Race Report

470 Worlds

Skip Whyte gives us the lowdown on day one at the 470 Worlds being held in Zadar, Croatia.

Racing got underway today after many days of unpredictable, squall ridden, rain soaked training. In short, no one knew what to expect from this place. The early breeze died completely (as predicted) leaving the fleet becalmed for a few hours after the first race was abandoned for both men’s and women’s groups.

Finally the wind returned at 6-8 knots from roughly the northwest. The men and women were on different course areas, and it turned out that they had significantly different conditions. The two women’s races were characterized by single, 30 degree shifts shortly after the start. If you were on the wrong side of the first shift, you were doomed to have a bad race.

There are two women’s groups for the qualifying round our two teams, Katie McDowell / Isabelle Kinsolving and Amanda Clark / Sarah Mergenthaler, were in different groups. Amanda and Sarah, sailing their first event of the year, did a fine job finishing 15, 11 in the two races to stand 28th at the end of the day. Katie and Isabelle got off well to the left of the group in the first race and missed a brief, but great opportunity to consolidate, then were caught outside of the first 30 degree monster. It was ugly at the top, but they raced well and had good speed downwind to rally for a 14th in the 27 boat fleet. Mid fleet was a good finish given their weather mark position.

The course was shifted 25 degree right for the second race. The breeze faked left and forced a first general recall. The line was readjusted, but the breeze was still trying to go left. There was a big stack at the pin, which Katie and Isabelle deftly avoided. They tacked right moments later in a decent lane while many boats were exchanging insurance information after the accidents at the pin. Normally, one is rewarded for avoiding the carnage, but not this time. Everyone to the left was inside a 30 degree leftie. Once again, it was ugly at the top. Katie and Isabelle sailed a solid run to gain about three, then headed right in the still heavily left shifted breeze. The right pressure, visible above the course while sailing downwind, filled halfway up the beat and the gains were substantial, despite the huge fleet separations caused by the first beat shift. Now in the teens, they headed down the run, closing on a group of three boats. They were fast enough on the run to challenge at the last mark and immediately rolled two of the three to finish 14th again. It was a very well sailed race, despite the less than awesome finish position. The leader board is dominated by five low ranked teams. Many of the heavies are deep. It was that kind of day. Lots of racing to come.

The men had a marathon day. We have two teams at this event: Paul Foerster / Kevin Burnham are breaking in their new boat and have a few kinks to sort out. Stuart McNay and Arthur Kinsolving are here gaining valuable experience for the next quadrennium. The three men’s groups had three races! With a harbor start at 9:30 AM, the last group got ashore at 8:30 PM. It was an unparalleled marathon day. Details are sketchy, but Paul and Kevin got off to a slow start, acclimating to a new boat, new mast and modified main design. The finished 14th in the first race, improved to 12th in the second, made a few more adjustments and finished 3rd in the third race to stand 20th at the end of the day. Our old friends, Gildas Philippe and Nicholas LeBerre of France had three firsts for an obvious early lead. 1996 Gold Medalists Yevgen Braslavets and Igor Matvienko are a close second with a 2,3,1.

Racing on the men’s course was not dominated by the huge shifts that characterized the women’s racing, and consequently, the results are more in line with the current rankings. Paul and Kevin need to step it up a notch, but given the number of new variables going into the day, they had a decent performance.

Stu and Arthur are about in the middle after a 23, 13, 25. The men have three races scheduled over the next two days. This should be an easy schedule with no more 11 hour days required.

It’s time for bed.

Good night!

Rollin "Skip" Whyte

US Sailing Team