Sailing Blog
Samba Wrap-Up from Garda »
July 20, 2010
Federico Michetti, Melges Europe Pres and trimmer on eventual event winner B-Lin Sailing, told our team on arrival in Malcesine that Lake Garda is an amazing place for sailing, but a terrible place for racing. While I do not agree that Garda is a terrible place for racing, it certainly has its challenges, headaches and you can go from hero to zero in an instant. But it also has some features that you cannot find anywhere else in the world, like short-tacking up the eastern shore underneath a castle built in the 12th century to take advantage of a left shift while hundreds of German, Swiss and Italian beachgoers watch with interest.
Other than the dramatic landscape and mountains that drop steeply into the lake, what was most impressive about Lake Garda, Fraglia Vela Malcesine and the surrounding area is it felt like you had traveled to a place purpose built for going fast in sailboats, and whoever you talked to was there to do the same thing. Our hotel was the Sailing Center Hotel with a staff that asked how we did every day. Our favorite restaurant a few miles down the road, Da Umberto was owned by a former 49er sailor, Luca Modena, with of course a sailing themed restaurant. Whether it was having breakfast at the hotel at 730 am and seeing hundreds of kite boarders and windsurfers taking advantage of the fresh Northerly, or watching Robert Scheidt head out for a Star boat tuning session on a casual Sunday afternoon, Lake Garda is a sailors paradise…with really good food and wine.
Our goals for the week in Lake Garda were 2-fold since the first 4 days were spent speed and sail testing with our tuning partners from the UK, Red, and the second part of the week was the actual event. The testing period would be our final look at which sails we want for the upcoming worlds in San Francisco, while also looking at our tune in varying conditions. As for the racing, we obviously wanted to do well, but after hearing about what a tricky place Lake Garda can be, we knew it would be tough to steal a victory from a handful of Italian boats who had local tacticians that knew when to peg the right side and for how long, than a short time later, would know to hit the left side as hard as possible. By the last race, we identified some things we had done very well throughout the week, but also found some weaknesses that will need attention if we are hoping to hang in the front once the Worlds start in a few months.
For anyone who has sailed or raced on Lake Garda, a typical day would involve an early morning wake up and dock-off time around 8am to take advantage of the Northerly which usually lasts until 11ish. From there, you have a lunch and an early afternoon espresso while you wait for the Southerly to fill around 1pm when you had back out for a 3 hour afternoon session where you can count on 12-18 kts for both sessions. While this timing of the breeze was pretty much spot on, the velocity was below average as the high pressure system that hovered over Northern Italy for a week proved to be too strong for the local breeze to reach its normal peaks. We never did get shut out, and it was a rare occasion if the boat did not get up on a plane at least once each day.
The first 2 days of racing were on the light/medium side as the heat stayed in the mid-90s and humidity tightened its grip on the sailors. This would provide for highly tricky conditions as the breeze seemed like it wanted to fill consistently, but just could not which resulted in sharp puffs to 12-13 followed by lulls in the 6-7 range. We managed to hang on the after the first day of racing and stealing a win on the final race, putting us in 3rd after 3 races (full day 1 report here). Day 2 would be a different day for our squad as we felt good about our speed and starting ability, but were left with our heads shaking as we could only muster a 8, 9, 11 on what seemed to be a day where we were destined to mid-fleeters. Our confusion was only compounded when we watched regatta leaders Calvi Network have 3 of the most horrendous starts, even going backwards when the gun went, and then recover by pegging the correct side and finishing the day with a 3, 3, 8.
Battling in the light air behind our tuning partners Red during Day 1 - Photo Credit, Max Ranchi
I am not sure if I awoke early Sunday morning to the thunder which sounded like the storm was actually in our room, or to Buddha scrambling to the window in his tighty-whities to get a look at what was happening outside, but after 8 days of oppressive heat, the weather finally broke with a massive storm that left behind cooler temps and stiff Northerly breeze in the 20-25 range. Wanting to make the most of the Northerly, the RC made a good call by having an 830 am warning for the final 2 races. With good Samba conditions on tap, we felt good about our chances to move up in the standings, and potentially sneak in a win with only 14 pts between us in 7th place and the regatta leaders.
Race 1 on the last day showed that we had great legs in the breeze as we were able to recover from an average start and find our way to the front of the fleet by the top mark. With solid boathandling and conservative tactics, we were able to hold off a charge from the B-Lin team who moved up in the standings with a solid 2nd place. For us to have any chance at a regatta win, we would need to win the next race and have a few boats finish out of the top ten which would be entirely possible with the breeze backing off and getting shiftier.
A nice photo by Max Ranchi of Samba racing downwind on the last day of racing.
After another average start, we were able to claw our way into the top 3 at the top mark, ahead of the teams we needed to beat in the standings. We continued to show great speed, but could not get around Red and Torpyone and on the final downwind, we stubbed our toes and watched B-Lin bring down a wave of solid pressure, gybe early and beat us by a boat length at the finish. This secured the win for B-Lin, and left us miffed to say the least, but the real pain would come when we looked at the results and saw we were 1 pt out of 3rd and would have won tiebreakers with 2 race wins. It is moments like these when you look back on the course of the regatta and think about every potential point lost or gained and it makes you want to work that much harder.
Overall, a good event, but not great as we left a few opportunities hanging that easily could have moved us up in the standings. The good news is that we will have a chance to rectify our mistakes in a week and half when the US Nationals begins in Harbor Springs. This will be a great litmus test for the worlds as the best talent in the US will be on hand.
I would like to give a big thank you to John and Catherine Kilroy for making this all possible and for providing such a great atmosphere when traveling to and racing at regattas.
Results here.
Photos
Comment by Anthony — July 21, 2010
How many gelatos did you have?