by Doug
 |
| Good evening ma'am |
The competitors have had up to five training
days including the practice race that we just finished. It's interesting to
listen to people speak about their experiences so far. There is a consensus
that it will be light, it's hard to see the wind patterns on water, there are
some very strange variations in pressure, big shifts, and even talk of how
current may be a factor. Some countries with lighter competitors could do very
well.
Here's an example: yesterday I was sailing
with a fellow from SUI on my hip just 10 meters away. In the light breeze, he
was faster and he started to roll me. I thought, no problem, I'll get the
breeze in a moment. Well, he rolled me and I never did get that breeze. Just
10 meters away!!! I told this story to a quick Aussie and she said that I had
done this to her the day before. Go figure!
Normally light conditions are familiar to me
because I sail in Dallas which is inland and only has small lakes. But nothing
that works in Dallas works here - it's like learning all over again. This
really gives you an appreciation of how consistently good Robert Scheidt was
last week.
Our practice race confirmed what the
conditions will be like - changes in pressure, shifty, and very tactical. And
there are some people in our fleet with some real speed. One thing for sure -
it will be important to look around to watch others for clues on the water.
I may have to use others to
spot the pressure because of something that happened on Thursday evening. The
US team had a Thanksgiving dinner, and at the entrance I was polite, smiled,
and said 'Hi' to our hostess standing at the entrance ... only to realize is was
a wooden mannequin. Boy, am I glad that no one was watching.
Doug sends me pictures and blog entries to post. I knew his pictures were worse than usual and his videos were pretty terrible but I just didn't get it. Time to switch to a bigger font for the posts and maybe lower my expectations of how he'll do.
ReplyDeleteI am interested to read more about how you use others to spot the pressure. I know you have commented on this before. From what you say I don't think my eyesight is as bad as yours (the mannequin story is precious) but I do haves some eye problems and certainly can't see the pressure on the water as well as some people do.
ReplyDeleteGood luck in the real races. I'm rooting for you.
Should be a good test for your sailing angles strategy.
ReplyDeleteHahaha, the mannequin story is gold! Sounds like experience will count for a lot in this regatta. I've sailed in places where the pressure was hard to spot because cooler air was dropping from the sky in pockets. I wonder if this is a possibility in Oman, ie. heated desert air meeting cool sea air and falling. It could account for what you described do you think?
ReplyDelete