Race 9, closing ceremony, and return

Saturday was true to its forecast...light winds and rainy. I waved goodbye one last time to my family on the balcony of our condo as I rode away on my pink mountain bike down streets that were so familiar to me now but in conditions that were not...the clouds, drizzle, and cool air were more like Seattle than the Punta we had known during the last two weeks. The yacht club's flags that had been outstretched and snapping were now oddly hanging straight down. We waited and wondered if the wind would do its normal switch and build, and finally the committee sent us out to wait some more, have a few starts in which boats were tagged with OCS or the Z flag penalty, and drift around getting wet and chilled while the wind gradually filled from the NE/E. It wasn't as miserable as it sounds since we were often close to other teammates joking around and friendly faces we'd come to recognize.

We finally started a double windward leeward course close to 4 o'clock (an hour before the deadline for the last race). This would mean a 2nd throw-out race and a Z flag 20% penalty added to scores for those who were caught (including Nick who admitted he started at the boat 3 boat lengths over). It was more right today as Leandro suspected, but light air and a brief left favor helped several Japanese boats round the windward mark in the lead. I had a good start but eventually had to tack out for clear air and played the middle right. With a starboard lift and current pushing us up the course, we ended up overstanding the windward mark both times and then almost not clearing both it and the leeward mark as I rounded due to the current vs. light air. We felt a bit slow downwind and unsure about our heal but in good company with several top sailors nearby having bad races. In the lighter air the fleet seemed more compact this race and exact positiions seemed difficult to guess going downwind.

The Chilean women once again rounded near us for our last downwind leg, and they took us up away from the leeward mark right into a pack heading upwind, but we were able to jibe onto starboard, avoid traffic :), and force them to head down. We immediately heard a lot of high pitched arguing on their boat as we prepared to round ahead of them. They didn't come close to us again and after throw-outs, we beat them by just one point (in spite of them getting redress for two races for their own boat's breakdown). Ha! It's all a game, as Leandro reminded us, and everyone was always friendly on shore.

Speaking of being back on shore, we had to deal with replacing or finding the elusive tiller that had disappeared the previous week and getting our boat out of the water and wheeled to the charter area without our dolly tire that had exploded all by itself that morning (we were relieved to discover the loud bang and swinging rig wasn't from a large bird slamming into our mast or something happening to our boat!). Monica had used her Spanish to help me try to find a cheap diver to look for the tiller in the murky, oily launch area, but no diver surfaced, so later she and her husband Stephan came to our rescue with a generous offer of their tiller and extension which we would replace more cheaply in the States. Thomas loaned us a wheel long enough to return the charter boat to its owner who said he knew his wheels were shot. I can't remember if I mentioned the boat took on at least a liter of water a day in spite of our efforts to track the source and reseal loose screws in the cockpit--the owner didn't seem surprised about this either and was pleased with his new tiller fortunately. It was nice to have a charter boat and not worry about container expenses or getting a boat to/from Jacksonville, Florida, where the container was loaded/will be unloaded. I can definitely see the advantage of having your own boat and equipment, though.

After we showered and hung up all the wet sailing gear to drip as much as possible until it had to be packed, we drove to the club for a very nice evening of awards, socializing, contact info exchanging, and many hors d'oeuvres offered by the club's waiters in white tuxes and red bow ties. Christin and I were surprised to be called up to receive our own trophies topped with fur seals for placing third in the Women's Championship! We had been ahead of the Japanese women but their 21st in the light air Saturday plus throwouts put them substantially ahead of us but still behind the Brazilian women's team. My mom stayed back with the boys so Rusty and I could enjoy ourselves, but we returned much earlier than most I think!

Our return trip was 29 hours long door-to-door and a bit stressful with delayed flights in Buenos Aires and Santiago, but the boys were excellent travelers and now we're all nearly back on this time zone. Taylor even wanted to go straight to P.E. and history class as soon as we returned home! Today he took his shark jaw to show to his classmates, and Barrett passed around his rock and shell he found. He also returned the classroom traveling bear we took several photos of which will go in an album this week. Several people asked me how the regatta went, and my response has been that it was a very challenging competition but I learned so much. My students loved seeing the trophy, and it felt good getting back to the normal routine together.

I'm sure I'll wistfully remember Punta del Este when I'm working on progress reports this weekend or during a cold, winter day. It is a beautiful spot with very friendly people and great sailing!

Maybe we'll also do a little thinking and dreaming about other international regattas in places we'd love to see. Rusty and I would be the perfect weight together, and he sounds up for trying a Snipe. Peter Commette says the Piada regatta in Italy is worth considering if we might be taking a trip to Europe next summer...

Thanks for following me through this experience, reading my first but lengthy blog, and supporting/encouraging me (and any other sailors you know!).

Haley

Races 7 and 8

I woke up tired on Friday after listening to the wind howling and whistling all night through the rouladin (sliding window shade) box between our ceiling and the sliding glass door of our bedroom. I would've been tired and sore even with a good night's sleep, so I was wishing I could have had our lay day to rest, explore Punta with Rusty and the boys, and help Mom with the Thanksgiving dinner she was preparing. At least I got to have a relaxing breakfast with them since races weren't scheduled to start until 1 p.m. when the consistent breeze usually filled in. Upon arrival, we were greeted with white caps in the harbor and the Coast Guard's yellow flag and the race committee's D flag flying, telling everyone to wait on launching. Leandro told our team to have the mindset that we would go out and to be ready. I was tempted to bike home for a quick lunch while others enjoyed the tasty yacht club "Snipe Menu" and best Cevitas (their version of hamburgers) in town--according to our team, but that seemed risky. Suddenly, all of us in the boat yard felt the warm land breeze from the north shift to a cool NE/E breeze coming from the ocean. This was the shift the committee had been waiting for, so soon after that, they lowered the flag, blew the whistle, and set up a course much closer to shore (between the island and the harbor). I knew this would mean gusty, shifty winds, but a better view of the races from our condo for Rusty and Mom--I just wish they hadn't seen me rounding the windward mark next to last at one point!

In spite of Doogie's and Leandro's advice to keep my bow up with the other boats, I got worked both starts of races 7 and 8 when more aggressive sailors squeezed in and around me during the last 15 seconds as we trimmed in. I felt I was improving at holding my spot for over a minute, but I needed to be more deliberate and proactive in protecting my hole until the last few seconds while also accelerating with the front row. Augie Diaz later told me that once he picks his position, he has his crew keep track of the line while he concentrates on protecting his hole, pointing his bow down and yelling at anyone who would (in my words) be stupid enough to want to sail under him. This sounds basic to most sailors--I remember Charlie McKee explaining the shark/port approach vs. protect your hole to leeward/starboard approach when I was a kid-- but in this fleet nothing is easy.

As usual, we had recalls and Z flags go up, but it was still hard for the pin end and committee boats to identify everyone who was over each time. Left was favored as usual and courses were Olympic, but it wasn't as windy as the previous days, and we were usually able to catch a few boats on the upwind legs. Our boathandling, surfing, and whisker pole manuevering on the second reaches had definitely improved, and we were holding our position to claim room at the leeward mark.


During race 8, we were able to sneak inside a gigantic pile up at the jibe mark just as it was breaking up, but many of these very fast sailors were even or ahead of us within seconds of our rounding. Our next rounding was very unlucky as I tried to pass Stephan and Monica's stern while they were stuck at the leeward mark after being hit by another team; I barely tapped their hull but felt I should do a 720 since they were on starboard and I was on port at the time. I thought they might have been going slightly backwards, in which case, they'd have no rights, but I didn't want them to think I was trying to get away with anything. So, we did them and tried not to hit oncoming traffic. This really put us back, and I was less than enthusiastic when the Chilean women's team match raced us during multiple tacks all the way to the finish line, even taking us past lay line as a Columbian boat snuck in at the boat end of the line. We would end the day one point behind the Chilean women and feeling a bit discouraged.

To make matters worse, Christin slipped and badly cut her hand on the sea wall (probably barnacles) while valiantly trying to jump in to fend us off another boat. She bandaged it up well with Doogie's help and they loaded up on supplies from one of the many pharmacies--banks and pharmacies are in nearly every block of this little town. We definitely had bad luck with mishaps at the launch ramp, but it was tricky going out/coming in without a dock and sharing the same space with about 20+ boats often in 15-20 knots! I already mentioned hidden rocks under the water that were a problem at low tide, too.

I cheered up seeing Rusty and the boys on shore before they went to find the nearby Punta del Este lighthouse. We had a fantastic turkey dinner, too, while being entertained with Peter and Jerelyn Biehl's stories. It was a late night, though!

Races 5 and 6 on Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

I never thought I'd spend Thanksgiving in Uruguay, but I'm thankful we are able to be here and I'm thankful for all of the support I continue to have that makes racing here possible. I hope anyone reading this is happy, healthy, and fortunate enough to have many blessings to count. Since there was a yacht club organized fiesta dinner at a nearby restaurant tonight, we'll be having a traditional thanksgiving dinner here tomorrow night (thanks to my mom and Rusty) with the sailors sharing our two condos with us.

We were supposed to have a lay day tomorrow, but we'll be racing instead since light air is predicted for Saturday and they'd like to have 9 total for the regatta. We did get two races off eventually today after many shifts and postponements (6 hours of sailing for two races just like yesterday). For conditions and reports on the action in the front of the fleet, please check out Jerelyn Biehl's daily blog report which has a link from the WH&O 2008 regatta site's results and photo page.

I'd love to be in the front of the fleet, but I'm just hoping to get more finishes in the 30's (20's would be amazing). I've heard the level of competition in this particular Western Hemisphere and Orient Championship is the highest it has been in 8 years (many of the sailors are current/former national, world, and Olympic champions). Christin and I are definitely improving and enjoying small victories even if our finishes don't show it. Considering this is her 3rd Snipe regatta and my 4th (my 1st international regatta), and I haven't skippered many dinghy regattas since college, I think we're doing well against such skilled and experienced sailors.

Since we've had another day of windy sailing, I'm exhausted, so here is my quick list of best/worst parts of the day ("best and worst" is a dinner conversation we often have with our sons):

Worst:

• breaking three separate but very important little shock cords on our boat
• waiting for races to start and getting chilled
• starting second row even though I'd been luffing at 1 min. 30 sec. within a boat length of the line...I am still working on timing and aggression
• getting rolled by 4 boats on the first reach
• sailing toward the harbor against huge gusts and drenching waves
• other U.S. team members' struggles and disappointments
• my very sunburned legs from wearing a shortie wetsuit yesterday (and sunscreen that kept washing off with all of the spray)
• sore elbow and knees
• not getting to talk with my dad on Thanksgiving
• finding out we race during the lay day and probably last one Saturday
• news reports about terrorist attacks in India

Best:

• spending a little time with Rusty, Mom, and my boys before leaving this morning (Taylor and Barrett happily greeted me with their beach towels tied on as capes over their PJ's)
• having Doogie's efficient help with making a new rudder pin with shock cord
• hearing Leandro's praise about how much we're improving
• playing the shifts and keeping our boat trimmed well so we made gains upwind
• successfully getting around a very crowded windward mark from the port layline
• crossing tacks and jibing with even more aggressive sailors in 2nd race today
• doing better on the second reaches with boat handling and keeping up with other boats
• passing out thank-you munchies to everyone on the U.S. team during derigging because everyone has helped us at some point
• hearing the voices of my in-laws and Rusty's brother via Skype
• having a nice evening with my family
• sharing dessert with Peter Commette and hearing sailing stories--he's a proud dad, accomplished sailor, and now a friend I'm very honored to have

Races 3 and 4

I left on my bike waving up to my sons who had just woken up and were watching me from the condo balcony as I rode away to another day of racing. They would skip the spectator boat today and go with Rusty and my mom to see the nearby town of Jose Ignacio (and later go boogie boarding, of course).

It was windy and cloudy today and the breeze was already building. We met for our team meeting in our usual morning spot between our cargo container and the fence next to the harbor. Leandro told us the wind was predicted to be NE/E and reach around 22 knots by afternoon before calming down eventually. He praised the team on working together before the races yesterday and told us to try to sail even smarter and more aggressively, especially at the start. Leandro knew Christin and I felt slow yesterday, so he looked at our boat but advised us not to change our heavy air settings from yesterday based on today's forecast and gave us advice on how to sail looser in lighter breeze even if the rig is tight. I checked the notice board and saw we were dead last after our OCS (over starting line too early) in race 2 which left me feeling disappointed but certain we would move up during the regatta especially if we sail enough races to throw out one.

So off we went from the crowded launch ramp and through the maze of moored boats in the harbor. I haven't mentioned how friendly the people are everywhere here, but those who happen to be on board their moored boats often cheer and wave as the parade of Snipes sails by them.

As we left the harbor and around a small navy ship, the wind was just 5-10 knots and from the north. The course was eventually set by the committee boat (it usually sets all of the marks), but then the shifting began and postponements had to be made as the wind increased and shifted to the north east. We had a couple of recalls and the Z flag was put up to add a 20% penalty to anyone not restarting correctly after being over within one minute of the start. I worked on setting up earlier (1 min 30 -2 min) and holding my hole near the middle or left half but had to bail out a couple of times when I noticed Augie and/or Peter or a leeward boat was too close with time to pick a new spot. Our eventual start was good and we headed left but had trouble pointing with the bad air from boats gradually driving over us and no clean lane available. Our reaches felt slow on the double triangle course, but we picked up boats the next two windward legs--one leg by playing shifts up the middle. The wind was 15-20 by the time we sailed the last beat and we were looking good--we were pointing well up the left side, hiking hard, and our sails had a nice, flat shape in comparison to many other boats whose sails were flogging. After finishing, Leandro gave us a big thumbs up, and I happily shouted that I was proud of where we ended up in that race.

As we took a break near the shore, the wind continued to build and hit us in gusts that were nearly knock downs. We cautiously flew down to the starting area and waited heaved-to (with jib pulled tight on the windward side to keep sails from flapping and to slow you down) like most everyone else as the committee boat started sequences and then postponed them while trying to reset and eventually replace a drifting pin end. We actually began to hope that the committee was also rethinking starting any race to send us in because we were sure the wind was gusting up to 30 and was probably 25 knots sustained (committee reported to Jerry, the SCIRA rep, that the wind was no more than 24 knots sustained). It was exciting and a challenge, though, to have to start and sail in so much breeze. Adventure sailing and competition at its best! We were one of the few boats able to cross the line near the pin end and not get blown below it, and off we went to the left with most of the fleet. We neared the windward mark mid-fleet (probably our best position yet at the first mark) and thought we could tack below a Brazilian boat onto layline about 3 boat lengths away, but we had a problem with the jib sheets and lost enough speed that we could no longer make the mark and had to jibe around to get back in line to round. Ugh! We jibed around boats that were capsized and then struggled to get out the whisker pole (more technique practice is needed for this much breeze), so we bailed and did our best to stop the boat from death rolling (capsizing to windward) as we avoided a few other capsized boats on the way to the leeward mark. We did well on the next beat and held our own, but then we capsized at the jibe mark (next to Juliana and Vivian from Brazil who capsized seconds before us) when my tiller extension got stuck in the cockpit--a big spectator boat got a great view of the two boats capsized and many others after us, but at least ours didn't make the evening slide show! :) No more incidents after that and we finished 35th, tired but still in control with no broken equipment. At least 9 boats weren't able to sail or finish the race! The winner was a Uruguayan woman named Andrea who is racing with her brother, an Olympic Laser sailor; I congratulated Andrea later and she is definitely as nice as she is skilled.

The way in was the toughest as huge gusts capsized boats even with sails fully let out. From our condo, Rusty could see the puffs blast down across the water and blow over several boats, a few of whom demonstrated perfect "California rolls" (where you hold onto the dagger board and get pulled under water to the other side when the boat capsizes again on top of you).

Tonight my mom put the boys to bed so we could return for cena/dinner at the club with the other sailors. We had waiters in white tuxes and silver trays serving us drinks and hors d'oeuvres and later paella from a gigantic paella pan outside. We were all entertained by the slide show showing great close-up photos of the last two days' racing and even better was Karaoke... Koji from Japan stole the show with his great microphone moves and high pitch notes singing an old American rock song. It was very, very funny!

Tomorrow is supposed to start out windy and be very windy all day. It took 5 hours to get 2 races in today and there was quite a bit of carnage, so we'll keep our fingers crossed that it's less windy than forecasted or they send us in.

Races 1 and 2 plus boogie boarding

I was nervous with my stomach tied in knots this morning, but Rusty made me a nice breakfast I couldn't resist and even packed a lunch for me to take in the boat. I got a ride down from him, too, since I had extra gear today, and we met Christin and Doogie at the boat already working on today's mini list of boat to-do's. We had a brief team meeting and the skippers meeting before all going out to get ready for at least two races maybe three.

We did speed testing and split tacks simultaneously with Nick, Peter, and Stefan which showed us we should avoid the fluky winds below the island even if tempted by more pressure or a shift early in the leg because you would have to ride a header back to the middle while more pressure awaited on the upper left. It was blowing about 10-15 knots for the first race which we started in a good position on the line but too far behind the windward boat's bow so we quickly fell back and struggled to get out of the bad air. Left was favored again, and we played the left but probably didn't go left soon enough or far enough.

I was determined to be more aggressive the second start, and we ended up being over early/OCS. I thought I might be but couldn't easily dip down, and Christin said, "That was an awesome start. We're just going to go for it!" She was happy to see us be more aggressive even if I didn't put us in the perfect spot. She was also happy to hear me shouting, "Agua, agua, agua...I need agua NOW!" to the Chilean boat that was trying to squeeze me out at the leeward mark and finally gave me room to round when I sounded determined enough to get it. On the downwind leg the wind switched further left and the windward mark was changed from 105 to 60 degrees, and this was followed by the wind nearly dying completely on the back side of a rain cloud as we tried to make it to the finish line losing boats on both sides of us it seemed. Something we will work on tomorrow will be faster reaches/putting up pole later after heading up after marks and then heading down to get pole up once we're in clear air moving fast. I'll also work on being in line or just ahead of boats in my pack without being over early at the start.

Rusty, Taylor, Barrett, and my mom went out with a local yacht club member Pablo on his very comfortable power boat along with several other spectators to watch. Sandwiches and drinks on trays were passed, and a Japanese spectator brought cookies for everyone...a very friendly group indeed! It was fun to see my family (and some of the others, too) waving to us and cheering us on between races. I just wish we'd done better...at least there's room for improvement and several more days of racing.

The day ended much more happily for me by going to the Brava beach with Rusty and the boys to boogie board (I watched, cheered, and took pictures). I also made it to the nearby casino/hotel with my computer in time to talk with my grade one students and teaching partner Tony via Skype. It was fun to see and hear my students; they were very cute asking me questions and wishing me a happy Thanksgiving. I hope their party goes well tomorrow that I helped organize.

Now I'm caught up on blogging, too, although photo posting will have to wait again until tomorrow. Time to ride my bike back to the condo!

Measurement, practice race, opening ceremony

I didn't have a chance to get online yesterday, so I'll briefly write about both yesterday and today. We had an unfortunate start to our day of practicing yesterday. We raised our brand new sails three separate times in the process of realizing our tiller and tiller extension were missing (probably slipped out of our boat during a windy, slightly chaotic derigging in 4 feet of water) and borrowing a tiller and rudder that fit. So, once we finally had a new tiller, we started to sail away only to hit a big rock under the water about 30-40 feet from the launch ramp! The rock put a few big gouges in the leading edge of our dagger board and the back of our dagger board trunk. We were feeling frustrated with our bad luck but sailing made us feel better because our new sails looked great and made sailing so much easier in the heavy air. The shape of our leaches matched and we were no longer over powered with the correct tension, rake, and flatter sails (all controls were cranked on, jib leads back to 90", and traveller eased a bit, of course). Leandro took video and photos that made us feel much better about our potential to sail well in heavy air.

Later that afternoon my mom picked up Rusty and the boys while Christin, Doogie, and I got our Snipe measured. Measuring was a very lengthy process (over 2 hours), but sails, boat, and equipment passed easily with only darker lines needed on the dagger board and mast. Our boat was only 2 kg over minimum and the moment of inertia was perfect--that was interesting to see done with all equipment removed, garage doors closed to block wind, and the boat rocking back and forth to see if it balanced.

When I returned to the condo, the boys and Rusty greeted me at the door, and we all gave each other big hugs. I think Barrett was actually a little frightened at first to see me after being away from me for a week, but within a few minutes, he was cuddling in my lap wanting me to read him a book. He was especially excited to show me his classroom bear that he was asked to bring and take pictures of during the trip. Both boys also showed me their new DS's that Rusty had just given them on the long flight to Buenos Aires. He said the boys were excellent travellers and he only had to move to sit between them once. They didn't leave the airport in New York because it was already dark (and cold) at 4:45 when they boarded the train to ride around the airport, so we'll have to sightsee in NY another time together.

Today Rusty and the boys slept in, took it easy, and played on the beach with new boogie boards from the grocery store here while I sailed the practice race. We had very light wind during most of our team practice before the practice race began, and it was a challenge for everyone to decide whether to loosen rigs with forecast saying winds would strengthen. We don't have "Staymaster" to easily tighten the shrouds on the water, and it was very hard to get our shrouds to 21 to 23 (on Loos gauge), so we left ours and focused on keeping everything else loose and ourselves cool. I jumped in the cold water and eventually handed off my wetsuit, but wished I had it later when the wind did come up to about 15 knots for the practice race. We had 2 general recalls and they let the last start go even though most of the fleet was over. I was warned that the fleet would be very aggressive at the starts but today gave me a taste of what is to come. Many boats set up near the line between 1 min. 30 sec. and 2 min., and after that, it was hard to find a good spot in the favored port half of the line. We could see boats getting lifted up the left shore during practice, so we knew we wanted to go left. I didn't have our bow punched out as far as the boats immediately to windward and leeward of us, so we started in 2nd row and got shot out the back. After that it was a struggle to get clear air and not fall back further, so we rounded the marks in the last 3rd of the fleet I think. No one finished and just sailed in after the first windward-leeward-windward. Later, our team debriefing focused on the need to be extra smart and aggressive at the start and how the left side along closer to shore (NE breeze) had more consistent pressure and bigger lifts as you approached the mark.

After our team meeting, we all went to the opening ceremony in our tan, navy, and white team outfits. We were greeted by a huge band on the lawn and 14 yr. old Raoul (current Optimist Dinghy world champion and Ernesto's crew for the regatta) was chosen to raise our country's flag when the national anthem was played. The other countries' flags were raised and speeches were given by the commodores of the club and SCIRA and event organizers. We took many pictures and got a few with Christin and then with Rusty and the boys, too. There was a great dinner of several small courses and socializing in the club afterward.

Too much wind

It continues to be beautiful and sunny here in Punta del Este, but it was so windy today that the port was closed and no one was allowed to sail. Stuck on shore, we took advantage of the time and got our brand new sails ready (Quantum BW2 and PS5), did more work on our boat, and put on our sponsor stickers and our official #29 on the bow. We got to choose our number from what was still available when I registered today, and I hope 29 will be lucky (it's my birthday and my anniversary). We hope to have one more practice with our coach and the U.S. team tomorrow morning before racing begins on Monday. Measurement and opening ceremonies are later tomorrow.

I also had time for buying a brace for my sore elbow and grocery shopping with my mom today. We even found a turkey for Thanksgiving, although it may have to be for Friday instead of Thursday since we have a regatta dinner that night. My mom brought canned pumpkin to make a pie and cranberry sauce, too. We'll eat well this week (as I hope all of you will, too)!

Rusty and the boys are on their way here now via New York and then Buenos Aires. Taylor and Barrett didn't know Rusty just bought their first Nintendo DS's for this trip (about 30 hours from door to door) which will hopefully make the time go by faster. They will also have fun seeing a sight or two in New York like the Statue of Liberty during their 5 hour layover there.

Rusty is an incredible dad and husband to be willing to take care of the boys for most of these two weeks. I'm sure he's seen it as an adventure, a challenge, and a special time for them to be together.