Great party with Michael Page … Unlimited Alcohol for 5 hours … choice
Archive for February, 2008
After much time wasting, the race committee decided to put up the AP and then a few ribs got washed about and they decided to cancel bronze fleet, followed swiftly by silver and gold.
I then proceeded to wait in line to get my sail checked and also then handover my boat… The line was quite funny as everyone was argueing because all these guys were pushing in … A french and canadian guy pushed in front of me and i told them to wait their turns like everyone else.
Finally I got my sail handed in and my boat checked. My boat had some damage on the stern from where it clipped the asphalt … I lost $50 off my damage deposit of 175 pounds …
That equates to me getting back $330 !!! woooooo that wasnt in the budget !!! That should buy me my harness for the kiteboard …
Anyway, im going to go to prize giving and then head home and get a day of rest before work on Friday …
Keep an eye on the blog as ill update it regulary as possible
Final Day, Laser Worlds 2008, ‘Sailing the Cool Change’ Part 1
Published February 13, 2008 Uncategorized Leave a CommentHi all,
Writing a quick one this morning as we are packing up the apartment and closing shop. About to head down to the club in horizontal driving rain and 20-30 knot southerly.
The southerly swell is picking up and looks nasty. I wish I had my camera to show you guys but the conditions are pretty heavy duty … I am wondering if we will be postponed until conditions settle a little?
It would be awesome to go for a burn today and in 20 + knots the jury will be relievedly quiet as the entire fleet will be depowering …
We shall see … If we do race today I want two top 10 results to bring me back up into the late 60s\early 70s which would be a solid finish after 2 disqualifications (one which I must carry) in a 160 boat fleet !!!
Stay tuned …
Hey all,
Just completed the second last day of the worlds and finally had a ‘low drama’ day … about time !!!
The breeze was running at about 10-15 knots all day from the North East and I very much enjoyed my racing today. As my title says I focused on being conservative and smoother in my movements to attract less attention from the jury. It worked amicably with me getting a 21st and a 17th today.
Unfortunately being smoother also meant trying to be more methodical and using my strength less with the end result being that I was slightly slower in terms of boat speed but wasnt attacting the attentions of the jury.
Downwind I focused on sheeting and changing angles. Sheet in, point up naturally and sheet out = bear away … Sounds very simple but a smoother steering movement led to less flickering of my sail leech downwind and also less erratic movements. I made some gains which was great though I still obviously need to find the point of ‘how hard can one push’ before you get a flag.
Tom Slingsby is an aggressive sailor but he has a style about him that negates the impact of his movements on the boat. His steering and hiking technique seems to be highly developed to be symbiotic with the gusts and waves as they come into contact with the hull and sail. He preemptively steers and hikes through the chop and gusts. Constant flow over the sail means clean forward movement and also less jerky steering as the sail and his hiking steers the boat.
This is what I aim to achieve in the long term as now I need to trade off raw speed and power for smooth steering and sheeting movements. Finding the happy medium will actually be faster and also reduce the amount of jury attention!!!
My day wasnt ENTIRELY drama free as I was coming up the ramp my good friend ‘MileVicius’ from Lithuania (i.e. the guy that put me in irons to give me my 3rd yellow) left his tiller extension hanging out of the boat. It got caught in my trolly and SNAP … He went off and spoke english low and behold … He said ‘You Broke!!!’ so I said well ‘thats your problem as you left it hanging out’ … I offered to pay half and ended up giving him my beloved battlestick … i was kinda pressured to as the whole eastern bloc seemed to grow around me like a wall … oh well, cant fight the communists …
Heading out to dinner now with Mike Leigh. 2nd Dinner but i can afford it … I feel like a stick man …
Stayed tuned for tmw being the final day !!!
Day 5 Laser Worlds, ‘its over but still a training event’
Published February 11, 2008 Uncategorized 1 CommentWell just a short one today.
Woke up at 9am feeling very relaxed. Went for a swim to recover from some sore muscles and tears from cramps on day 4. Did a quick shop and met the South family who wished me well for my racing.
Headed out at about 12:20 to the racecourse and the conditions were a nasty chop with about 5-8 knots of breeze from the east. The current was running with the wind and it was quite strong at about 4-5 boat lengths a minute.
I started toward the boat end but about a third of the way down. Held my lane right out for about 400m and then tacked onto a pressure line. Rode it to just outside the top mark and then a japanese guy came outta nowhere and started calling out what i can only assume is starboard in Japanese. I thought i would make it …
He came at me and then threw his boat to well above close hauled (he hunted me) and hit me and started screaming incoherently … A canadian guy was there and he of course ’saw the whole thing’ and it was in his best interest to protest me as he was BEHIND me … so I just did my turns to avoid complications and battled on …
I fell back into the 20s but managed to catch a few boats by the bottom mark. The second beat went well with me banging left into the pressure and I made it back to about 15th. The reach I lost 2 boats but then gained 3 on the downwind run. The final reach I lost 4 boats !!! disaster …
I need to work on my reaches obviously. AB said to use the waves to take you low and then once your powered up come back up higher a little more. Anyway the final work was my zenith moment in the race and I tacked off the mark hit the left pressure line and sailed from about 18th to 11th !!! great comeback and happy with final result in the lighter air.
The next race the wind picked up steadily and started moving to the Nor East as the seabreeze began powering up. I was pumped to get going and the boat end was bias. I waited until 1.5 minutes to go and then started my approach to the boat. I was in an excellent position with 1 minute to go and just needed to hold on until i reached the other side of the boat to start!!!
30 secs to go and LTU (Lituania) comes rocketing up and sticks his nose into the hole between me and the boat below… He points up as he comes in and squeezes me way above close hauled until im basically in irons … He barges (illegally) and I cry out protest but he does’nt even speak english …
Then I start working to bring the boat back down and jam the tiller towards me a few times so that when the gun goes in 15 secs I can accelerate and have at least a chance. Then I hear that familiar sound again …
My third yellow flag … its all over …
I then enquired about what it was for and they tell me that I was propelling the boat forward (‘vorwarts’ cause it was the dutch guy AGAIN). They agree that most of my efforts were to bring the nose down but that my tiller had crossed the centreline and thus I was sculling …
I was despondant to say the least and sailed home again and packed up my boat and was ready to pay for the rest of the accomodation, give marty my food and go home …
Then one of the older guys who is a volunteer and a good friend from WSC came up and said ‘Ash I know your disappointed and probably very depressed but cut your wrists later and use this as a training event from here on in … quiting will get you nowhere and you can use this to test the jury from here and see what works and what doesnt … so unpack your boat and go home relax and ill see you tomorrow …
I initially thought I had no choice in the matter as the old rule was 3 yellow flags and your going home disqualified from the event. But the rule had been changed for the event as people travelled from every corner of the world and paid out their noses for it. So now I know I am able to stay and race but now have a DND (54 points) which will drop me almost to the back of silver fleet in one go …
So from here the regatta is a training event, I had dinner with AB and Belinda and they said not all the flags were deserved but I have a very aggressive style of sailing my boat and so does Tom Slingsby. However they told me to rely less on my strength and more on finesse through anticipating the wind a second or two in advance to avoid the boat heeling and me crushing it down and flicking the leech attacting the attention of jurors … The same with downwind, developing more finesse in my movements and sheeting more in time with gusts and waves. One pump is ok but two is one too many …
So my project from here is to sail 4 more races … Not get flags and get solid results, go home, get a bike to cycle on to increase endurance and start working on being as smooth as possible, keeping the flow of air over the sails and no more yellow flags …
True this regatta has been a disaster but it is all a learning curb and I have alot to learn and am happy to sit back and move forward from my mistakes … The Jury is god and we cant request redress from them so the best thing to do is to keep a low profile, learn what they dont want to see individually (all have different interpretations of rule 42) and complete events amicably.
Stay tuned …
In better spirits today even with the early start.
Woke up at 730am, woke Marty up through all his complaining. We both had a big breakfast in prep for 3 races today. Ate some yogurt, oats, cheerios and a protein shake …
Progressed down to the club and got my colour for the day which was blue. My fleet started second today so I could afford to leave the beach slightly later. Got geared up for wind and reports started coming in that it was between 12-18 knots from the South with 20 degree variations.
Got out to the start and watched the yellow fleet start and took some notes on which end was popular and why. Had a quick chat to Arthur Brett who explained there was a 4-5 boat length a minute current running directly against the starting line. He said to focus on the process to reap the results and that I should keep an eye on cloud banks and how as they came down the course they would effect the wind.
The 5 minute gun when for race 4 and I decided that I wanted to take the boat end for a start. It was a great choice and with one minute to go the breeze started tending right favouring a great start!!!
I punched out again with low and behold Denis Karpak (Estonia) and we both went gunning to cross the fleet. Once we had made it we progressed to tack infront of the 50+ fleet and settle in for a drag race to the top mark. I got around the top mark in 4th as Rasmus Myrgen (Sweden) managed to pop in front from the left.
Then on the reach I looked out to see the JURY following me … great … so I had to play my sail extra conservative to keep them at bay. For those that dont know one more yellow flag and I am disqualified from the entire regatta. Anyway the other boats around me made gains and I fell back due to excessive caution under their hawk eyes and I ended falling back to around 7th. I finished the race in 10th and was happy with the result!!!
The second race was almost a carbon copy of the first except that I managed to finish 8th … A great result in this company !!! Match raced Gustavo Lima to the finish and beat him !!!
The final race was tricky … two cloudbanks on both sides of the course … I went right with Karpak again and this time it went all the way left … nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo … ended up around the top mark in 45th but refused to give up and after the front boats made the mistake of going to the wrong mark, I capitalized and took back 20 boats … I suffered from bad cramps in my quads and groin areas so much so that I was screaming up the 2nd work leg … 4 hours of racing today has torn my body apart … Definetely room for improving my fitness, my coaches have suggested I get into cycling again so when I get home im going to buy a racing bike. The lactic acid build up will be less if I drink more water as well as gatorade, carbohydrate paste and protein shakes … Anyway, finished the 6th race in mid 20s but managed to salvage what could have been a horrible score …
All in all a comeback day !!! I went from 130th to 70th overall and almost sailed to my ability … I was heavily restricted by the jury (following me and waiting for mistakes) and was not following normal downwind technique … I dont know how this Jury works but I had 1 flag at sail melbourne and 1 flag at nationals … both of these events are international ISAF events …
Unfortuantely due to my second yellow flag I have not made the gold fleet … this means I cannot progress past 55th in the event but will do my very best to win silver to show my potential … Less the 2nd yellow flag all things equal I would be cruising in the early 40s … shows how much critical points can effect whole regattas …
On a personal note, Benny Garrard came up and watched the racing. Out of all my mates puportedly coming to cheer at the worlds he is the only one that actually did the 1 hour 15 min drive to do it … Ran him through the days racing and introduced him to a few sailing friends from other countries …
All in all a good day …
6 races to go in Silver fleet finish on Wednesday night come home Thursday to recover and then back to work.
Stay tuned …
This post will be about day 2 – 3 as I was not able to secure the internet to write yesterday. Day 2 was marred by long delays due to the horrible weather, rain squalls, lightning and big seas. The race committee started us at 4pm and we finally got out in limited wind (2 – 6 knots or 4kms – 14kms an hour). The seas were still big and we managed to get off two races. I struggled to compete with the lighter guys for sheer boat speed and found myself having to change much of my equipment to meet the lighter weather. After 3 restarts and 10 boats OCS (disqualified for being over the line) we finally started. I managed to get a good start in race 1 but soon found myself just outside of a cloudbank that was lifting the right hand side of the fleet. I lost out badly and came around the top mark in the 35th, I managed to come back to 27th but was given a yellow flag for ‘body pumping’ toward the bottom mark. The second race was again a good start but this time the breeze swung left. I ended up buried …. 33rd
Day 3 was looking great, nice breeze 10-12 knots … Then the rain started … huge squalls and then a band of lightning arched across the sky. They sent us in and we dropped our rigs again to the weather … All I could hear was ‘fucking Australia’ from alot of competitors … The racing was postponed until 430pm and then we all scrambled onto the water and awaited the first start at 530pm.
I watched the weather before the start and noticed a cloudbank on the right. I started at the right end of the line and got a good clean start and punched out from the fleet with Deniss Karpak (world no3). We both footed to cross the fleet but tacked underneath to head out to the right to the cloudbank … Huge success as we got to the pressure lines created by the clouds and tacked onto a 20 degree lift on starboard tack. This took us all the way to the top mark where Tom Slingsby (world no1) tacked inside me and managed to get around just infront. After a very fast reach I managed to hold my spot but was under pressure from Gustavo Lima (World no7) and also Jermerie Steyart (world no11). The downwind run was awesome as we rode the big waves and struggled to keep the boat powered up. I just stayed in front to the bottom mark and then i heard the worst sound I could imagine. The jury gave me my 2nd yellow flag for ‘pumping’ downwind in 18 knots and I was forced to retire from the race in 4th position … I was absolutely devestasted, it was a strange feeling, everything went silent and I was just dumbstruck by their decision. I didnt swear or fire backtalk at them, I just silently gybed away and sat with my sail beating in the breeze and then a few tears in sheer anger but I didnt want anyone to see.
Arthur Brett the Australian head coach came up and put his arm around me and told me to keep my head together and that my yellow flag was uncalled for and that the jury were being very heavyhanded considering the conditions. He told me that he and all the people that mattered would see past this and that until that point I was probably having the race of my life. He said ‘from here it is a test of character and you need to calmly sail home, pack up and not do anything stupid’.
Thats exactly what I did.
Here I am now just before dinner writing ‘my diary’ and I know that I have the potential to be amongst the best in the world. Theres always tomorrow to show that and who knows, with a few great results tomorrow I may make gold fleet yet.
Marty joined me for his 2nd yellow flag so the house is a little quiet but we are sitting down for dinner now.
930 am start tmw with aim of 3 races. So recovery, sleep and do it again …
Disaster …
After rigging up we headed out for the 1st race. I was selected into red fleet. The whole 160 strong fleet was divided into Blue, Yellow and Red.
We all sailed out to the startline and lined up to go upwind. After a short 10 minute beat to windward I looked around to see the whole fleet had peeled off and were streaming for the safe haven where we launch. I had’nt noticed but a southerly storm cell was rolling up the coast and 1 by 1 the headlands were falling under the cover of rain and squalls.
I was the last to turn around and made it back in just before the lightning started arcing across the sky. Caught some awesome point break on the way in and some guys got some photos I will have to chase up … The wind picked upto about 20 knots and the rain started going horiziontal. Not so nice conditions.
From there we strapped our boats down and sat up in the clubhouse and watched the storm roll by. I met two guys from Poland who were friends of Marty’s. Top guys but didn’t say much as they were listening to Marty making friends. John Luc and the Norwegian Juror were hanging around and Marty was asking about his daughter etc.
Then he proceeded to tell a loud story about when he was on big boats and his crew were partying well into the night and a German crew came up and told them to be quiet. His friend being Czech duely called out ‘Europe was awake for 6 years because of you Germans so calm the fuck down and let us have one night’ … hahahaha the best part was SITTING RIGHT behind us was the whole German Sailing Team hahahahaha … their faces were gold
Anyway all this happened while we were waiting and then our RC Officer made the call and cancelled the racing for today due to lightning and storm cells … no fun at all …
Now im sitting at home and its getting sunny out and I want to go racing!!! oh well … theres always the next 6 days 
Hey all,
Arrived up here in Terrigal on Sunday for the 2008 Laser World Championships. The weather has been trying until today with its lovely sea breeze and swell.
The aim for this event is top make gold fleet (top 50 basically in the world) as a ‘weekend warrior’. An earth shattering result would be top 35 and ill do my best to break into that range.
Im staying in a great apartment overlooking Terrigal beach with Martin Tricka. Marty is the current Czech Olympic Representative and is an absolute champion. Sharing some good stories and talking tactics has kept the bordem away. Not to mention we have 4 seasons of Entourage to burn through … season 2 is complete … haha
Monday I picked up my brand new boat and started fitting things quickly for a sail. I got out and the wind just picked up more and more. Reached about 15 – 20 knots and the swell was pretty massive. There was a point break off the Haven where we launch and we all took our lasers there for some crunching big waves. Unfortuantely for a russian, dutch and british guy they didnt pull off the break fast enough and ended up cartwheeling to imminent doom where they broke masts, tore sails and sustained personal injuries … There goes their 200 pound damage deposits …
Anyway long of the short of it. I went out training with brand new equipment and was up and down. Sometimes I was at peak speed upwind utilizing wave technique learned off Sydney Harbour. However at other times the boat was falling in on me to windward and I set about correcting my technique as i continued on.
The key is to keep the boat constantly powered up as when you hit the peak of the wave your overpowered but when you go into the deep troughs you find little wind and the boat falling in on you. Steer up the face of the wave and drop the nose and torque the boat down the backside of the wave.
This technique became more successful as the day continued.
Downwind was a different story with me just having an awesome time. Massive waves running quite fast means long rides down the face of big waves. It was just a ball !!! I got my nose up and kept pressure in the rig by running hard by the lee or broad reaching with success. Definetely competetive downwind.
Tuesday was pissing rain, stormy and to make matters worse no wind at all. I got down to the club to discover the race committee boat had been beached in the storm overnight and a massive bulldozer was trying to lift it back into the ocean … not highly successfully … anyway Tuesday ended up being a solid gym session with me on the weights and stretching and Marty doing a spin class. We waited to 5pm but no breeze came in … heard some funny stories of sailors heading out and feeling sea sick because their boats were rolling around so much in the light winds … really funny when some of these guys have been sailing since as young as me and are 5 – 10years older !!!
Today was the practice race and official Opening Ceremony. I went out training in a sunny and 10-15 knot Nor’Easter … 2 hours on the water feeling great about my speed after some line ups with boats from Sweden, Croatia, Hungary, France, Seychelles, Russia and Australia. Good speed and back into the feel of swell with technique and fitness being the key.
Packed up the boat, did a little work on it to make it ready for qualifiers tommorrow. Now sitting at home scamming wireless from some guy 2 houses up. Good times … will keep the blog updated through the qualifiers and hopefully Gold Fleet finals …
In the meantime I’m so pumped about getting home to learn my kiteboard. I will buy a harness so im ready to rock on my return.
In other news I got my sponsorship proposal back from Phillip Guest, the MD of Michael Page Australia and I have received the full support of my business and have been given 1.5 – 2 months off to do European\US world ranking events this year through June and July. This is great news as it means I can now maintain a strong world ranking and keep gaining experience toward 2012. Thanks to Phil, Lynchy and most important Em for setting up the meeting and ofcourse all my work buddies who supported me in writing letters and creating the presentation. Thanks Kale, (Umesh, Rebecca – fuck yeh A TO K), Caitlyn, Liana and South African Karl (aka Korl).
Stay tuned !!!
