Sailing Blog
Always Be Closing »
March 6, 2011
It is always amazing how bad a finish can feel when you move the wrong way in the standings, regardless of what the overall result was. Although our 3rd place finish at the Melges 32 Miami Championship was not as far of a fall as we experienced at the Gold Cup late last year, we once again found ourselves feeling disappointed with a very well sailed regatta. Unlike the Gold Cup where we struggled the entire last 3 races, we started off the final day in Miami reasonably with a 5th place, and we even managed to add more points between us and the team who was chasing our 2nd place on Argo. In the final race however, Argo showed that if they could execute a clean start, they had the wheels and the boathandling to take a few bullets throughout the weekend which meant we would need our “A” game to maintain our position.
As forecasted, the breeze did drop off slightly (15-18 kts) from the previous two days, and it was more of a SE direction which left a very confused sea-state on the course from the previous five days of strong easterly winds. On starboard tack, the main mission was to keep the boat rumbling through the waves without giving up too much height, and on port tack, we were able to trim a bit harder and sail the boat more in a flat water setting with the waves almost coming at the boat in a perpendicular direction. The fleet was stacked as tight as it had been all weekend, and there was a premium at the top mark of setting, establishing yourself in the high lane and ripping downwind.
Heading into the 2nd race of the day, Samba had sealed the regatta win and we had a 7 pt lead on Argo, which meant if they won the race, we had to finish 7th or better. We knew Argo could put up a bullet since they won the last two races of Day 2, but we felt confident if that happened, we could manage a 7th or better. Shortly after the gun, we flopped onto port near the boat end of the line with the majority of the fleet joining us. We quickly established ourselves with the front group, including Argo who was punched in the middle of the course. Once to the right corner, we got the heading we needed to tack onto starboard, and it was simply a matter of maintaining our position, regardless if Argo won.
The team on Argo put together a solid finish to the regatta winning 3 of the last 4 races
Argo did round in first, and only a few boatlengths back we were hot on their tails in 5th place. As we set and got smoking downwind, the team on Heartbreaker wiped out front of us, forcing us to take the low road below them to stay clear. This was a good feeling at first as we quickly gained a boat closer to Argo, but once we cleared Heartbreaker and came back to our proper course, the train of boats who set behind us were able to maintain the high lane and carry massive speed on top of us. It wasn’t long before the first boat rolled us, and for those who have gotten stuck under a train of Melges 32s on full plane, there is basically a vacuum of breeze and the only option is to gybe out which we promptly did once the fight for the high lane was over. We carried nice speed to the bottom of the course, but once we gybed back to the gates, we had lost 3-4 boats who were able to extend to the corner and we were now in an uphill battle to hang onto our second place finish with Argo still leading the race.
Not much changed on the ensuing upwind and we did our best to stay close with the boats in front of us knowing we just had to pick off 1 or 2 of them. Making sure not to lose the high lane around the 2nd top mark we delayed our set to ensure we could extend to the corner. All was good as we ripped to the corner of the course and with a few of the boats in front of us wiping out, things were starting to look up. After a clean gybe, 3 boats stacked up inside of us and it was a drag race to the finish. We did our best to try and stay even, but with the pressure filling to the boats on top of us first, it was once again a losing battle to get in front. We worked our tails off throughout the entire last race, crossed the finish in 9th place, 2 pts more than what we need to keep Argo in 3rd place.
There was plenty of good things to take away from a truly awesome weekend of Melges 32 racing. Our team on the Volpe did not have a lot of big breeze experience, and we proved we can hang in the front of the fleet when conditions get a bit gnarly. Our boathandling was very good all weekend, and we can feel confident about our speed in the upper range. There is some room for improvement on our overall performance in traffic and when things get tight around marks and boat-on boat-battles. Once the dust settles and we start to forget about the details in a few months time, we can feel very good about our 3rd place in a tough fleet. Or the other option would be that we could take the hard-nosed approach and heed the advice of Ricky Bobby from Talladega Nights who said, “If your not first, your last,” which makes dropping a place just a touch more palatable knowing us, Argo and the rest of the 32 fleet were all behind a very well sailed Samba Team.
Samba Pa Ti launches over a wave en route to a convincing victory
Good downwind form for the team on Volpe
Thanks the the DeVos family for a great weekend in Miami, and to the team on Volpe for some great fun on and off the water. Overall results.
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