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in the Hood Not only are these kids good, they understand the value of PR. We're happy to oblige. Team USA 1734 Anderson-Mitterling & Hughes Olympic 470 Campaign Worlds 2005 Re-Cap! Hello all, This year's 470 World Championships were held in San Francisco Bay, the first time since the mid-1970s that a 470 Worlds has been hosted in the US. It was a tough event for Team USA 1734; however, many lessens were learned and skills honed despite a showing that was less than our full potential. We ended up 6th in Silver Fleet - 38th overall. Our goal entering the competition was for a top-20 finish in Gold Fleet. The regatta venue -- held between the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz -- brought the typical San Francisco challenges of strong average winds, gusty conditions, and hefty currents. The big, big breeze that San Fran summers are known for only came some of the time; however, we did race in upper 20-knot breezes with over 30-knot gusts. Our qualification round races were up-and-down, posting a top-five, followed by a 20+, for example. A capsize on the first day meant we started with a drop. Nonetheless, by the final day of the qualifiers we remained on the cusp of the two fleets, with a reasonable shot to make Gold. In the end, no US team made the Gold fleet -- surely a call for the entire team to head back to the drawing board. After the Silver fleet races began we actually took the top spot in a battle with the French, Spanish, and another US team, but were unable to hang onto the lead in the final day-and-a-half. Our last race went from a top-five to a 21st when our spinnaker exploded on the first downwind. A bummer, but we made certain to still sail as best we could around the course, despite our inopportune downwind handicap. In retrospect, we took a great deal away from the Worlds and the Summer 2005 season. July and August threw many challenges at us. We made some good decisions and some bad decisions; and we had to learn how to best handle adverse situations. Here is a list of the top challenges and lessons: #1 - EQUIPMENT: Our mast shipment arrived late and arrived damaged -- leaving us mast-less for National/North Americans/World until the very last moment (we picked the masts up in LA as we drove north to the regattas). The masts were supposed to arrive in June (to replace the two new masts we have in Europe that would not be able to make it back to the US in time for Worlds), but we didn't take delivery until the 1st week of August (very late). LESSONS LEARNED: how to manage insurance, equipment companies, and shippers. Unfortunately, this equipment 'gap' cut out many practice days. Perhaps the most difficult challenge is to keep one's mind on sailing and not on all the admin! #2 - SAIL TESTING: We experimented with a new mainsail design at the 11th hour. The testing of this main was supposed to come earlier in the Summer, but the mast and sails shipments all came quite late, leaving us with a compressed time-frame. The design proved quite fast in the limited conditions we tested; however, it didn't seem to fit our style of trim once we got to know it better (and we needed more time to get to know it). In hindsight this was a bad call no-brainer, but it did allow us to experiment at Worlds with an alternate design, allowing us to better understand our previous designs. LESSON LEARNED: sails experimentation is more valuable than previously expected, but not to be done before a big event. Secondly, we were reminded that sails (and sailors) act differently in race conditions as compared to test conditions. #3 - HERNIA: For those who haven't heard, Dave injured himself right before the US National in Santa Cruz. He gave himself a major strain of the abdominal wall, known as an "athletic hernia" and visited the Santa Cruz ER. Under further strain it could have easily become a full-blown hernia. Regardless of the equipment problems, this injury became our #1 challenge throughout the month. Many days of training were lost and Dave was at 1/2 throttle during the days we did have on the water. Mikee had to compensate for losing Dave's normal level of aggression. Despite Dave's insistence to sail and shrug it off, the hernia was painful to him throughout all three events - Nationals, North Americans, and Worlds. On a bad day it hurt, on a good day it made him slow, compromising speed and maneuvers. Gybes were slow, tacks were fouled, etc. We just weren't the team we're used to being. San Fran conditions didn't exactly help either. Dave is still dealing with the injury now and hopes that a break from sailing will accelerate a recovery. LESSONS LEARNED: injuries are going to happen. They are very frustrating, particularly on a two-person boat. We need to be able to act quickly for a fast recovery, but also know when to 'say when.' Second, the injury forced us to experiment with more trimming and steering technique in order to compensate for a decreased level of 'physical' sailing. This proved fast in some modes and were exited to practice these new techniques once we're at our physical best again. #4 - TIME/BODY/MIND MANAGEMENT: We did a poor job at recharging our batteries this summer and entered the Worlds mentally and physically exhausted. Once we got off schedule with the equipment problem, we never quite got back on. National and North Americans -- held at Santa Cruz and Bay View YCs respectively -- were fantastic events; nevertheless, in light of the injury, etc. they may have been too much to bite off. LESSON LEARNED: a less aggressive schedule couple with more training on the Worlds venue could have been a better formula. This has been a great year for Team USA 1734, regardless: Silver at the Miami OCR (top US), Gold at Kiel Week, Bronze at the US Nationals (top US), and Silver at North Americans (top US) are wonderful results. Mikee is back at USC and Dave is back at work for the time being. Next up is the first of three US Team qualifiers at the end of October in San Francisco. Thank you to all our sponsors! Orbitz.com, North Sails - One Design, Camet Int'l, Auto Europe, Kokatat Waterwear, Kaenon Polarized, Harken, Anderson-Mitterling, Coronado Mobile Storage, and KINeSYS Performance Sunscreen. Special thanks to Russ Silvestri, Charlie Allen, Annie Ashe, Bob and Raye Lenson, Simon Cooke, Aaron McIntosh, Chris Snowe, Jen Morgan, Vince Brun, Ray Pope, Shawn Hunt, and many more for all their support this August. Congratulations to Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page (AUS) and Marcelien de Koning and Lobke Berkhout (NED), the 2005 470 World Champions! Stay tuned! Mikee & Dave |