Race Report Star
sailing from the US team of Andy and Brad's China Syndrome Ok, remember the late 70’s movie the China Syndrome? Well today our coach (Mike Wolfs) and Brad both had their personal reenactments of the movie….. It all began around 9 am just after Brad and I had finished our official weigh in. I asked Brad if he wanted to get something to eat before we launched the boat and he said, “I don’t really feel like eating”. If you know Brad you know that means there’s a HUGE problem. Brad’s stomach was bothering him so he sat in the shade and hydrated while I put the got the boat ready for racing. No big deal right? If either of us knew at this point how the day would end up….. Within an hour Mike and Brad were both vomiting and couldn’t keep even water down. The team doctors were on top of it but there was really nothing they could do. It was quickly concluded they had eaten something at the opening ceremonies last night and needed to get it out of their systems. Well, luckily I can tell you as an innocent bystander Mike and Brad have ANYTHING left in their systems. So, we did the only thing we could do and went on with the day while trying to make it as comfortable as possible for the two of them. Luckily the wind was too light to race when we got out to our race course so we were postponed for a few hours. After a little while we put Brad on a medic boat to get some rest. When the breeze came in I picked him up. He wasn’t looking very good, but did have a pretty funny story about waking up, running to the back of the boat and “surprising” the Chinese medics. Remember we are 5 miles from the harbor and there are no facilities…. Anyway, somehow Brad managed to find the energy for two races. We ended up 3rd in the first race and 2nd the next race. So we’re in a four way tie for 1st in the regatta. Not bad after the hand Brad and Mike were dealt this morning, especially in very trying conditions. Both Brad and Mike are now recovering. Two more races tomorrow so hopefully the “China Syndrome” has passed and they are feeling better. Goodnight from Qingdao, Andy Horton
and Brad Nichol 08/22/06 Top
Qingdao After tuning up the boat and warming up for the race we reached around having a blast in our new boat. These are the conditions that get really exciting in a star boat and we were psyched. We started at the boat in the strong ebb tide and were able to hold the fleet out to our left. The British were so confident in the right side that they tacked and ducked us, a difficult maneuver in these conditions. Left by them selves they were able to edge us out and round the weather mark first. Now for the excitement... Downwind in these conditions the crew goes from the cockpit to the bow to get the boat to surf down the waves. When we were on the verge of catching waves today I was on my stomach with my head at the bow with one foot hooked on the mast and the other on the shrouds so I don't fall off, AND the bow was hanging over a wave 10 feet in the air! Then when we start to surf, I have to dive back in the boat and get my weight as far aft as possible to keep the bow from plunging into the next wave and filling the boat with water. When I move back I can never get far enough back, and sometimes end up on Andy's lap! We had three such downwind legs and even though Andy and I sailed better in these conditions then we ever have, the Brits were able to hold there lead and we finished second in the only race of the day. Tomorrow is the medal race, which counts double in the final results. The worst we can do is third and if we finish ahead of the British we win the regatta. We are off to bed to rest up for our big day. Good night from Qingdao! Andy Horton & Brad Nichol 08/30/06 Top
Gold
Stars It was truly a special moment to stand on the podium in front of thousands of people and hear our national anthem as the stars and stripes went up the flag pole. It makes all our efforts so far worth it and gives us additional motivation to return to the same podium in two years. The whole regatta has been an exceptional experience. The city of Qingdao has certainly put there best face forward draping a city of 8 million with regatta banners, greeting all the sailors with a smile and generally being very helpful and happy to have us. We now realize how important it was for us to be here not just for venue recon, boat and sail development but to work out the day to day issues that arise in a country where the culture is so different from our own. Medal
Race Going into the race it was a show down between us and the Brits knowing that whoever came out on top would win the regatta. George Szabo needed to win the race and put the Brits between us to finish second. Despite the weather forecast and the tide report telling us that the right side was going to be very strong, we thought the left side of the race course would pay because of a large cloud to the north. The pin end of the line was favored so we decided to start to leeward of the fleet. The pre-start looked more like a match race then a fleet race with the Brits, Szabo and us circling to jockey for position. We secured the leeward most position but realized that we had all set up too early and the current was going to push us all over the line so we jibed out circled one more time and started at the pin on port with the Brits to leeward and Szabo directly behind us. We split with the Brits to head for the left and back together at the top of the leg with the Brits on starboard and us on port. We were not crossing them which put us in a difficult position. We were ready for anything and the Brits lee-bowed (tacked under) us to protect their starboard advantage. We worked our hardest and were able to roll over (pass) the Brits by the weather mark rounding first. We extended a bit on the run and having the lead we were able to take the favored mark at the leeward gate. The Brits split with us taking the other mark and right side of the course. We were able to cover them for the remaining two legs and sailed downwind to victory. We would like to thank all of our supporters who have sent us good wishes over the last two weeks. Knowing we have friends behind us means a lot to us. Most importantly thank you to all of you who have shown your support by giving personal donations to our campaign. Also a big thank you to our sponsors; US Sailing, Sperry Top-Sider, Harken, VC Performance Rigging, Kaenon, Patagonia, Himaya, JCD, and McLube. Cheers! Andy Horton & Brad
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