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.

More opening ceremony photos

Opening Ceremony video

Opening Cermonies

Pictures from the opening ceremony.  More to follow.

Team leader photos

You can see team leader photos at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/102095367591467455924/Optinam2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJCt-Kj3xMmQbg

I have put a link on the right side of the Blog page

Day 3

The morning cloud cover burned off quite quickly which equated to breeze!!  The boys got on the water after lunch and were happy to see 16 - 18 knot westerlies.  We are sharing a coach boat with the Germans which have 4 entries as well.  Christian (sp?) is the GER coach and was the same coach we shared a boat with at the 2009 Optinam in the Dominican Rep.  Today they sparred with the Germans for a while and later in the afternoon they joined a multi-national group of about 60 boats for a race.  Zizi said the current was extremely strong and on the first upwind he said that practically every boat touched the windward mark.

Tomorrow is the practice race and also the opening ceremony which will take place at 8:30 am.  This is an unusual time for an IODA ceremony but it seems like a good idea since there is little or no breeze in the mornings.  Following that will be the coach/team leader meeting where we will be issued the Sailing Instructions.  Tonight is our first official Optinam dinner here in the hotel.

Countries entered in Optinam 2011

The Optinam website has been updated at http://www.cbyc.org/optinam2011/entrants/index.html
We have entries from the following countries:
Argentina
Bermuda
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Canada
Chile
Dominican Rep
Ecuador
Germany
Japan
Mexico
Netherlands Antilles
New Zealand
Peru
Puerto Rico
Slovenia
Trinidad & Tobago
Uruguay
USA
USVI

Happy Birthday Sue Stan - BER Country Rep!

Day 2

Tuesday arrived with quite a bit of fog which we were told would translate into light winds for the day if it did not burn off quickly.  Chases new sail arrived the day before and was measured in just before the 50 USA boats arrived while Zizi sat down and had a briefing with the boys.  Lunch was sandwiches from Subway which was the same as day 1 and everyone seems to like.  Zizi got the sailors on the water by about 12:30 and found the wind prediction to be accurate.  They made the most of the 6-8 knots they had practicing with Chile, Argentina, Canada, Ecuador and Peru.  The sailors came back in by 5:45 and had some down time in the Hotel before we went to the Califonia Pizza Kitchen for dinner across the bridge in down town Long Beach.

IODA's "Curly" Morris gives the boys their on-the-water briefing

More Day 1

Sue procured a good coach boat from the yacht club.  They are all loaners from clubs and club members.  Ours is a 17 foot whaler center console with a 4 stroke engine which should work well.  Zizi got the sailors on the water at around 1:30pm.  Once they got out there they joined up with the Americans and Team Ecuador.  Everyone got a feel for the conditions which ranged from 8 - 13 knots according to Zizi.  They came in about 5:30.  We had a great invitation from an school friend of mine to join his family at their house in Long Beach for a BBQ.  Our hosts John and Sarah Sangmeister (and their family) are keen sailors and John is the proprietor of Gladstones Restaurant in Long Beach.  Gladstones sponsors many sailing events including the most recent Farr 40 NA's.  He also showed us his Formula 40 catamaran moored at the Long Beach YC.  Have a look at this thing move!

http://www.youtube.com/user/Kialoa5#p/u/4/zuywfGWjgls

Add caption

Day 1 in California

Everyone was awake quite early due to the time adjustment but were able to hold off until 8 am for breakfast.  In the lobby we saw Curly Morris, IODA measurer, who suggested we get measured early which sounded like a good idea.  We headed down to the venue around 9:30 and as we arrived Zizi introduced us to Kim from Winner boats who are doing the charters.  We found our boats which were pre-labeled for all the countires and Stig from Winner took us to get the other equipment out of the container.  Everything is brand new.  We went to find the measurement location and found out that Ecuador were booked in first with 18 sailors.  Luckily they didn't have all their equipment so we were able to be the first team measured.  It took a bit of time as the IODA officials had to use us as the "test" case to instruct the volunteers on how to do the process.  We were completed around 11:30 and the sailors rigged up their boats while Sue and I went to find lunch for everyone.

Team Bermuda arrives in LA

After 2 uneventful flights Team Bermuda arrived safely in Los Angeles on time on Sunday afternoon.  All the sailors were very good travellers.  It took a bit of time to get the sail tubes from the oversized luggage pick up but at least we had everything.  The easy drive south to San Pedro was about 45 minutes.  We waited until 7 to head out to dinner to try and get on California time asap.  Coach Zizi arrived around 7pm but he did not join us as he was exhausted from his long trip from Frankfurt.  We had dinner at a nice restaurant near the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club, about a 3 minute drive away.  Everyone was in bed by 9:45pm local time with the instruction to meet at 8am for breakfast.

OPTINAM Departure day is June 26th

Team Bermuda consisting of Sam Stan, Rory Caslin, Chase Cooper and Michael Barit depart this Sunday, June 26th and will be representing Bermuda at the IODA North American Championships in Long Beach, California.  The host club is the Cabrillo Beach YC.

Official Schedule:

25 June - 28 June: Early Arrivals
29 June: Official Arrival Day, Registration and Measurement
30 June: Registration and Measurement, Practice Race, Team Leaders Meeting, Opening Ceremony
1 July - 2 July: INAM races
3 July: Team Racing
4 July: Spare Day
5 July: INAM races
6 July: INAM races, Award and Closing Ceremony
7 July: Official Departure Day