Canary Islands Spain
23 July - 3 August 2003
Altex Yacht & Boat Paint NZ Optimist Team Profile
Link to North American Optimist Champs Page
Reports from the Altex Yacht & Boat Paint NZ Optimist Team
Summary
The Contest
The venue and organisation of the Worlds were almost faultless. The Real Club Náutico de Gran Canaria has 8000 members and seemed to accommodate the contest effortlessly. Communication was good (although some people weren't happy about the amount of Spanish used!), and the officials very helpful. The accommodation was good and the food supplied adequate. The supporters boat supplied by the yacht club for free was great for the supporters but probably not so great for the sailors - we managed to get nice and close to the action.
The sailing conditions were great, especially when the wind was parallel to the coast. Once it moved slightly off shore the shifts became quite tricky but certainly no worse than off Auckland's east coast in a souwesterly. The seas added an extra dimension to the sailing but were generally not steep enough to provide surfing conditions. The only real negative about the whole event was the oil slicks. In some cases large areas of the centreboards were coated in thick crude oil which then got dragged up the centrecase. Luckily it would appear that most of the worst cases occurred on the tow home so didn't appear to affect results.
The heavier sailors seemed to struggle on the first two to three days of the contest but once the wind picked up for the last three days, the bigger sailors moved up the rankings. There were sailors competing who weighed from the high 20 kgs to 60 kg. Greg Carey, the Englishman who led for the first few days weighed 37 kg while sailors like Marco Grael who strung together a superb set of results at the end of the contest weighed 52 kg.
Most of the sails at the top of the fleet were Olimpic. There were two different styles of Olimpic, the standard cut and a model called Blue Wave designed for Las Palmas conditions - fuller entries and flatter exits. There were a large number of Tony Tio sails in the contest, with most being radial cut. These too featured a full entry and flat exit. However, these sails did not really appear to feature at the top of the leader board except for the top Spanish sailor (6th) who used one. The top Japanese sailor (7th) used a North radial and performed well. There appeared to be no Euro Sails in the contest.
The starts were a mixture. The contest started off with a series of black flags and quite a few ocs's and bfd's. The next day the race officer progressed to using Z over I and then ended up starting on the I flag and going to the black flag after a general recall. On some days there were few if any general recalls with most of the fleet well back from the line, especially in the middle. In most other cases it took only one black flag to get the fleet away cleanly. The swell produced some problems with the surge sometimes taking sailors across the line early. In another case the bulk of the fleet at the pin end of the line were washed back 20m from the line by a large wave and were unable to lay the line.
Compared to other Worlds I have been told about, the fleets were quite spread out with the leader often having a significant lead by the top mark, eg 45 seconds. Because of this and the waves, there were large gains to be made by sailing low on the reach. The English were good at this, routinely gaining 10 or more places on this leg. The last beat was a difficult leg being run along the shore with significant shifts from both left and right. The finish line was positioned downwind of and to the right of the wing mark, something we do not do in NZ. This allows boats to return to the startling without interfering with boats still racing.
The NZ Team
The NZ team were the first to arrive in Las Palmas and the first to get on the water. This seemed to work well giving them time to get used to the large swells that were pretty much foreign to them and to acclimatise to the conditions.
The two smaller sailors in the NZ team, Paul (32 kg) and Dan (37 kg) were very fast, especially in the lighter conditions. Paul routinely started late at the boat end and tacked off to get clear air. This was sometimes successful and sometimes not. However, coupled with his speed, he seemed to be able to sniff out lanes of wind so almost always got back into a good position by the top mark. Once the wind increased, he also showed great downwind speed helping him to get out of some poor positions. In general, Paul seemed to work the difficult last leg well. To progress further Paul needs to be able to start on the front row. Paul used a Robbins green sail on a soft mast (a Guiletti kindly machined down by Babcocks). He also used a 4 part main sheet rather than the conventional 3 part.
Dan demonstrated his speed and ability by winning 2 races (although in the first he was ocs'd) and regularly being well inside the top 10 at the last mark. He was fast upwind and down and if he got away cleanly, usually ended up in a good position. His usual starting technique was to start in the middle of the line and head for the generally favoured left side of the course. Unfortunately he sometimes got buried at the start and also often lost a few places on the last leg. Dan was using a standard Olimpic sail on a conventional mast. As with Paul, his mast rake was 2815. Both Dan and Paul sheeted in harder than most, probably due to their light weight.
Peter had a good regatta finishing 40th overall. He secured 6 top 10 placings but generally found it difficult to string two good races together. He had a particularly good fourth day but for some unknown reason did not fire on the last two days when the stronger breeze arrived. He started similarly to Dan, although probably closer to the pin end of the line. At 48 kg, Peter needed to sail his boat differently to the lighter sailors and did a good job of maintaining a balance between height and speed. Peter also used a standard Olimpic sail.
Josh improved throughout the regatta after a difficult start. He was consistently off the pace during pre-regatta training but seemed to finally adjust his technique by the third day to secure some good results, including a 13th and 16th. Josh was using a Nixon sail.
Like Josh, Ersin struggled to get consistent results. He showed good speed during training when the wind got up but struggled to get off the start line cleanly during the contest. Placings in the low 20s showed what he could do when he got a reasonable start. Ersin also used a standard Olimpic sail.
The performance of the team during team's racing was a revelation. We had expected them to be knocked out early but by winning 2 races ended up 7th equal. They really should have beaten the Croatians, lack of experience being the only factor stopping them. It would be fair to say that their speed in the 18 to 22 knot winds helped them enormously with the other teams struggling to stay with them. Given that kids really love this side of sailing, we should look at incorporating teams racing in our NZ calendar.
We need to give Hamish Willcox a big thank you for his efforts in coaching the team at the Worlds. The team made huge progress in the days prior to the Worlds and continued to perform thanks in no small part to Hamish's efforts. Thanks also to team leader Grant Nixon for smoothly working through the bureaucracy and country rep Chris Buckley for attending the countless official meetings.
Once again, thanks to our sponsors, Altex Yacht & Boat Paints and other friends and supporters who helped get the team to the contest.
Click on Official Photos for a selection of official photos. We can supply high resolution versions on request.
2 August
Today was the last day of competition. Conditions were similar to yesterday with the exception that there were large wind swings. Except for Dan, most of the team had at least one bad race.
Paul started off with a shocker in the first race, rounding the first mark 60th. He managed to climb back to 35th but this was still his worst race of the series. His second race started off similarly but he managed to get on the right side of a shift near the end of the first beat, rounding 25th. The wind was strong enough for his downwind speed to become significant and he recovered well to finish 7th and 24th overall. While he was a little disappointed given his earlier overall placing of 6th, his final result far exceeded his (realistic) ambitions going into the competition.
Dan sailed well in difficult conditions and was placed 9th and 17th to finish 37th overall. The highlight of Dan's performance in the regatta was his historic win in race 4.
Peter had a day he would sooner forget, securing his second ocs in the first race and being on the wrong side of a major shift in the second. Nevertheless his previous performances were good enough to mean he finished a highly creditable 40th overall.
Josh and Ersin once again had up and down results, both slipping slightly from their overnight positions.
Overall, this team performed exceptionally well, Paul's 24th being just short of the best performance ever by a New Zealander (23rd by Jamie Thompson), 3 sailors finishing in the top 40 and the team finishing 7th equal in the teams racing. Coupled with their young age (Paul, Peter & Josh 12, Dan just 13 and Ersin 14) and the performance of the North American team, Optimist sailing in NZ is looking healthy.
The Worlds were won by the defending champion, Matika Filip from Croatia. Marco Greal finished 11th and Corentin Guegan 22nd.
Overall placings:
24 NZL 3968 PAUL SNOW HANSEN 166 pts 15 6 5 5 10 (32) 10 24 32 11 17 11 13 (35) 7
37 NZL 3965 DANIEL WILLCOX 207 pts (OCS) 26 12 1 5 8 (39) 11 32 10 22 37 17 9 17
40 NZL 3838 PETER BURLING 232 pts 10 21 9 26 (OCS) 5 27 8 9 12 23 8 35 (OCS) 39
114 NZL 3770 JOSHUA NIXON 430 pts (59) 44 30 (BFD) 46 16 21 30 52 38 33 35 13 22 50
134 NZL 3738 ERSIN BUCKLEY 504 pts 52 26 (OCS) 40 22 (67) 51 64 24 21 49 37 33 32 53
Team result (top 4 sailors):
1 CRO CROATIA 879
2 GBR GREAT BRITAIN 965
3 ARG ARGENTINA 1026
4 POL POLAND 1062
5 ITA ITALY 1077
6 GRE GREECE 1236
7 BRA BRAZIL 1340
8 JPN JAPAN 1362
9 ESP SPAIN 1475
10 PER PERU 1484
11 NZL NEW ZEALAND 1500
Thanks to our sponsors, Altex Yacht & Boat Paints and other friends and supporters in NZ for their financial and moral support. I will include an analysis of the the technical side of the event on the web site in the future, probably after we return to NZ.
1 August
The conditions today were slightly stronger than for the previous days, 16 to 18 knots with an occasional gust of 20. Everybody's health seemed to be improving so the day was set for some good racing.
Paul continued his trend of getting out of jail after average starts. The stronger winds meant that his upwind speed edge was not so apparent but they also meant that he could plane away from the larger sailors on the downwind legs, making gains of approximately 10 places in two of the races. His placings of 17, 11 & 13 consolidated his position in the early 20s.
Peter & Dan had a mixed day with Peter's 8th being a highlight. Both sailors are well positioned to maintain the excellent team result of three sailors in the top 50.
Josh & Ersin continued their move up the table, with Josh's 13th place in the last race being particularly well received given the difficult start he had to the regatta.
Competition at the top of the fleet is intense with Defending champ Matika Filip from Croatia moving into the top spot from previous leader Sebastian Peri Brusa from Argentina. Many of the larger sailors made moves in today's heavier winds. Of particular interest to New Zealanders, Richard Mason of GBR is 10th, Marco Grael has moved to 15th, Corentin Guegan of New Caledonia is 26th and snapping at Paul's heels and Gael Blanquart is 72nd. The Australians who did so well at our Nationals have struggled in the conditions; Hannah Nattrass is 179th, Jamie Woods is 180th, Thomas Brewer is 192nd & Erin Gallagher is 217th.
Overall placings:
22 NZL 3968 PAUL SNOW HANSEN 127 pts 15 6 5 5 10 (32) 10 24 (32) 11 17 11 13
33 NZL 3838 PETER BURLING 158 pts 10 21 9 26 (OCS) 5 27 8 9 12 23 8 (35)
38 NZL 3965 DANIEL WILLCOX 181 pts (OCS) 26 12 1 5 8 (39) 11 32 10 22 37 17
111 NZL 3770 JOSHUA NIXON 358 pts (59) 44 30 (BFD) 46 16 21 30 52 38 33 35 13
133 NZL 3738 ERSIN BUCKLEY 419 pts 52 26 (OCS) 40 22 (67) 51 64 24 21 49 37 33
The final two races are scheduled for tomorrow.
31 July
The weather for day 4 of fleet racing was hot and sunny with winds of 15 to 18 knots. Josh is the latest to join the ranks of the unwell and Paul's health seemed to have gone slightly backwards.
Today was Peter's day with placings of 8, 9 and 12 to move up twelve places to 25th overall. His placing in the final race could have been better as he rounded the last mark in 4th place.
Dan was another to have a good day with placings of 11th and 10th. He also struggled with the shifting wind on the last beat having rounded the last mark 2nd and 3rd in these two races.
Paul felt weak in both the first races but managed to dig deep for a 12th in the last race to finish the day 21st overall.
Josh struggled to get off the start line but still managed to improve his overall standing. Ersin also improved his position with a couple of good placings in the last two races.
Overall placings:
21 NZL 3968 PAUL SNOW HANSEN 120 pts 15 6 5 5 10 (32) 10 25 32 12
25 NZL 3838 PETER BURLING 127 pts 10 21 9 26 (OCS) 5 27 8 9 12
32 NZL 3965 DANIEL WILLCOX 144 pts (OCS) 26 12 1 5 8 39 11 32 10
128 NZL 3770 JOSHUA NIXON 337 pts 59 44 30 (BFD) 46 16 21 31 52 38
147 NZL 3738 ERSIN BUCKLEY 368 pts 52 26 (OCS) 40 22 67 51 64 25 21
Three more races (11, 12, 13) are scheduled for tomorrow. Each sailor will be able to drop another race after 11 races have been completed.
29 July
Today was teams racing day. Given the relative lack of experience in this discipline we expected it to be a short day for the NZ team. This would give them a chance to recuperate and for Dan and Paul to get over their stomach complaints. Prior to today, four of the members had taken part in the two day teams racing clinic Derry Godbert ran for the Worlds and North American team before their departures. None had really teams raced before. For many of the European teams, teams racing is a very important part of their sailing.
Conditions were sunny with 18 to 22 knot winds, the strongest experienced so far.
First up the team raced sixth ranked France. Four sailors race each race and before NZ we had agreed that the first three sailors in the overall standings would sail in all the races with the fourth position alternating between the other two members, in this case Josh & Ersin. The French were very aggressive, hunting the NZers from the preparatory signal. NZ were in a reasonable position at the end of the first leg but once the down wind legs started, the lack of experience started to show with several of the NZ team penalised. However, on the next upwind leg the roles were reversed and NZ managed to force the French into infringing, with NZ winning.
The next round saw winners racing winners and NZ were against Japan. The Japanese were far less aggressive but sailed quite fast. NZ crossed the finishing line in a winning position but unfortunately some members of both teams appeared to have been over at the start with NZ unfortunately having more than the Japanese. We were therefore out of a chance for 1st or 2nd and were in the remaining 10 teams who could race off for 3rd.
In the next round NZ came up against Bermuda who recently won the North American teams racing title. This was another furious tussle with the Bermudans coming back towards the end of the race. Paul left his leading position to tussle with a Bermudan who luffed too quickly and incurred a penalty to allow NZ to win and progress on in the competition.
Next up were the mighty Croatian team, including the current World Champion. NZ got away to a great start and held a winning 2, 3, 4, 6 around the top and bottom marks. Unfortunately it got tight up the last leg and although NZ once again crossed the line in a winning position, the judges ruled against NZ over an incident at the finish mark meaning that the Croatians won on countback (NZ were 1, 2, 7, 8. In the event of a draw the team with the winning boat loses).
The end result was, according to our count, that NZ came 7th equal in the Optimist Worlds Team Racing Championship, a fantastic result and far exceeding expectations. The opportunity for a bit of a rest never took place but the enjoyment and mental high they are on makes up for it. Only a small amount of inexperience stood between this result and something even better.
We understand that Argentina won from Peru with Croatia third.
Tomorrow is a rest day.
Click on Photos 29 July to see photos from the Teams Racing
28 July
The winds for day 3 of the Worlds were more difficult than in the previous days with big shifts from the left. The New Zealand team were both the victims and beneficiaries of these shifts.
In the first races of the day Peter & Josh came back from mid fleet positions to secure 5th and 16 th respectively. Josh continued his return to form with a good 22nd in the second race.
Dan & Paul raced together in their first races of the day with Dan in 2nd and Paul 7th as they approached the bottom mark. Unfortunately Paul capsized and then both tended right to finish a still highly repectable 8th (Dan) and not quite as respectable 32nd (Paul). Paul bounced back for a 10th place in the last race to end up 11th overall, all sailors now having one drop.
Overall placings are:
11. Paul (15, 6, 5, 5, 10, (32), 10; 51 pts)
30. Dan ((ocs), 26, 12, 1, 5, 8, 39; 91 pts)
37. Peter (10, 21. 9, 26, (ocs), 5, 27; 98 pts)
132. Josh (59, 44, 30, (bfd), 46, 16, 21; 216 pts)
159. Ersin (52, 26, (ocs), 40, 22, 67, 51; 258 pts).
Tomorrow is teams racing for which NZ have qualified. A lay day follows with fleet racing resuming on Thursday.
Click on Link to Worlds Page for results.
27 July
In an historic moment for NZ Optimist sailing, Dan convincingly won the second race today, the first time a New Zealander has ever won a race at the Optimist Worlds. Dan lead from start to finish never giving his rivals a chance. His other results of 12th and 5th were also of the highest quality.
And to continue the good news Paul strung together performances of 5, 5 and 10 to lie in 6th place overall moving into the third day of the competition. The last two results were achieved after terrible starts and surprising comebacks (comment by frustrated but admiring father).
These results were even more meritorious given that both Dan and Paul were ill overnight and arrived at the yacht club tired and lacking energy.
The rest of the team were all disqualified in one of their races for being over the line at the start but overall their results were good enough for NZ to qualify 11th for the teams racing phase of the regatta. These races take place on Tuesday.
Overall placings are Paul 6 (15, 6, 5, 5, 10), Dan 43 (ocs, 26, 12, 1, 5), Peter 70 (10, 21. 9, 26, ocs), Ersin 138 (52, 26, ocs, 40, 22) and Josh 170 (59, 44, 30, bfd, 46).
Racing was held in winds of 10 to 12 winds with occasional gusts up to 17 knots. The waves were still a factor but they were a little smaller than earlier last week. The first leg of the course is affected by the ships that anchor off Las Palmas for refueling and the second beat is up against the shoreline, giving rise to unpredictable shifts on that leg. The fuel in Las Palmas is very cheap so many ships enroute from the Mediterranean to Panama stop at Las Palmas to refuel. When filling with fuel they pump out their ballast tanks and any residue oil in the tanks giving rise to the oil slicks that plague the fleet.
There will be two more races tomorrow.
Click on Link to Worlds Page for results.
Click on Photos 27 July to see photos from today
26 July
Today was the first day of official racing following yesterday's practice race in which Paul was the only NZ competitor. Conditions were similar to most of the other days but slightly lighter, 10 knots peaking at 12 knots with a (very) occasional 14 knots. The 221 boat fleet has been split in 6 groups and about 73 boats start in each race.
The initial highlight was seeing Dan climb from 5th around the last mark of the first race to grab first at the finish. All the adults in the team had promised that they would wear some cheap pink and purple shoes if any of the sailors won a race and it looked like it hadn't taken long for that to happen. Unfortunately it transpired that Dan had been over the line and was disqualified. The best performance by a New Zealander that counted was 10th by Peter followed by 16 th by Paul.
The highlight of the second race was 7th by Paul after holding 5th for much of the race. Peter, Ersin and Dan recovered well from their top mark positions to finish 21, 26 & 26.
Overall placings are Paul 23 (16, 6), Peter 30 (10, 21), Ersin 111 (52, 26), Dan 161 (ocs, 26) and Josh 163 (58, 44).
Unfortunately Hamish, Paul & Dan have fallen ill since the race. Hopefully they will be OK by the morning.
Click on Link to Worlds Page for results.
If you click on http://www.rcngc.com/frames.html and then click on the web cam and down load the camera program you can see realtime the NZ team rigging up under the NZ flag. This is positioned centre right of the picture. Rigging and launching of the Opti's is between 10 am and 11 our time, about 9 pm in NZ.
Click on opening ceremony to see photos of the opening ceremony.
Click on Photos 26 July to see photos from today
22 July
Three days have elapsed since our last report. The team has completed three days of hard sailing in winds from 8 to 20 knots. While most of the time has been spent on training drills, the boys have had for many of them their first taste of competition at this level, allbeit practice races. It was a great thrill to line up against teams from around the world. Day 2 included races against the Germans and Dutch with Peter, Paul and Dan winning all the races between them. Today the races involved the highly ranked Argentina team, Equador, Trinidad, Brasil, Australia and Barbados. Dan was highly competitive in this fleet finishing second in the first race. Paul also did well overcoming poor starts to be amongst the leaders. One thing obvious during the racing was how aggressive the South Americans were.
Many sailors are struggling with sea sickness in the large waves (3 - 4 m). The yacht club has set up a mini hospital to deal with the dehydration they expect some sailors to suffer from due to vomitting. During the European Opti Champs held here in 2001, quite a few sailors ended up on drips. The NZ team has generally handled the conditions well although Peter and Josh both retired early today feeling a bit off colour. The intensity of the training will now start to ease off as we head for the start on Saturday.
Measurement for the NZ team took place tonight. There were no real issues other than sail numbers being 1mm too close together and a couple of centreboards a millimetre too long. As such the formalities were completed quickly. The next official engagement is the opening ceremony on Thursday night.
Click on Photos 22 July to see photos from sailing over the last few days.
19 July
Today the team went sailing - the first team at the Worlds to do so. The charter boats were all of good quality and were quickly prepared. Conditions were ideal with a 12 knot wind, 3m swells, 27 deg C air temperature and about 22 deg C water temperature. And the downside...oil slicks all over the place. At the end of the three hour session, the boats and sailing gear were covered in black brown oil stains.
The team are settling in well and enjoying each other's company. Their accommodation is good and only about 5 minutes walk from the yacht club. The yacht club is large with two restaurants and a 50m swimming pool (refer Link to Worlds Page).
Hopefully tomorrow's session will see the team sailing against some of the other teams.
Other news. The North American team has been performing well with the highlight appearing to be Susannah Pyatt's 11th placing and 1st girl with one race still to go. Also, Peter Burling and Ersin Buckley competed in the Flanders Youth Regatta in Belgium en route to the Worlds. Peter placed 12th out of 99 sailors with a number of good results including two seconds. Ersin finished 22nd overall winning one race.
Click on Photos to see photos from today's sailing.
7 July
The fundraising is nearly complete and the Team are now scattered across the World. Peter Burling and Ersin Buckley are competing in a youth regatta in Brussels, Paul Snow-Hansen departs for Spain and Portugal tonight leaving Josh Nixon and Daniel Willcox to continue training in Auckland before they depart on 16 July. The team would like to thank all those companies, organisations and individuals who have assisted in helping to fund the team to the Worlds. We would also like to acknowledge the generous assistance of our major sponsor, Altex Yacht & Boat Paints.