An Airport On The Way Home December 19th, 2011 Oh, a report from last Laser regatta. Oh yeah, the one I just did. Forgot about telling a final story of sailing in a boat I love but was a royal pain in the a** to sail well. Leaving Perth Photo: Anna Tunnicliffe 2011 I have had a love-hate relationship with the Laser. I have always needed to go fast in a sailboat and the Laser took the edge off that need, most of the time. I was 'gyming' (going to the gym) to build muscle like a steroid freak, eating to the point where I couldn't sleep all throu...
December 14, 2011 Fremantle, AUS Day 3. A race counts if the PRO sees fit, even though the racers want to abandon the race! Brad Is #055 Photo: copyright Mick Anderson/SAILINGPIX.DK The reason I say this is because during our first race today, I had climbed to 15th by the first leward mark. But then 40 degree shifts began to materialise with very little visual on the water; at least not enough to give time to position for them so dropped to 23rd. Arthur (coach) helped me to keep my composure and had me focus on my strengths....
Fremantle, AUS December 13, 2011 Finally in bed. Hard day. Day 2 wrap-up - squirly wind and waves; finished with a 5th and a 9th. Brad Is #55 Photo: copyright Mick Anderson/SAILINGPIX.DK Cloudy and swirly 8 knots of wind was the order of the day for the first race. In the 30's at the top mark first time round. Conditions were such that I had a flashback to Tenerife, Spain and last month's training with Rasmus and Javier where they taught me how to surf in exactly the same waves that were presenting now. I let it flow and rounded 12th at t...
Fremantle AUS December 12, 2011 It's been a while since my last report and yes I have been living and breathing Laser life since the Olympic test event! I'm at the Worlds in Perth, Australia and first day is down, finishing with a 6 and 33. Photo: copyright John Payne 2011 (library) It was not a typical day in Freo, as the locals call it, with storms and a different wind direction than the usual sea breeze. First race, I have a good start a quarter the way down from the boat and wind was consistent with the homework I had d...
August 21, 2011 Detroit, MI I finished 5th overall at the 2011 Detroit Cup, a position I am very happy with considering this was my second match race event ever. I had a shot at the top four, but blew that early this morning before having to face Taylor Canfield in the 5th/6th position sail off. Photo: (c) 2011 Detroit Cup, Bayview Yacht Club Our day started very with us hitting the water at 8:30am for a 9am start. The wind was light and the current as usual was quite stong relative to the wind. This was our second quarterfinal match against e...
August 20, 2011 Detroit, MI We split the day at 1-1 today at the Detroit Cup. It was a full day of racing, but we only got two races in, both very exciting, one in which we capsized the Ultimate 20. Photo: (c) 2011 Detroit Cup, Bayview YC The day started slow with the wind not really cooperating. The race committee was able to pull off one flight before the fleet was sent in for the Big Brother and Big Sister fleet race. It was a charity race where some of the teams got to take some of the "bigs and littles" out for a sail...
August 19, 2011 Detroit, MI (sorry this is a day late; publisher is cruising Georgian Bay and internet signal is very intermittent) It was a long day of racing today as the race committee pulled off 11 flights at the Detroit Cup. We had quite a good day finishing our five races with a 4-1 record taking our overall score to 6-4 with one more race to go in the first round tomorrow. Photo: (c) 2011 Detroit Cup/Bayview YC The day started slowly as the wind took its time to come in, but around 10am it came in and the boats head...
August 18, 2011 Detroit, MI Today was the first day of racing at the 2011 Detroit Cup. This is my first Grade 2 match race event, and my third match race event ever. We had a good day overall, but not super great on paper. We finished the day with a 2-3 record overall, but the points are very close at this point in the regatta. I have Anna Tunnicliffe-Funk, my wife, calling tactics and doing bow and Hamish Matthew on main and kite. These two are really helping me out by keeping me calm and getting us around the race course. Press ...
Thursday, 11 August 2011 Weymouth UK Hello Everyone, The test event for the Olympics next summer has concluded for the Laser competitors who are not in the medal race. I finished 14th overall and very happy with my result. Mike Kalin, the US Laser coach, was great to work with and all his charisma and energy rubbed off on me and my sailing. Photo: (c) Michael Kalin 2011 Mike is a great asset to the team and mankind. The last day of sailing was full on 20 to 25 knots and everyone was hurting after we finished 2 races. Again ...
Tuesday, 9 August 2011 Weymouth UK Today was a day you either love sailing or you don't. We successfully finished two races in 7 to 12knots. And it's official, our fleet has not gotten off a start without a black flag. Photo: (c) Michael Kalin 2011 We started our first race pointing at the weather mark; consequently it was abandoned at first mark. The race committee tried again and got a consistent reading to start the sequence. Fifteen boats up from the pin, I had a lane off the line and mad pressure was coming with ...
