Issue date
It’s been a decent four months since I last updated, and we are now well and truly into a new year. Happy 2015 everyone!
The final three months of 2014 consisted of a much needed rest at home in NZ following the big season overseas, some local training, fitness work and a couple of competitions to keep working on specific race areas that I was aiming to improve. It was a great few months, and then another break from on water training over Christmas and New Years, a time where fitness and going on adventures was a focus, put me in a fresh mindset come the start of 2015, which was exactly ‘what the doctor ordered’.
So far 2015 has been awesome. I think anyone who is lucky enough to call themselves a ‘kiwi’ would have to agree! The weather has been like no other summer I have seen before and this definitely doesn’t hurt the motivation to get on the water, on the bike or do anything for that matter. We are pretty lucky!
NZ summer - no place like home
Back to the sailing, where it is fair to say it has been a busy but very productive month since starting on the water again that first week of January. The usual training resumed with areas we wanted to focus on being targeted throughout those first couple weeks. It was then straight into the first competition of the year, which was no other than the 2015 NZ Laser National Championships. It’s not the big fleet of Europe, but non the less with all the NZL Sailing Team Laser guys and the up and coming NZ talent all hungry to win a National title, it is always an event that will be very testing!
The Nationals was sailed out of Takapuna this year, which was awesome to have it in our backyard and regular training grounds. Over the four days of racing, the Hauraki Gulf really turned it on and the conditions did not disappoint. Three days of light to moderate onshore winds, waves and sun, were then followed by the final day of an up and down offshore Southerly. Over the first three days, the top four of us all fired at some stage in what was extremely close racing. Going into the final day I still hadn’t won a race, but consistency had me sitting on top of the leaderboard by a very small margin. With shifty offshore conditions on the last day of racing, the regatta was still anyone’s for the taking. I started the day with my first race win of the regatta (finally!), and because my worst result was a 4th I had won with the final race to spare. I was stoked to defend my National title, and it was especially satisfying after such a tight week of racing. Congratulations to all the other winners, and it was awesome to see all the other sailors out there. It is a different sight; normally having five boats training off Takapuna to then seeing over a hundred Lasers launching off the beach. Pretty cool!
Sailing off into the distance on Day 3 of Nationals... Photo Credit: Sail World
There was no time to rest after Nationals. I got home that night after the prize giving, cleaned my boat, took all my ropes and blocks off of it and packed my bags for two weeks in Miami. I flew out the next afternoon, after busy morning of recovery and loading a container to Europe. I must admit I really looked forward to that flight, as it was the chance to fully relax and switch off after a busy week of racing and logistics. It’s not very often that I look forward to long-haul flights!
I arrived in Miami six days before racing at the first ISAF World Cup of 2015 began, so got stuck into it all pretty quickly. Chartering a boat there made it easy to get out on the water without much time spent getting equipment to the venue. Having never competed in Miami before it took all of those six days to get my bearings and start to understand the venue a little, which was fairly shifty from every direction and either flat or choppy water. Lining up against all the top Laser sailors again for the first time since the Worlds in September 2014 was always an exciting prospect that I was really looking forward to. A week of tight racing was definitely expected with the caliber of the fleet and the shifty conditions, not a single sailor from the top 15 in the world rankings was missing from the line up.
Panoramic of Miami Race Course areas... Photo Credit: Walter Cooper Photography
For the event we raced in it all, everything from five to 25 knots of wind. It was always shifty though, and it showed in the results of every fleet. Going into the final few days of racing, everyone in our fleet already had a pretty high score to discard, so any more mistakes would be very costly. I sailed a consistent qualifying series but then a couple mistakes on day one of Gold Fleet put me back in the pack and fighting hard for everything. I managed to swing it around again on the final couple days of Gold Fleet to finish with a string of consistent results and be placed 5th overall going into the top ten boat Medal Race on the final day. Being an outside chance for a bronze medal, I had to go into the race with a plan to win the race and hope for the cards to fall into place among the rest of the fleet. With 12-20 knots coming off the land, it was another shifty breeze and anything was possible. I sailed a nice first upwind to lead at the top mark and for the next couple legs. It was tight on the final downwind and a couple boats got me from either side, after I failed to commit to one or the other. Finishing 3rd in the race was a good way to end the event, and 4th overall was a solid result for such a tricky week and a quality fleet. It was awesome to see Molly and my sister claim the Gold medal in the 49erFX fleet, and Jolly racing to do the same in the 470W fleet! I flew out the next morning at 8am, and am now back in NZ reflecting on a month of great training, racing and learning. It’s good to be home!
Medal Race action on the final day in Miami... Photo Credit: US Sailing
It’s been great to start the year with a couple good results, which is always very motivating. But nothing is more exciting than realising some areas that can make a big difference to my game, and knowing what to work on over the next two months training back in NZ. The next event is Oceanbridge Sail Auckland at the end of this month, and it is sure to be tight racing once again. Thanks to everyone for the support and the continued help!
Cheers,
Andy
