After starting the early races badly, I put together a string of good results but then had a period of three double digit results with a win in between. What the results do not reveal is the pressure that built up inside on the second day of qualifying and led to some bad starting, heavy handed steering on the 1st lane away from resulting in some unproductive luffing which slowed me significantly and put me back in the second row, so the race became a game of catchup.
This is a creative sport and creativity comes from sailing in a relaxed manner where you can let all your senses do their thing. In my defence it was my first international event but I had the boat speed and the skills to be in A fleet. Pressure is strange and whatever technique I tried I could not get rid of the feeling but there was eventually a cure as you will read below.
What went well
I arrived 3 days before to acclimatise to the heat and get plenty of practice in the prevailing conditions. It was unfortunate not to get access to the race area until the Friday night but the area was restricted and I understand that the organisers could only gain access to the site from Friday afternoon. On the plus side I found a nice little area to launch and practice where I could stand with feet in the water and in the shade of a small building so all worked out well for me.
The boat preparation was excellent although I did have an unlucky shroud failure in race 3 which was easy to repair.
The boat was quick in all conditions, well at least as fast as those around me. I was noticeable quick downwind.
In qualifying I had a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 2 4ths, 5th, 6th, 2 8th and a 9th. 10 results in the top 10 but the killer for me and the reason for silver fleet was the 5 results outside the top 10. In qualifying I had to count 2 13th and an 11th. In one race I was coming into the finish in forth and crossed a starboard boat. The driver of that boat bore away as he passed my stern and an umpire called penalty resulting in two turns and an 18th place. That was dumb on my part before you say it.
Despite sailing against the best in Europe I felt no intimidation and even had a good race for the lead against Zvonko.
I was the only Brit to win a prize which was a very nice salt model of an IOM as winner of the Grand Master category. Sometimes it pays to be older.
Sometimes it pays to be a little bit to leeward to avoid the crowd at the bias end. 7 boats are powering off the line in the front row. The two most leeward boats missed the start.
What could I improve
When I review the videos of the starts, mostly I was a tad late to pull the trigger and was only over the line in one race. To me the start and lane holding was the biggest thing I need to improve which has been an issue for me all year.
The pressure that built inside me on day was unfortunate and solved through a comment from my brother who was watching the racing. He suggested a small whiskey which he used when shooting and sure enough it did the trick. An 8, 3, 3 followed to finish the qualifying but the damage had been done. Wish I had done it sooner and there was no recurrence of the pressure feeling.
The other technique to sort is to be less heavy handed on the steering when in a lane of the start line. I need to learn to squeeze the boat up not force it. I am reluctant to use any exponential feature on the transmitter as I would rather program my fingers.
So the stats in qualifying will show, 6 results in the top five, 4 in the top ten but 5 in double figures which was my downfall.
There is work to do over the winter but a top ten finish or better is in sight in the future. I guess I have to remember that I have only been racing IOM's for less than 3 years after a 30 year layoff form sailing, whilst those around me have raced for many years and entered many national and international events.
54, upper left makes a good start early in the series. Note nearly all the boats are on the line.
The Grand Master receives his trophy
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