Laser Worlds 2010 Andrew Tarboton and Rudy McNeil arrived at Hayling Island, UK on Sunday 22nd August. Andrew has been giving us regular updates on what they're getting up to. The Regatta starts this Friday 27th August - 5 September. At the moment they are testing out their boats and trying to work out the currents which is something that doesn't affect us as much here. From the news updates it sounds like they are having a blast with yesterday just described as MASSIVE, apparently they've never been so fast on a Laser! We wish them luck for the rest of the journey! Updates ... 26th August Hello from England, home to the British and clouds... Today was a challenging day. The wind built from nothing this morning and was light for the greater part of the day. It was very choppy in the bay, and the current was fairly strong, but constant over the course. This meant that boat speed was king and you couldn’t lose focus even for a second. Just after 1, the wind switched to the South East, and then built through the afternoon to 30 kts. There were at least 80 boats on the water today, with many of the Olympic teams having arrived yesterday. Finding clear air amongst a million sails is not easy, but there was little shouting as the guys know their rules and everyone seems to be obeying them. The racing was strongly contested and Rudy was happy with his performance. I found myself slightly frustrated as I seemed to just fall out the main pack in the tricky conditions. It is now typical English weather – absolutely bucketing down with rain!!! The lesson to be sent home from today is the importance of working your boat through the chop!!! Don’t let your guard down even for a second, and move your body as much as possible to work over the waves. The current was ripping west, making it hard to lay the top mark, and pushing the boats way off the start line. CheersAndrew and Rudy 24th August One word describes today – MASSIVE!!! The wind was blowing up to 35 kts, average of 25 to 27kts and the sea size was 1.5 - 2m. It was really hard work. The kinetics on these boats are insane. Upwind was nothing short of hard work and downwind was insane. Neither Rudy or myself have ever been so fast downwind on a laser. The water was spraying everywhere, the boat was singing and flying from one wave to another. The chop was really steep and there were times when we were sitting on the back of the cockpit and the bow would just bury itself into the wave in front, flooding boat and sailor with water. It was a challenge staying upright, and there were some spectacular wipeouts in the fleet. Once again there were 20 or 30 boats on the water, and they were racing hard. The Argentineans were the quickest team in the breeze and were at the front end of the fleet all the time. Rudy seemed to manage ok until he came home because the cleat on his kicker was slipping. I was trying to hang in there with the guys and then my kicker broke in a capsize and I had to come back in. But what a ride!!! Surfing waves all the way back, we were only passengers in the boat, it was definitely in control! Regards Andrew and Rudy 23rd August Hey Guys
So today we actually got on the water, there were about 50-60 boats out there and the coach boats set up a start line and windward-leeward course. The wind was bout 7-12 kts from the South-West. The starts were strongly contested and we regularly had general recalls. The current was also from behind, started from direction 070 and shifted to 020 later. The fleet was very close over the 25 min race and places changed often. There was also a cross section of strength and we seemed to average around the middle of the fleet. Rudy and Nic are generally a step ahead of me, although there were times when I was a fast as anyone. Height was generally good. Downwind was also quite good although it was tricky and many places were changing. The mark roundings are chaos, and it is often that there are 10 boats abreast at the bottom mark. The fleet was quick!!! But it was good fun to be out there training with the guys in a 60 boat fleet.
The water is warmer than we expected, and a 3mm wetsuit was adequate, although it can apparently get cold when the wind blows and it rains.
We are trying to piece together a picture of the current in the bay, and today it seemed that the left payed generally. However, the wind came through from the right.
On a more social note, the food is quite good here and we had a very decent sleep last night. The three of us used brand new sails today and are all happy with them. We will use our training sails again tomorrow. Otherwise we are having some fun and enjoying sailing in such a competitive fleet.
Will chat again tomorrow.
Andrew and Rudy 22nd August Hi Guys
So this is the first update of our trip overseas. We got here this afternoon at around 3 after 24 hours of pleasant journeying. Flew to Dubai, then on to Gatwick, then caught a train down to Havant, then a taxi out to Hayling Island. We got to the yacht club, whecked into our accommodation, and then collected our charter boats and set them up. The boats are good, they have been used for one regatta, but then all damage was repaired, and a brand new mast, both top and bottom sections were supplied. The foils are a new design, with a resin coating on the outside and a 50mm strip of resin at the top of the foils. This should make them stronger and faster.
There is a well kitted out sailing shop here, although apparrently Rooster Sailing will not be present due to a clash with the UK nationals dates.
The accommodation is not massive by any means, but should just be big enough for Rudy and myself. The people here are willing to help, and we have already made friends with the main course layer and found out some info on the courses, as well as Nic Heiner from the Netherlands, with who we hope to train tomorrow. Nic has been achieving some good places lately in the Laser and is willing to share with us.
Tomorrow we aim to go sailing at around 12. The people apparently don't train before then because the races during the regatta will only start at 1, so there is not too much point in us getting out there too early. We have spoken to a few people regarding currents and are keen to test some of these theories tomorrow.
So, basically it's all systems go at the moment, and both myself and Rudy are very excited.
We hope to give you an update again tomorrow.
Regards
Andrew and Rudy
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