Canadians, Guatemalans and Americans descended upon Clearwater Florida for the 2016 Laser Midwinters East Championship. This major regatta attracted the best from North America, with 100 entrees in the radial fleet; racing was going to be tight. The forecast only added to this prediction. Over the four day event, wind speed and direction would vary.
The first day of the event, conditions started out less than ideal, the breeze was father right then predicted. Unfortunately, I did not pick up on this fact and on the first race found myself in a persistent left shift. I was on the right side of the course; therefore, I rounded the top mark in the back of the fleet. Luckily I was able to find my wheels and fight back to a 15th place. The next two races the breeze settled in and we had excellent racing conditions. I was able to score a 7th and a 6th; although the scores could have been better I left the day feeling confident that I would get good scores on the score board.
Day two, the breeze was blowing off shore, this meant big oscillations and huge pressure differences. This tested my skill, as oscillating breeze had always been a weakness of mine. This was the case in the first race where I had a great start, and was controlling the fleet until I got a velocity shift, I tacked on the shift. Soon I realized I had made a mistake. The boats that had waited to tack were now above me. I was able to fight back to a 16th place finish. The next two races I sailed the oscillations and was able to score a 2nd and 9th.
With the qualifying series behind me, I was in a strong position to have a great finial series. Unfortunately conditions would not cooperate as we sailed the last two days of the event in a light unstable breeze. With the breeze being offshore, puffs would be hard to see and holes were many. Tricky conditions caused a lot of inconstancy. I was able to sail a constantly with a score line of 15,8,16,6.
In the end I finished 10th/100. There were mistakes made but overall I was pleased with my performance. I learned some important lessons and believe faced with the same conditions again, I would be able to turn my 16th and 15th into a top ten finish, and that how you win events. Thank you San Diego Yacht Club for supporting me, without the help of the competition fund I would not be able to sail at the level I do.