Sailing Blog
UP NEXT: Audi Melges 20 Bacardi Cup – Miami #3 »
March 8, 2011
MSP/ATL/MIA, sail, sleep, sail, sleep, sail, sleep, sail, sleep, sail, advil, MIA-MSP/11pm. Home 24 hrs, laundry, change diapers, family time, sleep, 530am, pack, coffee, MSP/MIA, sail…
Throughout the yearly sailing calendar, there are always events that butt up with each other when sailing in multiple classes. And while I do not have it as frantic as others, the first two weeks of March is busy time of the year when the US Sailing scene begins to come out of the deep freeze and gets steadily active into the summer months. Fresh off the Melges 32 Miami Championship, I flew home for a quick 36 hours to get some face time with the family, and a much needed quick recharge. While the pain of taxis, airports, and general travel is hard, getting home for the shortest amount of time is always worth it.
Up next is the Audi Melges 20 Bacardi Cup and the Miami Winter Series Event #3. Back on M and M Racing, we are looking for a solid effort and a complete regatta as we have had moments of brilliance in our first two events, but have been inconsistent when it comes to our execution. With over 27 boats registered, this will be the biggest Melges 20 US event to date and securing a top 5 finish will not be an easy task, but with a strict focus on the process of doing well, hopefully at the end of the event we can have our team name announced at the prize giving.
The Audi Melges 20 Fleet battles upwind in the 2nd Miami Event this year.
One of the more enjoyable aspects of racing the Melges 20 this winter has been the training program we developed with Paul Reilly’s team on Red Sky, and Kent Haegar’s team Mach Schnell. While it is sometimes hard to explain to a couple of C Scow sailors like Paul and Kent about what a spinnaker actually does on a sailboat, we have managed to carve out 1.5 days of training before each event with debriefs and very fun team dinners each night of the event. Sure the racing is fun, but the process and the journey of getting there is more often the enjoyable part. Not to mention, the training allows us to really hammer some of the basics like boathandling, leeward marks and speed that we would normally not have the time to do in a strictly racing atmosphere. The extra effort to get to the events early and organized has paid off; in the last event our 3 teams posted results of 1, 3, and 8. Not bad for a group made up of mainly of sailors who race scows with only 1 sail!
The final event in the Winter Series will also crown the overall Series Champion. As it stand, reigning National Champ Michael Kiss and his Team on Baccio, lead Paul Reilly’s Red Sky team by 1 point. It should be some good racing this weekend, and it may all come down to the last beat of the last race to determine the series winner. Stay tune to 42marine.com for full results and photos throughout the weekend. Bacardi Cup info here.
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