Day 6 - training

Another nice day here in Algarrobo with clear skies and winds at 10 knots this morning increasing to 15.

 

There were no issues at measurement last night and the team enjoyed its first official meal.  It was a rather bland and salty dish but the boys enjoyed it.  They will be craving steak again soon as they have probably been spoiled in the first few days of restaurant eating.

 

It is Friday and so the town has finally opened up ready for the weekend crowd…just as we have no need for restaurants and supermarkets.  The supermarkets here are big but there is very little food in them.  We are definitely spoilt in Bermuda in comparison.

 

The team will be out training for the afternoon until 4pm.  Then it is back to the hotel for the opening ceremony.  The teams will be walking from the hotel to the club (about a 10 minute walk) and so they should enjoy that.  We have problem here with stray dogs that are for the most part very friendly but they are annoying and we expect that we will be accompanied by a few of these.  No doubt the locals will be out as it will be a pretty exciting event for Algarrobo.  Will post photos later.

Makai with grey hair

Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

Day 5 - training

The wind certainly came up yesterday with 20 knots and strong swells.  The team went out for 2 sessions, 2 hours in the morning and over 3 hours in the afternoon.  Lunch was a bit too heavy and Rory and Chase came in early in the afternoon after suffering some seasickness.  Antonio and Makai were out until 6pm learning a lot in the large waves.

 

Today there was no wind in the morning but it increased in the afternoon and the team went out at 1pm.

 

Today is the first official arrival day and we have measurement this evening and then our first meal with all of the teams.   

 

 

 

2 Zizi photos from yesterday

More to follow later

Day 4 - training

The team was training until 7.30pm yesterday and came in with the sunset.

We found the only open restaurant in Algarrobo (closed at 9pm) and the boys
enjoyed pizza and steak.

The wind has finally arrived early in the day and so the team will be able
to sail all day.

Day 3 - training

The team managed a short training session yesterday as the wind conditions remained light all day.

 

The same conditions faced the team this morning as they waited patiently without a puff of wind. The wind finally picked up at 4pm and the team is out training now until late.   The temperature is slightly warmer today too.

 

The yacht club has very good facilities.  There is a large locked storage area available for each team in which they can store their bags and gear while out sailing and it is big enough for their sails to be left there overnight.  There is plenty of space for all of the optis and a good launching area. The restaurant at the club is good and there is also table tennis to help pass the time.

 

Algarrobo is clearly a weekend town catering to the visitors from Santiago.  The restaurants and supermarkets are closed during the week which is bit frustrating as the official event and official catering does not start until Thursday.  We are therefore relying on the club and hotel for dining options.   There is very little English spoken here and so we have to ask for everything in Spanish, this is working out OK with only a few misunderstandings so far.

 

We are expecting some stronger winds for tomorrow.

Day 2 - photo

Still waiting for wind.......

Day 2 - training

The boys spent the first afternoon setting up their boats and rigging their sails so that they were all set for today.  We have 2 Far East boats with Black Gold spars and 2 Lange boats with MKIII spars.  The boys are happy with the boats.

There are other teams here already – CHI, ISV, PER, ECU, ARG

They had a quiet first night, walking around town – not much to see – and then dinner at a local restaurant.  The boys tried empanadas.

This morning they did some fitness and then breakfast at the hotel.  It was cold this morning, clear skies and about 50 degrees.  Skies are still clear but it is warmer

The weather here will be challenging.  There is very little wind in the mornings which increases as the day goes on.  It is currently about 1-2 knots with strong waves and so they are waiting for it to increase so that they can go out.  They will likely go out late and stay out late.  We have 12 hours of daylight 7.30am to 7.30pm. They should have an interesting afternoon with the waves.

We have arrived!!

Here are some photos of the hotel. The boys are a bit tired but all are well. They managed to get some sleep on the plane.

The journey from Santiago took about an hour through dry dusty fruit farms and vineyards.
We will head to the club for lunch later and then sort out the boats etc and be ready to practice tomorrow morning.

The weather is cool and cloudy, a bit too cold to sit by the pool.

Departure Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S10y4G6Ba4w

Team Bermuda leaves for Chile

Team Bermuda left today to fly to Chile via Atlanta, Georgia.  Good luck guys!

2011 IODA South American Championship Team

The Bermuda team traveling to Algarrobo, Chile for the SA Championships were presented with their uniforms at the Winter Prizegiving last Thursday at the RBYC.

Pictured left to right - Coach Zizi Stanuil, Team Leader Leslie Caslin, Makai Joell, Chase Cooper, Rory Caslin, Antonio Bailey.  Also picture BODA President Anthony Bailey (back center, BODA Sailor Development Chairman Ben Nicholls (far right).

Club de Yates Algarrobo

Next to Playa San Pedro is the private yacht club, Club de Yates Algarrobo,
founded in the 1930's. In February, boats from all over the country
participate in one of Chile's most important nautical events here: the
Regata Mil Millas Náuticas.

Algarrobo, Chile

Algarrobo is a Chilean city and in San Antonio Province, Valparaíso Region.
Located on the country's central coast, it is a popular summer resort for
the population of Santiago. It is an upscale community near El Quisco and
Valparaíso. According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics
Institute, Algarrobo spans an area of 175.6 km2 (68 sq mi) and has 8,601
inhabitants (4,369 men and 4,232 women). Of these, 6,628 (77.1%) lived in
urban areas and 1,973 (22.9%) in rural areas. The population grew by 44.1%
(2,633 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses

Countdown to the South Americans

Official dates of the 2011 IODA South American Championships
April 14 - 24th

2010 Worlds - Final Day

Today was the last official day of racing and there was only one round of racing and in reality there was only one race, race three, that was of any real significance as it was going a race that was going to determine the champion. Going into today’s final race Thailand was leading Malayshia by a eight points and as it stood, whichever one of them was able to distance themselves from the other was certain to win the championship. As it turned out it was not even close as Thailand won with ease.

For our sailors, the final race was one whereby they could solidify their positions or perhaps improve a few places, albeit any movement was not going to be too significant but in the end there wasn’t any major change in positioning.

The Closing Ceremony was colourful albeit long. The Malaysians were very generous with their prizes and in the spirit of true Opti sportsmanship they tried to assure that everyone was a winner or at least knew they are special. The sailors from all over the world showed their appreciation to the event organizers by accepting an invitation to join Malaysia’s cultural dancers on stage to take part in a traditional Malaysian dance.

In minutes the stage was blanketed in a riot of colours…the sight brought smiles to the faces of the adults and event organizers as we all sat and watched the sailors share a moment of unity amongst nations and for one moment in time it made everything else seem insignificant. Oh, I should mention that leading the Bermuda charge on stage was Ron Stan although he soon gave way to the sailors.

Although this Worlds’ in now history, I believe the team learnt a lot about what it takes to be a world beater but more importantly over the past 16 days they also learnt a little bit about each other and the importance of team.

As for Langkawi, which had earned the pre-regatta reputation as being a light air venue, of the fifteen races contested the majority of them were contested in wind that blew at least 12 knots and as previously reported for a few races the wind was blowing as much as 17 to 18 knots…today, 7 January 2011, was no exception as the wind was a steady 11 to 12 knots with a few gust up to 15 knots.

Now comes the fun part, the trek home. See you soon…one day in time. Zizi will provide a summary on how he flet our sailors did which will be shared with you in due course.

Note: The final Bermuda placings are as follows;

Makai 75

Sam  93

Antonio 169

Ceci 198

Chase 208

Best,

AB

Closing Cermonies

231 Sailors on stage!

______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email
______________________________________________________________________

Last Day- Good Luck Omen

Cats are good luck in the Asian culture and one has visited Team Bermuda!
Hopefully a charm for today's last race
Winds are a little light but picking up...

______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email
______________________________________________________________________

Day V of Racing 5 January 2011

It was back to Championship racing and what a day it was. The wind was blowing a steady 11 to 14 knots and at times was reaching as much as 17 knots. In the first race of the day it was Sam and Ceci leading the charge for Bermuda. Sam did not get off the line albeit Ceci did  had a good start. Both Sam and Ceci rounded the windward mark in the top thirty; but in the end both had mixed results as Sam ended up in the high teens whilst Ceci ended back of the fleet. In the second race it was Makai and Chase. Makai rounded the windward mark in the top twenty but had been deemed OCS resultinig in a score equal to the fleet. Chase, who got off to a late start, rounded the windward mark in the top forty but finished back of the fleet. In the third race of the day, Antonio was featured by himself. Antonio continued to struggle to find any sort of form and found himself mid fleet at the windward mark and back of the fleet at the end.

In the second round of racing, it was Ceci and Chase leading off for Bermuda. Ceci got off to an excellent start whilst Chase got off to a good start. At the windward mark both sailors were sitting near the back of the fleet and did not make any significant gains throughout the rest of the race. In the second group, it was Sam and Antonio. Nether sailor managed to get off to a good start. Both sailors had a challenging windward leg, rounding the mark near the back of the fleet. Unfortunately not much changed for them as they ended mid to back of the fleet with only a few boats separating them at the finish. In the third race, it was Makai leading the charge. Makai got off to a good start and was well placed at the windward mark where he rounded the mark in the top twenty. This patterned remained the same around the course as he ended up in the top twenty.

During the final round of racing both Sam and Ceci lead the procession off for Bermuda.  Sam got off to a bad start but was able to claw back a bunch of boats and was well placed in the high teens at the windward mark whilst Ceci, who also had a bad start, rounded windward mark back of the fleet. During the last up wind Sam wasn’t able to maintain his placing in the teens and slipped back to place in the early twenties. Ceci wasn’t able to make any inroads and ended up back of the fleet.

In the second race it was Chase and Antonio. Antonio had a reasonable start and rounded the windward mark in the top twenty whilst Chase, who had a late start, rounded the windward mark mid fleet. In the end Antonio lost a few boats on the last up wind and had to settle for a top thirty finish whilst Chase finished in the high thirties.

In the last race of the day it was Makai. Makai got off to a good start and managed to round the windward Mark in the top twenty and on the last upwind Makai managed to pull back a few boats to finish in the mid teens.

Coach Zizi summoned up the day as being a good day for the team as they were more aggressive on the line. The wind was good, albeit still a bit shifty, and compared to other days, the current was stronger.  Despite the mixed results our sailors remain in good spirits.

Post Race....

Team cooling out after racing... Good breeze today with some top 20
results we think.... Team in good spirits!

______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email
______________________________________________________________________