Club News


ISAF Youth Worlds Qualifier Report

By | January 24, 2012

Thank you so much for the opportunity to compete in the 2012 ISAF Youth Worlds Qualifier, hosted by US Sailing at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. It was an amazing leaming experience for my crew James Trotter and me. Without the support of SDYC this experience would not have been possible. We raced in the 1420 fleet which consisted of around 17 boats.

The first day of the regatta consisted of 0-2 knots with a lot of chop, so unfortunately we spent the majority of our day postponed on the water, on our coach Nick Martin's boat before the race committee decided to send us in with no races completed.

The next day the race committee was eager to get races off, so we started our day off early. Still light, c1lOppy, and shifty we started our first race with an open mind. Having a conservative start, in the middle ofthe line, with speed at the gun was what we needed to start of the regatta. Fortunately that's exactly how we executed our first start. After nailing a few crucial shifts we rounded the windward mark with a comfortable lead, from there we never looked back. We finished the first race of the regatta with a 3 minute lead over the second place boat. Unfortunately as we finished we did not hear a horn. As we sailed over to our coach he informed us that we were on coarse side by I foot. In hindsight this race would have brought tinal result to sixth place overall. This was a tough spot to start off a major championship. The next race we decided to have the same gamelan as the previous race. With a great start we rounded the windward mark in second place. Maintaining second place until the final upwind, when the wind completely shutoff and the fleet inverted. We finished with a respectable 6th place. From the rest off the day we were unable to keep our momentum from the tirst two races. Ending the day with a 6, 11.

The final day was tough conditions, even choppier than the first, shifty, and breeze was up and down. We ended the regatta with a 15, 12,8,7, ending the regatta in lilh. A frustrating finish considering our first race was executed perfectly. We can do nothing but learn from our mistakes, and work for a better result next year. Although we were hoping for a better result we learned a lot from our mistakes, and had an amazing experience representing Team SDYC.

Sincerely,
Scott Sinks