!
Great
facilities
It would seem that
the organisers haven't left any stone unturned in
preparation for this regatta. They have three
cranes onsite for lifting in Yinglings, Stars and coach
boats. There must be over 200 ribs moored in the
bay on specially provided moorings. The yacht club
itself is a very sleek modern affair. A bar come dance
space has been set up in the 13th century fort that
overlooks the marina. Wireless internet is accessible
throughout the whole site. They have a resident dj
playing very cool music that is broadcast on a
network of speakers in each of the rigging areas.
To top it off the 'skippers' cafe beside the laser base has the AC on tv. Go the kiwis!!
The wind is calling
The motto for the world
sailing games is "o vento charma - the wind is calling". It certainly seems
to be an apt motto as the wind has blown every day so far.
It seems to come in the early afternoon and then increase as
the day goes on. We can see all five courses from our hotel
and there seems to be a different breeze on each of them.
The closer you get to shore the more shifty it becomes and
the further West you go the windier it gets.
Boats everywhere
This regatta is
amazing in terms of scale. There are yachts absolutely
everywhere. The town has been taken over by the event.
The Tornadoes and 49ers take up two of the beaches in
front of town. The boards are set up on the waterfront
boulevard. The 470s are on the hard at the yacht club
while the Stars and Yinglings have taken over the first
finger of the marina. The Lasers are based in the
Marina's dry stand area while the Finns have taken over
part of the car park. All the yacht areas are fenced off
but it has been done very well so that the sailors can
get about their business while the general public can
still see what is going on. A cafe is never more than a
stone throw away!
All you need is your tiller
All you need bring
is your tiller and a few ropes and you are in business.
Every Laser sailor has a brand new charter boat, rig and
sail. It is certainly easier in the Laser than in some of
the other classes. For instance, Peter Burling and Carl
Evans had to fly their 470 to Europe. Some of the trailer
kits for the boats like the Star and the Yingling are very
impressive.
Made it
It is a definitely a
long way to Europe! It took us 40 hours in total
from door to door. The flights all went to time and were
pretty uneventful. We quickly settled into a
routine of eat, sleep, eat, get off plane, play cards,
get on plane. eat ...etc.
After a very fast
(140 km/h) trip from the Airport we arrived at the hotel
to find we had only two single beds in our room. After a
quick room shuffle we were all set and back to sleep.
The net result was we all woke up at 9-00AM local time
and none of us seem to have been hit by jet lag.
We spent the day
getting registered, finding out where things are at the
marina, sorting out Elliot's coach boat and
watching Team NZ lose. We managed to catch up with
quite a few Kiwis in the process. Tomorrow we get the
charter boat and the sailing begins. Hope you cleaned up
at T Bay Brucey!
Here we go
Flights
are booked, accommodation is sorted, charter boats are organised,
ropes are ready, bags are packed ... we are off. Next stop
Portugal for the ISAF Sailing World Games - can't wait! Talk to
you from the other side
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
