I thought that thing looked more like an 8-track... or a toaster...

Results from the NZ Nationals:
http://www.sailingeventstakapuna.com/bweb-information/nz-national-results/

Thanks for posting the updated results Tony. Do you know the age brackets to go with "Master, Grand Master and Great Grand Master"? Wondering where I'd fit in at age 54. I'm guessing they only break it out like that at the Worlds?

I see there's a Youth in first place with 3 bullets! Nice, especially given the stiff competition that class has.

From a NYYC laser thing, probably the same, not sure though.
"The Masters format groups sailors by age: Apprentice Master (35 to 44), Master (45 to 54), Grand Master (55 to 64), and Great Grand Master (65 and older). A handicapping formula allows for all the sailors to be ranked in one fleet in addition to being scored among their respective age categories."

I think that youth is an Olympian.

Glad they got some racing in. Hope Mike, Skip and Ben didn't break anything.

TV coverage. Nice!
NZ TV

Interview with Burling and Ashby, Burling seems like a pretty relaxed guy:


Makes me want to get one of these!

Beautiful day - 72 degrees, sunshine, and breeze.

I spent the morning in measurement/registration and got that sorted out.

The Worlds do not start until Tuesday, but today was the last day of the NZ Nationals. A lot of boats are using this as a tune up for the worlds.

Once I got on the water, I had missed the first couple of races, so I decided to just "pace" the fleet and do some boat speed checks.

Boat feels good, but no where near the speed downwind the leaders are showing. Those guys are sailing 3-5 knots faster than the rest of the fleet. Didn't see any foiling, but everyone was on the wire downwind.

The wind was extremely puffy and shifty. 5 knot holes, followed by 20 knot puffs. Lots of capsizes. Ben Hall flipped 3 times, Kiwi did it twice, and Skip only flipped once, but broke his mast.

Forecast for the worlds looks light, so everyone is working on their setup, so non-foilers may have an advantage to start with.

Here are a couple of shots Rebecca took from the hotel.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4037474/Room%20shot%201.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4037474/Room%20shot%202.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4037474/room%20shot%203.jpg

More updates to come.

-Mike

Pete Burling “A Class” above the rest


“It feels pretty good to be honest,” said Burling, who has limited experience in the A Class boats, having only sailed them over the last week.

Pete Burling is a 49'r champion, yes?

It's amazing that he's been able to figure out the A cat so quickly, if indeed he's only been on one for a week!? Maybe the 49'r is a lot more like the A cat than a Laser, with the trap and apparent wind sailing, etc. OR...maybe all the other A Cat Champions are just getting too old to hang with the 23yr. old?

Maybe he's a phenom and the torch has passed..

Well, I guess we'll see if he can repeat in the upcoming Worlds. If he does, I'd say yes, the torch has clearly changed hands, changed a whole generation actually!

I was thinking about an A cat, but because of this kid, I'm thinking Wave!

;^)

Join the club! But you've still got that pack of old gray sharks just waiting for fresh meat, it might be a rough initiation.

World champion, Silver medalist and winner of the Redbull/AC youth series. He's not exactly a hack. Apparent wind sailing is similar rather it be on one hull or two. We all thought we were so "specialized" ,maybe not. The AC seemed to tap into the skiff world more than the multihull world.



Timbo,
So if that old geezer Glenn Ashby had won, you'd have bought an A class?

Hey Todd, your still a young guy as far as I am concerned. Heading for Admirals cup in March , pick up newer boat.

I heard, congrats. Don't think I'll be able to make it, work.
There was definitely sarcasm in the geezer quote, although Jeremy was makin' alot of folks feel old at the Coconut Grove Invitational.

All right race fans, the worlds start today with a practice race at 13:00.

Still lots of tweaking going on in the boat park. This afternoon is the last chance you get to pick your foil/sail package and declare it for the worlds. I think most people are setting their boat up for low drag configuration. Long range forecast for the week shows it being a 10-15 week. There seems to be a subtle difference in foils for sub-15 knots vs 15+ knots. The guys that can actively adjust their foil AofA on the water may have an advantage if breeze comes on late in the day.

Forecast models are predicting 12-18 today, depending on whether you are using Meteo or WWO. (today's tip is check out weatherspark.com)

Here's a fine shot of the sunrise this morning.

Thanks mike, looking forward to hearing about what works.

Good luck Mike ,Kick some Kiwi A$$(Not Andrew). Lifting a Rum and coke to you now. That Weather Spark site looks awesome.
Thanks for the updates ,keep 'em coming when you can.

a-class-worlds-takapuna-equipment.

You can probably bet he also knows a thing or two about training, coaching, and preparation as well.