Calema
Midwinters 2007 report by steve bodner USa 4
Sunday,
March 4, 2007
Typical Florida conditions greeted sailors today with a fickle breeze-
just enough to get the hybrid, kona and sport fleets racing. Meanwhile the
formula fleet stayed ashore waiting for something significant to fill in. Finally
around 2pm, the wind steadied out to a 8-12knot
breeze- just enough for one race in the formula fleet.
Most sailors had their light air set ups dialed in after 2 days of marginal
racing. More or less this event is the first chance of the year for most
sailors, including the pros, to test their new sails and boards. For most, its a chance to see what works and what doesn't in a fleet
of around 40 boards. I knew from last months event in
Miami that the F2 and starboards were really going well in the light air. This
event was no exception. Starboard and pyrde sails placed in the top 3
positions. Needless to say it has allot to do with the indian and the arrow but
when pros like Micah who arn't sponsored by any formula board company shell out
and buy a starboard to race- it must be good!
Back to the racing: After a long morning and afternoon wait the formula
fleet got off with one general recall. I started mid line in a pack so as to
not stand out but didn't jump the gun enough to get off well with a lane and
was forced to tack over for clear air after 30 seconds .
In the light stuff, clear air is king even if it means banging the corner. While
most of the fleet went left to the layline, I lead a group over to the right
side and was getting knocked the further I went. Good sign! I tacked back and
was in decent position rounding the top mark around 12. Off the breeze I fought
hard to stay deep and had to gybe 2x to get to the
leeward mark. Once rounding, I was able to hold my lane upwind with the 70 cm
fin as the group in front of me battled it out giving each other bad air. I
tacked on the layline and gained a few boards who were
low.
I rounded the top mark with Sylvester and he went higher for speed while I was
able to go deeper with a big powerful sail. He gybed in front of me and I had
to avoid the collision. Not a good show on his part. The lesson here- look over
your shoulder before you gybe. I held out a few more seconds before I gybed but
it really got light at the bottom so I was out of the harness pumping for a
good 30 seconds to make the mark. Who says formula sailing isn't an aerobic
sport? I was able to round clean but Steve behind me got a nice lift and
rounded the top mark just behind me. Meanwhile I was yelling at him to do his
circles and lost track of the course . I thought the
top mark was the finish and actually slowed down to tell him to do his turns. Meanwhile
he and one other sailor went blazing past me on the last reach to the finish. Ahh!
What I had just gained I gave up as my thoughts were so focused on getting
Steve to do his turns. Big lesson here- stay focused until the finish line! A
17th was good enough to move back up to 3rd place in the men's division as
Fernando finished deep behind me and I won on the tie breaker. Not exactly the
best performance but Ill take it. Just before the
finsh line Steve did his circles- a good sign of sportsmanship on his part. Once
ashore we argued about it a bit as our tempers were still hot but eventually
let it be and realized what happens on the water should stay there. No need to
bring it shore unless it goes to the protest room
In the rest if the fleet, Mike Percy was impressive all weekend on his new
Hanson sails and edged out Sylvester for 2nd place in the masters division.
Meanwhile up in front of the fleet Jesper got the bullet to secure 2nd
overall in front of Micah just behind in 3rd and Jimmi in 4th. The Brazilians
took both first in the men's and masters division. In the RSX, Barger- the top
US Olympic hopeful just edged out Gebi for a close series.
After the races I took out the starboard 161 for a test run against some
other sailors. It did feel really good and lively- especially with a 70 cm
kashy fin. I think it let me sail better especially in the light stuff where I
was struggling on the Mikes Lab. Time will tell and with some more testing it
should be evident what set up is the best. I'm looking forward to the challenge
and more racing this season.
Here are some more links to photos and scores
Until next time- sail fast
Steve Bodner
USA 4
The breeze really backed off today as it switched around to the north
and was oscillating all morning and afternoon only giving the opportunity for 2
course races all day. With the wind around 8-12k, most everyone rigged their
big sails for maximum power throughout the day. Unfortunalty there was also
alot of holes throughout the course which caused alot of lead changes every
race. The formula fleet of around 40 boards were pushing the line hard in both
races today and had multiple general recalls before getting off clean. I got
lucky a few times as I got buried at the start as the fleet was well over. In
times like that, you have to be aggressive but not stand out on the line-
better to start mid line in a pack instead of being over early right in front
of the RC boat!
In the start that that
was clean I got off near the pin end clean in what I thought was a great start
but looked over my shoulder only to find the wind had switched right about a
minute before the start and now the boat end was majorly favored. The lesson
here is to test the line and stay aware of the shifts during the 5 minute
countdown. I got caught on the wrong side of the shift from the beginning and
never got back in phase the whole race.
It was hard to get my
game face back on after that race but somehow after a long break waiting for
the other fleets to race and having lunch- I was able to get myself back in the
game after I borrowed a fin from Sylvester and finally found the groove I was
looking for in the light wind. The new light wind set up consisted of a 11.7 m2 north warp with my mikes lab l7 and new 70 cm
Zajicek fin. The fin was much stiffer than what I was used to using but was
able to hold angle and really rocked downwind in my initial test against
Sylvester and Percy. So there I was ready for race 2- with the confidence to
hold my angle upwind. I was ready to go! A couple of more general recalls as
the fleet was really pushing the line but all 3 times I got off well with a
lane for the first 20 seconds before heading back to restart. Finally the real
deal- I was pushing the line aggressive at the start getting lined up with
speed down the line with 20 seconds to go when I just ran out of wind and
stalled as the wind died on the line and the fleet went over the top of me. How
ironic as I finally found a set up to work and screwed by the wind. Well that’s
the reality of racing- you’ve got to take the ups and the downs- hopefully
learning something from every situation. The big lesson I learned today was to
keep my cool- no matter how bad you think things can get, no matter how
desperate the situation- there’s always one more board in front of you to fight
to get and at the end of the day every point counts! Today I found my 2
throwouts for the regatta so tommorow got to get everything in line for some
top 10 finsihes.
Some interesting
observations of the new 07 equipment: This year the sail developments have not
been as dramatic as previous year. Both the north and pryde sails look really
good with an improved range from last year. The Maui sails finally went to a
double luff after several years of trying to make a small luff work. In regards
to the formula board development- the F2 and starboards really are light air
machines with thicker and more parallel rails. The F2 board has lots of things
going this year with the board- airpipes, cutouts and
a pickle nose (see photos above): seems to work really well in the light to
medium breeze. The Starboard 161 seems to have been developed from lots of
gradual evolution and may be the most well rounded board. It would be
interesting to get these boards in the Bay for testing- that is if they would
last the season! Even the Mikes Lab has a wider tail demanding a more powerful
fin but doesn’t show its true potential till the wind comes up to the mid
teens. (Who wants to race in anything under that anyways ?)
Towards the end of the day yesterday I saw the guys on the starboard and F2
boards really struggling for control as the breeze came up. Even the Pro
sailors were searching for a chicken strap to put on their boards. The majority
of the fleet is on the F2 boards or starboards with a handful of sailors on the
mikes lab. The big devlopment this year has come with custom fins. Sailors are
finding the foils below their board are just as important as the foils above
the board- perhaps even moreso! Most sailors are using custom carbon fins with
several new protos showing a lot of potential for the upcoming season.
Labels: midwinters
Saturday,
March 3, 2007
The 22nd running of the Calema midwinter championship started with some
major wind yesterday in Merritt Island, Florida. Competitors arrived for a 9am
white flag with 10-15 knots on the course and by the 4th race things really
heated up to gust to the mid 20's - quite a change from recent years where
racers were glad to see anything over 10 knots.
There are several classes represented at the regatta giving the chance for the
seasoned professional to compete against the weekend warrior. What other sport
gives you the chance to compete against the likes of Tiger Woods and even get
his advise on rigging?
The action started early for the formula fleet with Antione Albeau taking 4
bullets in the first day of racing. Micha Buzianis followed closely behind with
Jimmi, Jesper and Gonzo all pushing hard for the top 5. There was a bit of a
gap between the pros and the rest of the seasoned amateur fleet but still a
good fight going in with lots of intense racing to be found. The Brazilians are
always well represented with a fleet of decent sailors- and this year was no
different- I constantly found myself surrounded by a pack of south
american sailors giving me dirty air.
As for my own race things got better throughout the day with my scores
improving from the low 20's down to around 10th or 11th in the last windy race.
I found myself still struggling to hold my lane upwind and losing places
because of this. I have not been able to dial in a good fin yet this season to
keep the upwind pace. Yesterday I tried out a Debocheit R17 soft -- 68 cm fin with
5 degrees of forward rake- a bit of improvement but I think when your racing at the top you need to have equipment that will
not under perform your sailing skills. Im going to beg borrow or steal
something today to try out a new fin in order to find out the problem in my
program. It looks like another windy day for Saturday as the trees are already
moving and white caps are on the water. 2 more days of racing
and more chances to move up in the fleet.
Daily results can be found at www.calema.com I will try to post some photos and
a more detailed race report from my view at the end of today- stay tuned!
Source:
http://stevebodner.blogspot.com/
Calema
Midwinters 2007 results