Kingston, Ontario, Canada Although the two World Champions had already been determined coming into the final day of racing, there was still a lot on the line for some of the competitors, and race committee made a determined effort to get in one more race. The trouble is, nature wasn’t cooperating. The forecast was for […]
2019 Laser 4.7 Youth World Championships Final Day – Waiting for Wind Read More »
Kingston, Ontario, Canada Our daily report usually begins with the start of the opening race and finishes with the scoring, but the “race day” begins well before racing commences and continues well after the final finisher, sometimes long into the evening. The office opens early, when some of us are still sleeping, with staff getting
2019 Laser 4.7 Youth World Championships Day 5 – Remarkable Performances Read More »
Kingston, Ontario, Canada On this fourth day of the Championships, the girls fleet had an opportunity to start first and sail the outer course, but that did not change their apparent lack of respect for the starting line. After a general recall under “U” flag, the first boat was over the line 40 seconds prior
2019 Laser 4.7 Youth Worlds Day 4 – Maintaining Consistency Read More »
Kingston, Ontario, Canada With about 8 knots of wind from 190, both of the boys fleets were able to start under “U” flag with no one over early. This was certainly an improvement over the previous day. It took quite a bit longer for the girls to get going, not just because the girls tended
2019 Laser 4.7 Youth Worlds Day 3 – Getting in Phase Read More »
Kingston, Ontario, Canada What a difference a day makes. As much as we lacked wind the day before, today there was a surplus. The first set of races were conducted with wind readings in the mid teens and gusts to the low twenties. The boys yellow and green fleets each got away with clear starts
2019 Laser 4.7 Youth Worlds Day 2 – Breeze Read More »
Kingston, Ontario, Canada Six starts and no races. That is how the 2019 4.7 Youth World Championships opened. The morning breeze showed more promise than anticipated, and even at the scheduled start of races at noon, there was a fairly consistent 6 to 7 knots. It wasn’t particularly exciting, but it was good enough to
2019 Laser 4.7 Youth Worlds Day One – Practicing Starts Read More »
Kingston, Ontario, Canada It is the eve of the 2019 Laser 4.7 Youth World Championships. 180 sailors from 35 countries around the world have survived the gauntlet of equipment inspection, some encountering a bit more difficulty than they had anticipated. Yes, they paid someone to put the sail numbers on. No, they didn’t check to
2019 Laser 4.7 Youth World Championships – On the Verge Read More »
Today wasn’t about big wind shifts, or challenges in setting the course. It was all about the sailors, and making their own breaks. Less than half a dozen hours before racing was scheduled to start, most of the forecast models were showing conditions that would be adequate for competing, with a southwest breeze around seven
2019 Radial Youth Worlds Final Day – Consistency Pays Off Read More »
“Yellow flag down and sound in 35 seconds” calls the timer. “Flag ready” “Sound ready” “Mark 2, six knots at two six zero”… “Mark 3, five knots at two five zero”… “Mark 4, six knots at two five five” different mark boats call out in succession across the VHF. The race officer extends his arm
2019 Radial Youth Worlds Day 5 – Bad Breaks Read More »
Kingston, Ontario, Canada Conditions were fairly unexceptional all day: plenty of wind, but not overpowering, with enough shifts to make things interesting. While there were a couple of oscillations that either required a moderate adjustment to the course axis, or reorienting the starting line, most of the difficulties faced by race committee today were induced
2019 Radial Youth Worlds Day 4 – Keeping the Pressure On Read More »
Kingston, Ontario, Canada As anticipated, the wind started off a bit fresher today than our previous two days, with knot speeds in the mid to upper teens. It wasn’t survival conditions, but would at least give sailors a workout. The first rain shower slid off to the south of the race area, leaving behind moderately
2019 Radial Youth Worlds Day 3 – Mid Way Read More »
The second day of racing was almost a carbon copy of the first, except that the wind filled in with just a bit more strength for the second race, and the right side actually paid off on occasion! It wasn’t smooth sailing for everyone, but there was little drama to speak of. Also, sailors seemed
2019 Radial Youth Worlds Day 2 – Smooth Sailing Read More »
The first day of competition in the 2019 Laser Radial Youth World Championships served up conditions that made life easy for Race Committee: enough wind to keep boats moving and only mild oscillations in direction. Providing a good bit of help, the modest current was working against the boats lining up to start. Or perhaps
2019 Radial Youth Worlds Day 1 – Easing In Read More »
The 2019 edition of the ILCA Laser Radial Youth World Championships is set to get underway. 208 competitors from 32 countries have gathered together in Kingston, Ontario, Canada to compete for World titles in both boys and girls divisions. Sailors made their way through inspection over the past two days, some with relative ease, while
2019 Radial Youth World Championships – Ready to Go Read More »
The sailors who would claim the2017 Laser 4.7 Youth World Championship title would have to prove themselves in a variety of conditions, from light to heavy air, near flat to almost two meter waves, occasional rain and a tidal cross current varying in strength and direction. The final race day seemed to be an average
2017 Laser 4.7 Youth World Championships – Day 6 Read More »
Wind, waves and current. All three presented challenges to sailors on the first day of the Finals series. The first challenge was getting through the launch queue and out to the race area. Previously in the regatta, everyone had a following wind both going out and then returning at the end of the day (with
2017 Laser 4.7 Youth World Championships – Day 5 Read More »
