I’ve had
the pleasure of racing against Al since the late 70’s. He’s always been known
for his consistency and percentage sailing where winning races is not as
important as winning regattas. This year, he sailed with amazing consistency to
win in the arguably most competitive fleet – the 68-boat fleet Standard Grand
Masters. Here’s how we did it.
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By Al Clark
2017 has been busy for me with my full time position at Royal
Vancouver YC as their head coach. Duties including coaching our Laser / Radial
high school aged sailors. Also I coached 29’ers at their Midwinters in March
and Worlds in August. I particularly enjoyed these high level events with some
very talented sailors. I love to learn about new boats and get all the pieces
together to help them go fast the right way.
The third component has been coaching some of our Race Team
alumni, Kyle Martin in his Finn (Miami OCR and Sailing World Cup Final) and
Isabella Bertold (Delta Lloyd and Worlds in Holland
I watched and competed in about 17 regattas, 8 major events in
2017. So I would say I saw plenty of high level sailing and have come up with
over the years ideas how to get to the front of the fleet.
My training for this years Worlds (Vacation time for me with my
wife Sharon) was very minimal, I wasn’t sure I had the mental energy to attend
but signed up believing that when the time came I would be excited to race.
I did sail a local regatta in early July in Radials and then
sailed the US Nationals in Lake Tahoe later
that month. I was keeping in decent shape at my crossfit gym and riding my
bike.
On water training prior to the worlds was a few days in early
September, then it was on the plane to Croatia
I bought a carbon top section and had a new sail, added my own
hiking strap and compass (I use the compass quite a bit these days). Generally
was quite happy with the boat (I really like the new boats from LP) and the gear by the end of the week.
I have marks for my vang, outhaul and cunningham. I find that when
I feel the boat is fast with certain adjustments I make a note of it and try to
keep that in mind. An example is I had 2 distinct marks on my vang for puffs
and lulls in the 6-10 knots we sailed a lot in. My outhaul marks are for upwind,
a 1-5 scale on my deck.
Racing starts
The practice race (I sailed one lap) went well and I had decided
to start near the favoured end then go on the first shift. Andy Roy (CAN) was
first off the pin then tacked, Peter Vessella (USA) was fast off the boat and I
trailed both of them at the weather mark. I was in about 6th by the
end of the run. Generally happy with my execution. The breeze was about 6 knots.
One of the factors for this event became clear after the practice
race. The sail out to the race course was going to be about an hour and a half
each day with at least an hour sail in. The wind didn’t happen till about noon
each day (if it happened at all) so we were going to have long days on the
water with lots of waiting. As a coach I am used to this.
The silver lining for me is that all the sailing out then in gave
me plenty of time in the boat and I know that as I get the “feel” back I can be
very quick in moderate wind in the Standard rig.
I was training whenever I wasn’t racing. Also entering the harbour
each day there was no wind so I had a chance to work on roll tacks and gybes.
The first two days of the regatta (Sunday and Monday) we had no
wind so there was a lot of catching up with old friends. Monday was cancelled
early so after chatting with some of the guys I was walking home and noticed
there was a late afternoon breeze so I went sailing for a few hours. I really
like sailing everyday when I’m at these events, even for a short time.
Pam took this video of the racing on Tuesday. It's typical of the conditions that
we had - 10 to 12 knots with short choppy waves. There were not many
shifts upwind, but some good chances to pass going downwind.
The Tuesday we had a decent sea breeze (12 knots) by the time
racing started and many of the favourites were near the pin at go. Andy Roy was
smokin’ fast in this start and I made up my mind to stay with him. This ended
up being a recall. In the next start I was motivated to go hard near the pin
again and was near Andy and a number of other favourites. I realized that my speed
was good and my height also. I arrived first to the weather mark then sailed
too conservatively on the run and rounded third. I fought through the race and
was better on the final run, I had a 5 boat length lead down the final reach.
Unfortunately I picked up a bag on my rudder and was passed by 2 boats.
Race two I made adjustments and again was pleased with my speed, I
won this race with a good gap and felt, as I sailed in that this was one of my
best sailed first days at a masters worlds (nerves had been an issue), my self
talk was to execute the game plan without fear. Keep the “what ifs” at bay. An
example is don’t go to the lay line to early or have faith in the decision your
making.
Wednesday was slightly lighter wind but again 2 good races, I was
a little too conservative in race one but was generally happy with a 4th,
Andy won that race. The next race was Andy leading again at the top mark, I
snuck into 2nd on the rounding, I sailed smarter on the run and
rounded close behind Andy going out to the right. I hung with him (happy with
my height) then decided to carry on after Andy tacked, this got me into the
lead, I extended down the reach and won race 4.
So after 2 days Andy Roy, Tomas Nordqvist (SWE), Peter Vessella (USA),
Wolfgang Gerz (GER) and Nick Harrison (GBR) were all sailing well and the battle
was on for the Championship.
Wednesday no racing
Thursday brought again little wind and lots of waiting on the
water with one race. This turned into a pivotal race. I started near the pin
even though my compass was saying square line, even a bit boat favoured, it
never came back from this and with plenty of scrambling ended with a 10th.
Andy sailed a nice race and could have led but a big righty came in late up the
first beat, and Tomas won this race. So now we have a close battle for the
podium, with others ready to pounce.
I decided that generally this race was one that I left the game
plan and that I would ignore it and focus on the good races I had sailed.
Friday no racing, we actually had a breeze come up but ended up
being too unstable and with the 175 Standard rigs on the course, we needed 2
hours to get in before sunset, pressure was building. There were a number of
sailors that thought I had it won because the forecast for the last day was
poor and there would be no racing after 3.
I kept to the routine and sailed out to the race course on Saturday.
I will say that the long waits and the broken up regatta between races was
difficult and I was pleased that I entered the final race with a positive
mindset. I was determined to be on my front foot going hard, same as all the
races that I did well in.
We had one race with a late moderate sea breeze that was enough for
me to be in the hiking strap (always good). I had a midline start that turned
into a decent rounding at the weather mark (5th), I passed Tomas on
the run and headed left in 4th with the two leaders well ahead.
Tacking on the shifts up the beat (many were going left), I gained and was
close in 3rd with a good gap to the rest of the fleet.
Andy and Tomas now had their own battle going on for third place
overall, and I only had to keep my head. I ended 2nd in the race and
was relieved that I had not let myself down by sailing poorly but had risen to
the occasion. Andy did what he had to with Tomas ending 2nd overall, Tomas 3rd.
My post mortem for the event is that the psychological aspects of
competing are of utmost importance. There are a number of factors that helped
me succeed - boatspeed and height (when needed), executing quality starts,
solid lane sailing tactics on the first beat, aggressive tactics on the run,
hitting shifts on the second beat (and remembering that what seemed to work on
the first beat doesn’t always work on the 2nd), pushing hard to the
finish.
It was amazing how much nicer it is to have a countryman and
friend (Andy Roy) nearby on the racecourse when I wasn’t sure about a strategy.
We fed off each other in terms of confidence, discussing tactics etc. at the
end of each day.
Looking forward to the Worlds in Ireland
Seems so easy when he writes it up! Congratulations to Al on being Canadian sailor off the month.
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