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wThursday, January 25, 2007 | |
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Miami Olympic Classes Regatta Final Day: Well... it was another day of ups and downs. I finished 17th overall which was not the result I was aiming for, but came away with plenty of positives from the regatta. We had a total of 10 races, and in 7 of those races I rounded the top mark in the top 5. For the first time in my olympic windsurfing career I was really mixing it up with the best girls. I lost places due to still being relatively new to this style of racing, but I feel like I've now got to the point now where I can sail the board well in most conditions, although I do have a weakness in marginal planing downwinds and I need to refine my racing and my board specific tactics. With great coaching and support from Kevin Black, the BC Sailing Coach I was able to work on my starts, which was the main focus for me at this event, but also to identify some of my weaknesses and make an improvement plan from them. My next regatta will be Sail Auckland in New Zealand from February 8-12th. I'll be home on the 29th for a few days... and thank you to all who sent me supportive emails! Till soon, Nikola Girke www.nikolagirke.com Day4: Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good... and today was one of those days... for me anyway. Today the weather changed, a cold front with rain and wind had us sailing in some pretty nasty conditions. The wind was offshore, shifty, extremely fluky and ranging from10-25 knots. I managed to be in about 5th or 6th in each race around the first lap, and on the second lap I got absolutely smoked. It was one of those days where the winner could lose everything and someone really deep could come out a star... Needless to say, I wasn't the star and got an 11th and 15th. Tomorrow's forecast looks to be similar... So pray that I'm lucky! Day 3: Today we had two more races. The wind was looking quite bleak again in the morning. We were postponed onshore for 2 hours before they sent us out. My main focus of the day was getting a decent start. The wind inthe first race was about 6 to 8 knots, my plan was just to get a clear lane and pump really hard . I got off the line and was fully in the game the whole race. Unfortunately I lost a couple boards on a shiftup the last beat but I finished the race in 13th, my best light air race to date. The wind picked up a bit for our next race. I got agreat start, did a couple things right on the first upwind and led around the windward mark. I held my lead around the leeward gate, I went right while those behind me went left. I tried to cover but with marginal planing conditions and tricky shifts I ended up losing abunch of boards to finish 8th. All in all, it was a great day for me... I learned lots, got off the starting line and for the first time in my "olympic windsurfing" I was leading for 2 legs of a race! Tomorrow forecasts for some more wind and 3 more races! Wish me luck! Day1,2: We just finished the second day of the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta. We had 2 races yesterday in 13-14 knots which was enough to get us planing around the course and after a long wait onshore today for the wind to fill in, we eventually got one race off in about 5 knots. I started the regatta off well with an 8th place finish in the first race. I had a plan for the 2nd race, knew where I wanted to go, but I didn't execute my plan as intended. I ended up getting my fin caught on the committee boat anchor chain and got catapulted. I got back into the game quickly to round the windward mark in 4th. Unfortunately, too tight of a rounding... and once again my fin caught the anchor chain. Twice in one race!!! Won't be making that mistake again. RRR... Anyhow, I ended up 16th in that race which was a bit disappointing. In the only race we had today, I had a bad start which never got me into the race. With 8 more races to go over the next few days there are plenty of gains to be made for me to move up the scoreboard. posted by editors at 1/25/2007 02:17:00 PM |
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