Our team was feeling pretty good going into the last day, we think we got the Rig the way we want it and our speed should be ok.
Race 1
They postponed for about an hour due to light wind. Once we got under way it was pretty shifty but the left side of the race course paid. We rounded the top mark and had a foul so we did a quick penalty turn and were back at it. We ended that race about 8th I think.
Race 2
After a general recall on the start they put up a BLACK FLAG. We thought we had a good start it was close. We fought hard the whole race and crossed the line in 4th only to go by the committee boat and see our sail number on the chalk board saying we were over early. BUMMER!!!!!!!! We might have said a few other choice words but I won't go there.
Race 3 (last race)
The wind picked up a little to about 10-12. All in all just a good hard race that we finished 6th
The recap is is that it was a pretty good week we obviously would have liked to finish on the podium but we did learn some things and that was good.
The Spanairds are very good at sailing this boat and the more we can go up against them the better we will be. Next time we want to be on our own boat, these charter boats are very difficult to make fast right out of the chute.
The Team wants to thank everyone for following and supporting us especially our wives who made the trip over with us.
It has been a great experience and we look forward to coming back.
Stay tuned we will be sailing the North American Championships in New York the last weekend of this month so will try to blog during the event.
Well the team is on a flight back to the states as I write this but me and my bride had to stay a few more days to figure out which of these Spanish wineries are the best!!!!
Adios
Reese
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Day 2
Day 2 was a much better day for the US team. After a lot of hard work done by Max on the rig last night, we were able to find some speed that we didn't have before. The breeze today was light - 4-10 knots all day.
Race 1 - good start and rounded the mark in second. Unfortunately, on the set the tack of the spinnaker went in the water and hit the off set make which meant we got do to a penalty spin. We ended up coming in 6 th.
Race 2 - pretty good start had to bail out early and head to right side of the course,played a few shifts and ended up ok with a finish of 5th.
I will say that I do believe if we were in our boat we would have a great shot of winning every race today. We had a difficult time with our point so far in this boat.
Race 3
Another pretty good start rounded top mark in 3rd but could not hold off a boat called Crocks they were very quick downwind all day.
We came in 4th this race.
All in all not to bad we learned a few things which was good. There are a few of these Spanairds that are very good and we just need to compete against them more.
Tomorrow we have 3 more races so if we can get some top 5's we should move up the ladder a little.
This has been a great experience for our team and we all want to thank everyone for following.
Till tomorrow...
Adios
Reese
Race 1 - good start and rounded the mark in second. Unfortunately, on the set the tack of the spinnaker went in the water and hit the off set make which meant we got do to a penalty spin. We ended up coming in 6 th.
Race 2 - pretty good start had to bail out early and head to right side of the course,played a few shifts and ended up ok with a finish of 5th.
I will say that I do believe if we were in our boat we would have a great shot of winning every race today. We had a difficult time with our point so far in this boat.
Race 3
Another pretty good start rounded top mark in 3rd but could not hold off a boat called Crocks they were very quick downwind all day.
We came in 4th this race.
All in all not to bad we learned a few things which was good. There are a few of these Spanairds that are very good and we just need to compete against them more.
Tomorrow we have 3 more races so if we can get some top 5's we should move up the ladder a little.
This has been a great experience for our team and we all want to thank everyone for following.
Till tomorrow...
Adios
Reese
Thursday, September 8, 2011
First day blues
Well it was a hard day for the US team.
Race 1. We were a little too eager and were over early. We had good speed and were able to dig back to about 8 th place.
Race 2. We are hoping this will be our throw out race. After a rough start, we got bounced around like a Spanish pinball machine! We tacked about 10 times up that first beat! At the windward mark, we got to do a penalty turn and ended up in 10 or 12 place.
Race 3. This was our best start of the day. The winds picked up and hit 10-15 knots. It was a relatively no eventful race and we came in about 7th.
When we got back to the dock, we worked on our rig for a few hours in hopes of finding more speed tomorrow! As a side note, the communication on the race course was a little difficult since the race committee spoke only Spanish!
Our team is exhausted, but we will come out fighting hard tomorrow.
Buenos noches
Reese
Race 1. We were a little too eager and were over early. We had good speed and were able to dig back to about 8 th place.
Race 2. We are hoping this will be our throw out race. After a rough start, we got bounced around like a Spanish pinball machine! We tacked about 10 times up that first beat! At the windward mark, we got to do a penalty turn and ended up in 10 or 12 place.
Race 3. This was our best start of the day. The winds picked up and hit 10-15 knots. It was a relatively no eventful race and we came in about 7th.
When we got back to the dock, we worked on our rig for a few hours in hopes of finding more speed tomorrow! As a side note, the communication on the race course was a little difficult since the race committee spoke only Spanish!
Our team is exhausted, but we will come out fighting hard tomorrow.
Buenos noches
Reese
More pics
Paul (our crew chief) loves to go to the top of the mast to make sure everything will run smoothly.
You cant pay me enough money to do that job!!!!!
More about the day later.
Adios
Reese
pics
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Training
Today was a good practice day. On the water about 4 pm nice breeze about 10-12mph.
We had some nice line up with the Spaniards and the Swedish. We think we have a pretty good boat but time will tell. We were late to the skippers meeting but it didn't matter because it was all in Spanish!!
Think good thoughts for the USA team tomorrow.
Time to eat dinner and go to the Disco....I mean bed.
Hasta manana
Reese
We had some nice line up with the Spaniards and the Swedish. We think we have a pretty good boat but time will tell. We were late to the skippers meeting but it didn't matter because it was all in Spanish!!
Think good thoughts for the USA team tomorrow.
Time to eat dinner and go to the Disco....I mean bed.
Hasta manana
Reese
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