Worlds wrap up and end of the season review


Kerteminde, Denmark, the site of the 2010 RS:X world Championships proved to be an interesting, yet desolate venue.  The town consisted of one supermarket, a few bakeries, no more than five restaurants and rain.  I arrived about 12 days before the event to do some on-site training.  The training was great.  However, the weather, entertainment and general ambience of the town was lacking. The town did not offer much to distract our minds from the training. In order to keep our sanity, we often took trips into nearby Odense.  Odense is a medium sized Danish town that is situated about 35 km east of kerteminde.  The town offered more cultural stimulation than Kerteminde, in addition to nice restaurants and cafes.  Unfortunately, Odense did not provide much relief from the persistent rain.

 

Despite the rainy and cold weather, the training was extremely productive.   I tagged along and trained with a group of 5 of the world’s best sailors.  These sailors were faster and better than me, but I felt competitive amongst them. I often finished right with them in practice races.  As the event neared, the training only got better, and the town became livelier.  We did, however, have 2 consecutive days of 40+ knots, which forced me to take some time off from training, because 40 knots is a bit too much to train in.

 

The first day of the event, in some respects, was the best day that I had all year.  The races were held in a challenging 3-6 knots, conditions that I have continually struggled in.  After racing half of a race, which was cancelled to due poor conditions, and sitting around for 5 hours patiently waiting for wind, we finally got off 2 full races.   The first race, which started around 5pm was my best finish of the regatta.  I started at the boat end of the line, tacked out to the right side of the course, tapped into a nice right shift and was comfortably in the top 25.  Downwind, a few boards passed me; however, I seemed to be a bit faster than the fleet upwind and I caught 10 boards on the last upwind leg, ultimately finishing in 26th of 60.  The second race of the day was not as good as the first; yet, I still was battling it out with some very good sailors in the same conditions as the first race.  After the first day of racing, I was the top American sitting in 55th out of 115.  In retrospect, these finishes my not seem spectacular; however, I have never before achieved Gold Fleet caliber results in light air, but I did on this day. These results were an indication that I am becoming more of a universal sailor and not a one-dimensional sailor, which I have been in the past. Over the next two days of racing, I needed two more solid races and I would have comfortably qualified for gold fleet.  Unfortunately, that did not happen.

 

The second day of racing produced an onshore breeze of 15-25 knots coupled with short and steep chop.  These conditions were somewhat peculiar to the site.  Training prior to the event we sailed in an offshore breeze nearly everyday.  Additionally, our racecourse was surrounded by land on 3 of the 4 sides, so naturally an offshore breeze was prominent.  In addition to the challenging chop, the wind direction produced a “one track” sailing course.  A “one track” course is when the course is set so that there is only one side of the course that you can go to in order to be competitive.  This makes racing more difficult as all the competitors are trying to go to one side. Therefore, the start becomes the significantly more important as there are limited options to pass.

 

We had a 2 general recalls (a restart) before we got a race off and I won the pin  end of the line on both of the recalls (you needed to be on the left side of the course to be competitive). However, on the third start, I wasn’t so lucky as I rafted up on the pin boat’s anchor line.  Fortunately, I didn’t fall, but as you can imagine a lot of people passed me at the start and because the race consisted of a one-track course, it was very difficult to move up through the fleet. The second race, I continued to have difficulties getting off the line and I couldn’t make my way back through the fleet.   This day was particularly disappointing for me, as the conditions were ideal for my sailing style; yet, I wasn’t able to capitalize on them.

 

The third day, we had 8-12 knots of breeze.  The first race, I did okay battling it out with the middle of the fleet.  The second race, however, was my worst of the event and I ended up missing gold fleet.

 

The races in silver fleet were, in a strange way, very comical.  We only had 3 races in 3 days, as the wind was uncooperative.  The first day of silver fleet racing was a perfect 15 knot onshore North Easterly.  The same direction that we had on the second day, yet the chop was not nearly as difficult. The first silver fleet race was the most memorable.  I won the pin end and it looked like I was top 5, if not top 3 of the start.  As I blasted up the left side of the course on starboard tack I had an incident with an Aussie girl.  The girls were racing on the inside part of our course; however, there were moments were the courses would overlap.  The Aussie girl was on port and I was on starboard, and she, for some reason, was not able to avoid me and we had a direct hit.  In actuality, I hit her as she tried to cross me and I couldn’t avoid the collision.  The nose of my board struck her sail and we both fell in the water.  Fortunately, my equipment wasn’t damaged, but I did break a few battens in her sail.  Neither of us were hurt, which is obviously very lucky, considering our closing speed was 30 MPH or higher.   Naturally, I was very upset about this because it ruined my race, but I was over early and was scored an OCS, so it didn’t even matter!

 

The second race I had another good start and scored a 5th.  I was in 2nd for 80% of the race, then I over stood a lay line on the last beat and three sailors tacked beneath me and passed me.    

 

The last race of the regatta was also very comical.  We were sailing on a short course and the wind was fluctuating between 3 and 15 knots and oscillating 25 degrees.  To make things more challenging, there was 2-3 knot current flowing upwind at the start line. We had one general recall, and then the race committee resorted to the black flag.  I started at the pin well below most of the sailors, because it seemed like a majority of them were over, which they were (there were 23 sailors black flagged that race). I sailed out to the left side, only to be stranded in a huge hole.  I was literally sailing in circles for a few minutes as the rest of the fleet had pressure up the course.  Fortunately, the inconsistent winds swung into my favor and a nice 12-knot puff quickly materialized on the left.  I put the centerboard up and planned up to the windward mark at 15 – 20 MPH.  Meanwhile the majority of the fleet was stuck in the same hole that I found at the beginning of the race. I went from dead last to top 10 in a matter of seconds.  I was able to hold that position for a majority of the race, but as the wind continued to be inconsistent, I found myself in a disadvantageous position on the last upwind leg and a few sailors passed me.  I scored a 16th on the last race of the regatta.

 

My performance at this regatta was not how I wanted to end my season; however, in some regards, I had some of my best finishes at this regatta. In particular, the first day, I had a very strong finish in light air.  Knowing that I have finally improved my light air sailing to the point where I am comfortably competitive with the middle and sometimes the top of the fleet is a very promising note. 

The 2010 competition season is now over and 2011 promises to be an exciting year as the entire purpose will be to qualify myself for the 2012 Games.   The 2010 season started out slow with poor results, but I made huge gains throughout the summer.  Placing top 20 and being the top American at Kiel week, was undoubtedly the highlight of the year. I addition to Kiel week, I had a very strong performance at the site of the 2012 Olympic Games, finishing 3rd in silver fleet in Weymouth.  You can read about that regatta here: 

http://bobsails.com/article/post/show/id/16-Weymouth-Regatta

As the season came to a close, I did some serious thinking about where I stand among the fleet.  And, my conclusion is that I am not far of the pace from the top sailors.  The past 3 regattas (Kiel, Weymouth and Worlds) I had moments where I was beating and battling it out with Olympians and Olympic medalists.  This indicates to me that my speed, fitness and course management are not far off from the top sailors; I just need to piece together my regattas and not settle for 2 or 3 strong races. 

 

I will take about 10 weeks off from sailing the RS:X.  In order to maintain and improve my fitness I plan on keeping a strict workout regimen during the off-season.  My tentative schedule is to start training full time in the end of November.

I posted more pictures on my website: http://bobsails.com/photo/gallery/album/id/9

And Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bob-Willis-2012-Olympic-Campaign/226884300865?ref=ts

Also, for those of you who are expecting some “bobsails” gear, I have not forgotten about you.  I am putting the order in this week and I should have it you by the end of the month.

 

Donations can be made at: http://bobsails.com/page/sponsorship

A HUGE thank you goes out to everybody who has supported me this year:

 

Alain Degraeve
Bill Grant
Brendan Heussler
Charlie Baldwin
Christopher Klanac
Dan Arntzen
Dana Karlin
Daniel Stohr
Dave Halstead
Edward Michaud
Elizabeth Willis
Emily Meyer
Eric Johnson
Joan & Eugene Stunard
Flora Lazar
George Ortiz  (Adobo Grill)
Harold Estime
Harry Greenhouse
Jack Wheeler
Jacob Karlin
James Miles Shepherd III
Jeffery Bresnahan
Jess Willis
Joey Harris
Mary and John Willis
John Ingle
John Sheehan
Kathleen Monal
Katie Anderson
Kurt Thomsen
Lee Reighart
Liz Pollack
Lou Lanwermeyer
Maggie Shea
Matt Howard
Melody Green
Michele Addison
Mona J. Levin
Patricia Iinuma (Park Hyatt Chicago)
Patrick Hitchins (Sailgroove)
Patti Smith
Paul Fidrych
Richard Conlin
Ryan B. Hill
Sally Irwin
Sally Maxwell
Seve Mangrum
Stuart Mcsweeney
Susan Berman
Tom Taylor
Wes Donohoe
Winston Lazar

 

Thank you,

--
Bob Willis
bobsails.com