Optinam 2011 Final Post

The prize presentation was a bit disorganized and ran about 1 hour over the scheduled conclusion but it was still a festive and happy event.  The boys were not able to eat until 9pm and then spent the next couple of hours hanging out in the lobby with the other kids as the usual trading of country tee shirts and other merchandise went down, resembling a mid east bazaar.

Here is how the regatta panned out:
Sam  -  24 2 14 (33) 12 (37) 26 17 3 18 5  - 37th
Rory - 22 39 (64\DNF) 29 12 24 (64\OCS) 23 37 19 32 - 87th
Michael - 31 20 11 20 45 20 (64\OCS) 25 (64\OCS) 12 64\OCS - 94th
Chase - 55 58 (64\DNF) 58 58 56 (64\OCS) 35 34 36 39 - 169th


Sam did very well but had hoped to do better.  He did have three top ten finishes.  Inconsitency prevented him from finishing higher.

Rory was fairly consistent and improved throughout the regatta.

Michael sailed extremely well considering that he is away at school and unable to practice as much.  His three OCS's hurt him badly in the last 2 days.

Chase struggled early in the big breeze but showed a gain in confidence and good progress in the last half of the regatta.

Overall I was very happy with the way the boys sailed and conducted themselves on and off the water.  They represented themselves, their families and their country well and it was a pleaseure to be on the trip with them.

Good luck to Rory at his event in the Dominican Republic and Chase at the US Nationals coming up!

Prizegiving Ceremony

Final standings

Although I have limited info of the race conditions as Zizi had to rush to the airport, here are the final Bermuda standings:
Sam 37th
Rory 87th
Michael 95th
Chase 169th

The NA's were won by Alberto Lados (URU) followed by Peter Janezic (SLO) and Russell Clarida (USA).  As the first North American, Russell is the North American Champion.

We were one of the first countries to check the charter boats back in to the Danes from Winner thanks to Sue's quick thinking.  It can sometimes be a 3 hr ordeal!

More info to follow after awards ceremony.

Last Day of Racing

The boys are out on the water for the last day of racing.  The "OCS fest" the day before had discouraged some but Zizi gave a good pep talk before departure this morning encouraging everyone to stay sharp and try hard.  He suggested trying different things on their own since he can't get too close to the start line ("self coaching") and warned people to be aware of the conditions and not to be reckless.  The PRO suggested that there were differing current conditions again today but the breeze should be the same.  No races will be started after 3pm so they hope to get in 2 races to enable the second drop race.  The prize presentation will be in the hotel later today.  Photos from this morning below.

Results from Day 3

Sam - 34th (25, 17, 3)
Michael - 96th (25, OCS, OCS)
Rory - 104th (OCS, 23, 37)
Chase - 172th (OCS, 35, 34)

Races 7 - 9

Races 7 - 9 were completed on Tuesday.  For some reason they have not posted the results officially but the mini site says that the Slovenian Peter Janezic's continues to be the leader. The temperature and wind conditions were the same as we have seen during the previous two days, building to 15-20 knots from the west as the day progressed.  The major difference was that the current, usually downwind, today was upwind, pushing the sailors towards the course side and forcing the Race Committee to have multiple general recalls each race which made for a long day.  We have been led to believe that BER may have had a number of OCS's but will confirm.  Overall there were a  mixed bag of results for the boys for the day.  The highlights were finishes in the top 6 for Mike and Sam but Mike will be penalized 5 points as the safety inspection, common for the top 10 sailors, revealed that his mast clip was too low (it had slipped down).

Optinam Race Day 3

.

Spare Day - July 4th

Team Bermuda spent the day off celebrating the American Independence Day holiday at beautiful Emerald Bay courtesy of Mr and Mrs Bob McKnight, founders of Quicksilver surf and ski apparel. The team spent the day swimming, paddleboarding, watching pro and former pro volley ball players and even had a go at surfing on "soft boards".  The day culminated in a wonderful fireworks show.

New Photos are being added daily

New photos at
https://picasaweb.google.com/102095367591467455924/Optinam2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJCt-Kj3xMmQbg

Day 2 & 3 Update

Team Bermuda had another breezy fleet race day in San Pedro, California on Saturday.  After a delay due to foggy morning conditions the sailors headed out to the Pacific to complete Day 2 of the North American Championships.   Zizi believes the team is still is having difficulty getting clean starts in large fleets which is hindering their progress.  Strong currents are also challenging the sailors who dont experience much current in Bermuda waters.

Sam Stan is still leading the Bermuda "charge" in the 187 boat regatta but slipped slightly to 50th with a 33,12 & 37 on Saturday.  Michael Barit has been sailing quite consistently and has been doing remarkably well considering he has been away at boarding school and has not spent much time in the boat lately.  He is currently in 66th and scored 20, 45, 20 on Day 2.  Rory Caslin is solidly in the top 1/2 of the fleet in 90th place (29, 12, 24) and Chase Cooper is in 179th (58, 58, 56) at the half way point in the regatta.  Slovenian Peter Janezic is still the leader and is followed by 4 points by Filipe Diniz (ARG) and Russell Clarida (USA).

Today (Sunday) the North American countries, which includes the Caribbean, had their team racing championship while all the other countries raced for the Nations Cup team race title.  Bermuda had a strong win against Mexico 2 in their first match but fell to USA 2 in their second match.  Their next loss was to Canada 1 in a closely contested race which insured their exit.  USA 2 eventually won the Team Championship by bettering Puerto Rico in the finals.  In the Nations Cup Argentina won against Uruguay.

The sailors have a day off for tomorrow July 4th - American Independence Day and will resume racing for 2 more days on July 5th.  Team Bermuda will be heading down to Laguna Beach for an authentic California beach party and July 4th celebration.

USA 2 are NA Team Race Champions!

USA 2 are NA Team Race Champions!  Congratulations to Team USA.

Nations cup final: URU vs. ARG1

Nations cup final: URU vs. ARG1

USA 2 and Puerto Rico (PUR) in finals for NA Team Race Championship

USA 2 and Puerto Rico (PUR) in finals for NA Team Race Championship

Flight C

Pur d. Usa1
Mex1 d. Dom
Isv d. Gua
Usa2 d. Usa3
Can1 d. Ber
Can2 d. Mex2

Bermuda is done for the day. The boys fought hard.
Signing off from the pier.

Flight B

USA 1 d. ISV
PUR d. MEX1
GUA d. MEX3
USA3 d. CAN2
USA 2 d. BER
MEX 2, CAN 1 and DOM all have a bye

Fw: Flight A Results

Subject: Flight A Results
ISV d. DOM
PUR d. MEX 3
MEX 1 d. GUA
CAN 2 d. CAN 2
BER d. MEX 2
USA 1 and USA 2 bye

Boats for team racing have launched

Bermuda will go up against MEX 2 first. If we win that match we will
go up against USA 2. If we lose we have a bye (win) to go against the
winner of USA 3 and the winner of CAN1 vs. CAN 2. Sue and I will try
to email in reports from Cabrillo Beach. Results will come in to us
over VHF 68 if we cant see. OPTINAM Facebook page may have results too?

Late Launch Sat

Boats finally on the water at 12:30 local time.
Report from HQ:
Good Morning Los Angeles-PST the weather is not crystal clear this morning like the last two daqys today we see AM fog marine layer off the coast 500 feet low to the water should burn off and secure more lovely wind conditions on the venue, inland is very hot with predictions of some thundershowers and dry lightning in the surrounding mountains.

Foggy at 8:30 am Sat

Foggy conditions which could mean less wind today.

Day 1 Results

  

Sam leads the Bermuda pack in 22nd place in the 187 boat fleet after scoring a 24, 2,14 in the three races.  Michael is in 50th after improving each race with a 31, 20 and 9.  Rory is listed as in 120th but was scored DNF in the last race which we will challenge. He was 22nd and 29th in the first 2 races.  Chase struggled in the windy conditions and was unable to finish the last race while scoring a 55 and 58 in the first two.  There were a number of DNF's inthe last race.

Zizi would like to see better starts overall but mentioned that the line was quite biased too the RC boat end, which left 187 boats battling for the top 1/3 of the line.  The requirement to go right after the start made it even more challenging.

The leader of the regatta is Peter Janezic from Slovenia followed by William Marshall from the USA and Alberto Lados from Uruguay.

The day ended later today and we ended up at dinner at 8:30 by the time people relaxed and had showered.  The dinner was tacos which weren't a big hit.  Luckily Sue had bought some pizza for the boys after sailing which was well recieved. The breakfasts have improved with a more varied selection and we have purchased some cereal as well.

Race Day 1

All left the dock happy and anxious to get the regatta underway.  Michael Barit is in the first flight of Race 1 while Sam is in flight 2 and Rory and Chase are in Flight 3.


From Optinam HQ at 1:30pm local time:

Race 1 underway... Perfect conditions. 12 kts of wind from 245. 80 degrees and blue sky. 

Slight delay this morning as we squared up he course. First start was 12:35. 




Provisional results will be at 
http://www.facebook.com/groups/213421335366361?notif_t=group_activity
or
http://www.optiworld.org/MiniSite/miniNAM.php 

Practice Race

Following the opening ceremony there was a bit of time to kill before heading down to the venue around noon to prepare for the 3pm start of the practice race.  The fleet was split into  2 starts - odd and even sail numbers.  The usual disregard for the rules (common for the practice race) prevailed with some sailors starting early and/or missing marks and it is rare that anyone actually goes across the finish line (bad luck?).  Zizi said the conditions were a little lighter than the day before with approx14 - 16 knots.  These conditions dictate one single tactical plan.  Zizi says it is very similar to Lake Garda, Italy where one must go to the right side of the course as soon as possible and keep going until the layline.  A good start and straight line speed is what counts on the first windward leg.  Apart from Michael banging his leg (he is fine) there were no major problems.  Dinner was spagetti and meat balls plus salad.  Much better than the night before.  As I write this the sailors and Zizi are having a Team meeting and everyone will get to bed at a decent time.  Tomorrow it will be breakfast at 8am, depart for the yacht club at 9am, coaches meeting at 10am and on the water right after that for the offical first day of racing.