Day 8 Races

We got the final race in just 30 minutes before the end of the time limit. It was a light air race-6-8 knots from 240. The course for today was three windward legs and two leeward legs.

We had a good start again and quickly found ourselves with 6 boats at the front of the fleet. We maneuvered our way around them and led at the first mark. Down the first run, we made a mistake in letting the two boats nearest us gybe first. The pressure filled a bit form their side and there was some current as well that swept us down to the mark. So we rounded that first leeward mark 3rd.

The course was pretty much a one-way racetrack to the right and it was hard to pass. Very near the finish we had gotten ourselves into second only to loose it again to the Danes to our right.

Anyway it was a strong way to finish the series, 2nd from yesterday and 3rd for today.. yesterday in 18 knits and today in 8 knots. It moved us into a tie for fourth overall which we lost to Mark Neelman(NED) because he had two first places.

Freddy Loof and Anders Eckstrom won the World Championship. That was two times in four years for Freddy. As Loof had an 8th as his worst race and Percy (GBR) had a 22nd, Fredddy sailed the two of them down the standings by covering Percy and driving the two of them back. The last race became their discard. That moved Marazzi (SUI) into second and Percy 3rd.

We were pretty happy with our 5th after breaking the mast on the first day. We had very good speed upwind in all conditions. But we also made some mistakes this week and we were not sailing as well as we did in the trials. In both of the last two races I made small but crucial errors that took us out of first place which we held at the first windward marks. That was frustrating to see but maybe it is hard to maintain the focus and intensity that we had in the trials. I feel that I may never have sailed as well as I did in the trials. I will need to devise a plan to get back in that mode for Athens. The Europeans are definitely the class of the class right now but we are not that far off the pace. We will keep training hard trying to narrow that gap.

We packed the boat up and got a ride from some friends to Rome. The boat is going back to the builder, Danilo Folli in Madello de Lario (Lake Como) for a refit. Phil will pick it up on May 20th, with a new mast or two, and head to Holland for the SPA regatta.

Going to sleep now and getting up at 0530 to fly to SFO.

Paul Cayard

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Race Day 7

Today was a beautiful day on the Golfo de Gaeta. It all came good in the end. The fog burned off, the sea breeze filled in and we were off and racing around 11:30. Black flag was up for the first start. No time to waste today.

We had a very good start toward the left side. Very good boat speed up wind but unfortunately the wind was winding right. We got to the first mark about 30th. For the rest of the race we moved up finally finishing 15th. George Szabo with Christian Finnsguard won the first race.

In the second race, black flag up again, we had a good start and after a few minutes tacked onto port and headed for the now obviously favored right side. The wind was 16-18 knots from 250. Mark Reynolds and Steve Erickson were clearly out in front of the fleet about 100 meters ahead of us. We were going very fast now and we ground them down to round the top mark first.

On the reach, Reynolds pushed us both high and they were able to slide down the inside of us for the gybe.yes, we went reaching today. Around the gybe mark and they stretched on us to have a 100 yards lead at the leeward mark. The Swiss team of Marazzi/De Maria, were in third.

For the rest of the race we went a bit faster than Reynolds up wind and about the same down wind. At the end of the final beat he was tacking on us trying to hold us back. He did and the USA finished 1-2. Marazzi was third and Percy (GBR) fourth.

Tomorrow on Freddy Loof or Iain Percy can win. They are one point apart and Percy has a 22 as his worst while Loof has an 8th as his worst. If they both finish worse than 8th, Loof is guaranteed of the win. So I think we all know what he will be doing.

Which ever on wins, it will be his second Star World Championship in 2 or 3 years. These guys have really dominated the class since their arrival. Loof is especially consistent. Percy is the heavy air specialist.

Provisional results pending protest:

1) Loof/Ekstom (SWE) 15,

2) Percy/Mitchell (GBR) 16, Neelman/Van Niekerk (NED) 23,

4) Marazzi/De Maria (SUI) 28, 5) Bromby White (BER) 29,

6) Beashal/Giles (AUS) 34,

7) Cayard/Trinter (USA) 39,

8) Mansfield/Collins (IRL) 43,

9) Szabo/Finnsgard (USA) 46.7

10) Grael/Ferreira (BRA) 49.

I am bushed right now. Two races of full hiking.22.5 miles. Going to sleep very well tonight. Tomorrow, one race and it has to be started before 14:00.

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Race Day 8

We got the final race in just 30 minutes before the end of the time limit. It was a light air race-6-8 knots from 240. The course for today was three windward legs and two leeward legs. We had a good start again and quickly found ourselves with 6 boats at the front of the fleet. We maneuvered our way around them and led at the first mark. Down the first run, we made a mistake in letting the two boats nearest us gybe first. The pressure filled a bit form their side and there was some current as well that swept us down to the mark. So we rounded that first leeward mark 3rd.

The course was pretty much a one-way racetrack to the right and it was hard to pass. Very near the finish we had gotten ourselves into second only to loose it again to the Danes to our right.

Anyway it was a strong way to finish the series, 2nd from yesterday and 3rd for today.. yesterday in 18 knits and today in 8 knots. It moved us into a tie for fourth overall which we lost to Mark Neelman(NED) because he had two first places.

Freddy Loof and Anders Eckstrom won the World Championship. That was two times in four years for Freddy. As Loof had an 8th as his worst race and Percy (GBR) had a 22nd, Fredddy sailed the two of them down the standings by covering Percy and driving the two of them back. The last race became their discard. That moved Marazzi (SUI) into second and Percy 3rd.

We were pretty happy with our 5th after breaking the mast on the first day. We had very good speed upwind in all conditions. But we also made some mistakes this week and we were not sailing as well as we did in the trials. In both of the last two races I made small but crucial errors that took us out of first place which we held at the first windward marks. That was frustrating to see but maybe it is hard to maintain the focus and intensity that we had in the trials. I feel that I may never have sailed as well as I did in the trials. I will need to devise a plan to get back in that mode for Athens. The Europeans are definitely the class of the class right now but we are not that far off the pace. We will keep training hard trying to narrow that gap.

We packed the boat up and got a ride from some friends to Rome. The boat is going back to the builder, Danilo Folli in Madello de Lario (Lake Como) for a refit. Phil will pick it up on May 20th, with a new mast or two, and head to Holland for the SPA regatta.

Going to sleep now and getting up at 0530 to fly to SFO.

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Day 7 Races

Today was a beautiful day on the Golfo de Gaeta. It all came good in the end. The fog burned off, the sea breeze filled in and we were off and racing around 11:30. Black flag was up for the first start. No time to waste today.

We had a very good start toward the left side. Very good boat speed up wind but unfortunately the wind was winding right. We got to the first mark about 30th. For the rest of the race we moved up finally finishing 15th. George Szabo with Christian Finnsguard won the first race.

In the second race, black flag up again, we had a good start and after a few minutes tacked onto port and headed for the now obviously favored right side. The wind was 16-18 knots from 250. Mark Reynolds and Steve Erickson were clearly out in front of the fleet about 100 meters ahead of us. We were going very fast now and we ground them down to round the top mark first.

On the reach, Reynolds pushed us both high and they were able to slide down the inside of us for the gybe.yes, we went reaching today. Around the gybe mark and they stretched on us to have a 100 yards lead at the leeward mark. The Swiss team of Marazzi/De Maria, were in third.

For the rest of the race we went a bit faster than Reynolds up wind and about the same down wind. At the end of the final beat he was tacking on us trying to hold us back. He did and the USA finished 1-2. Marazzi was third and Percy (GBR) fourth.

Tomorrow on Freddy Loof or Iain Percy can win. They are one point apart and Percy has a 22 as his worst while Loof has an 8th as his worst. If they both finish worse than 8th, Loof is guaranteed of the win. So I think we all know what he will be doing.

Which ever on wins, it will be his second Star World Championship in 2 or 3 years. These guys have really dominated the class since their arrival. Loof is especially consistent. Percy is the heavy air specialist.

Provisional results pending protest:

1) Loof/Ekstom (SWE) 15,

2) Percy/Mitchell (GBR) 16, Neelman/Van Niekerk (NED) 23,

4) Marazzi/De Maria (SUI) 28, 5) Bromby White (BER) 29,

6) Beashal/Giles (AUS) 34,

7) Cayard/Trinter (USA) 39,

8) Mansfield/Collins (IRL) 43,

9) Szabo/Finnsgard (USA) 46.7

10) Grael/Ferreira (BRA) 49.

I am bushed right now. Two races of full hiking.22.5 miles. Going to sleep very well tonight. Tomorrow, one race and it has to be started before 14:00.

Paul Cayard

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US Olympic Trials – Final

The US Olympic Trials finally went my way. My crew Phil Trinter and I had one of those weeks where everything seems to go your way. We like to think we earned it through our preparation. He is how we went about it.

A year ago we won the Pre-Trials in Miami and won the right to go to Athens for the Pre Olympic Regatta. That is when it really hit me that I had a real chance to win the Olympic berth. The first thing I figured out was that I need to get heavier and stronger. I know how strong I was when I won the Star Worlds in 1988 so that was a good benchmark in the gym. The star Class currently has a weight rule that entices the skippers to be heavy. So I hired a trainer, Sam Brovender of Vancouver to devise a training regime specifically for me. Sam had me putting in 3 hours a day 5 days a week on physical training. I realize that not many people can afford to dedicate this much time to working out and I appreciate that it is a luxury. But it is a requirement to reach the top of my sport. For the trials I weighed 215 lbs. and was stronger than I was at 28 years of age.

The next part of the plan was to attend all the big regattas in 2003. So we went to Athens and got the Silver and the worlds and got 8th

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Day 6

It is getting ugly. No race today. Not even a start, not even a warning signal. NO WIND.

Further, there has been controversy over the Dutch Team that won yesterdays race. First they were OCS.so out of the race. Then they protested and got back in. Then Bromby (BER) protested them, and the committee, as he was certain the Dutch were OCS. I don’t know the outcome of that at this time.

The Notice of Race says that no warning signal can be given after 14:00 on Sunday. We have to have three more races in order to have a World Championship. The only exception to this is if someone wins without needing to sail the last race. Further, there can be no more than two races a day. So, if all goes perfectly, there is wind by 11:00 tomorrow and we get two in, and there is enough wind before 14:00 on Sunday to get one more in.

Here is today’s forecast for tomorrow from Chris Bedford US Olympic Team Meteorologist:

Outlook for Saturday (05/01/2004): Weak sea breeze is forecast under good thermal conditions and weak gradient. Light and variable in the AM, becoming S/SW late AM and slowly veering to SW/WSW while building to a 6-10 knots. Mainly fair weather except for some possible showers onshore in the afternoon.

We are here to win. But win or loose, we are training for our ultimate goal. There are some teams here and some countries here trying to qualify for Athens. This is a real bad deal for them.

The most notable team is the Kiwi team of Rowan Lord and Andrew Taylor. They have been training very hard for one year and gone from something like 40th at the worlds last year to top ten so far this year. They are in the top four unqualified countries currently, so they are in a position to go to Athens. However, if we don’t get the series in, the allotment for Athens reverts back to last year’s results in Cadiz and the Kiwi’s don’t go. There are more injustices but that is one that stands out to me.

Anyway, enough with the bad news. The big picture is that we are all very lucky to be out here sailing around.or trying to sail around. Italy is beautiful, the people are very friendly and the food is good. We have a lot to be thankful for. As one friend of mine wrote me after my mast broke on Sunday;

“Hang in there buddy! You could be in an office building in San Francisco trying to sell insurance to a guy you don’t know in the building next door! Have fun, Go fast!! Doug”

Ain’t that the truth!

Hey, I want everyone to wish my lovely wife, Icka, HAPPY BIRTHDAY today. Send her an email at Icka@CayardSailing.com I love you Honey!!!!!!

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Race Day 5

We finally got race 3 in today. We got out there at 10:00 for an 11:00 start. The wind was light and so we did not get started until about 15:00. We had a nice breeze at the start; 15 knots from 130 but that quickly dissipated. We did not have a great start but got clear air quickly and were looking very strong on the right about half way up. The wind went a bit left and 15 boats got us from that side. Then in the last 500 meter of the beat I got in the middle and their, with all the shopped up air, we dropped another ten boats.

Down the run I think we just held our own. Up the second windward leg, the fleet split as there was not clearly advantageous side. Half way up that leg, it looked like Peter Bromby was winning the race easily and that we had past 10 boats. But that breeze; a left shift, disappeared and the righters came out ok. We round the top mark still about 20th and went very well down the last run and finished 15th.

Mark Neelman (NED) won the race, his second and had a nice lead on the world Championship. However, he was OCS as were a number of others. There was another OCS in front of us so we moved up to 13th. Torben Grael, had a good race 3rd, I think and Bromby was up there as well. Freddy Loof was about 8th and is probably still leading the Championship. Ian Percy finished in the top four as well.

I have not gone to look at the scores so I can’t tell you how we are doing but it wont look decent until we get 5 races in and get to discard that last place we got for breaking the mast on Sunday.

We are still one race behind schedule and I am sure they will try to get two in tomorrow so we will have an early start.if there is any wind. The forecast is not for wind. The pasta is good though.

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Day 6

It is getting ugly. No race today. Not even a start, not even a warning signal. NO WIND.

Further, there has been controversy over the Dutch Team that won yesterdays race. First they were OCS.so out of the race. Then they protested and got back in. Then Bromby (BER) protested them, and the committee, as he was certain the Dutch were OCS. I don’t know the outcome of that at this time.

The Notice of Race says that no warning signal can be given after 14:00 on Sunday. We have to have three more races in order to have a World Championship. The only exception to this is if someone wins without needing to sail the last race. Further, there can be no more than two races a day. So, if all goes perfectly, there is wind by 11:00 tomorrow and we get two in, and there is enough wind before 14:00 on Sunday to get one more in.

Here is today’s forecast for tomorrow from Chris Bedford US Olympic Team Meteorologist:

Outlook for Saturday (05/01/2004): Weak sea breeze is forecast under good thermal conditions and weak gradient. Light and variable in the AM, becoming S/SW late AM and slowly veering to SW/WSW while building to a 6-10 knots. Mainly fair weather except for some possible showers onshore in the afternoon.

We are here to win. But win or loose, we are training for our ultimate goal. There are some teams here and some countries here trying to qualify for Athens. This is a real bad deal for them.

The most notable team is the Kiwi team of Rowan Lord and Andrew Taylor. They have been training very hard for one year and gone from something like 40th at the worlds last year to top ten so far this year. They are in the top four unqualified countries currently, so they are in a position to go to Athens. However, if we don’t get the series in, the allotment for Athens reverts back to last year’s results in Cadiz and the Kiwi’s don’t go. There are more injustices but that is one that stands out to me.

Anyway, enough with the bad news. The big picture is that we are all very lucky to be out here sailing around.or trying to sail around. Italy is beautiful, the people are very friendly and the food is good. We have a lot to be thankful for. As one friend of mine wrote me after my mast broke on Sunday;

“Hang in there buddy! You could be in an office building in San Francisco trying to sell insurance to a guy you don’t know in the building next door! Have fun, Go fast!! Doug”

Ain’t that the truth!

Hey, I want everyone to wish my lovely wife, Icka, HAPPY BIRTHDAY today. Send her an email at Icka@CayardSailing.com I love you Honey!!!!!!

Paul Cayard

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Day 5 Races

We finally got race 3 in today. We got out there at 10:00 for an 11:00 start. The wind was light and so we did not get started until about 15:00. We had a nice breeze at the start; 15 knots from 130 but that quickly dissipated. We did not have a great start but got clear air quickly and were looking very strong on the right about half way up. The wind went a bit left and 15 boats got us from that side. Then in the last 500 meter of the beat I got in the middle and their, with all the shopped up air, we dropped another ten boats.

Down the run I think we just held our own. Up the second windward leg, the fleet split as there was not clearly advantageous side. Half way up that leg, it looked like Peter Bromby was winning the race easily and that we had past 10 boats. But that breeze; a left shift, disappeared and the righters came out ok. We round the top mark still about 20th and went very well down the last run and finished 15th.

Mark Neelman (NED) won the race, his second and had a nice lead on the world Championship. However, he was OCS as were a number of others. There was another OCS in front of us so we moved up to 13th. Torben Grael, had a good race 3rd, I think and Bromby was up there as well. Freddy Loof was about 8th and is probably still leading the Championship. Ian Percy finished in the top four as well.

I have not gone to look at the scores so I can’t tell you how we are doing but it wont look decent until we get 5 races in and get to discard that last place we got for breaking the mast on Sunday.

We are still one race behind schedule and I am sure they will try to get two in tomorrow so we will have an early start.if there is any wind. The forecast is not for wind. The pasta is good though.

Paul Cayard

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Day 4

Well, it didn’t get any better today. After a 2-hour delay waiting for the wind to settle down, we got under way around 16:00 in 6 knots of wind from 230. We had a very good start in the right hand side of the line and about three minutes into the race we tacked and went off to the right. The right was good and we ended up 7th at the first mark.

A lot of good people were in the back of the pack. We battled around the race course in the diminishing wind, in the top ten. at one mark 5th. Finally, up the last windward leg, the wind continued to die to the point were we started thinking that we were not going to make the time limit. Sure enough, the first boat, George Szabo USA) was about 2 minutes from the finish line when the 3.5 hours time limit ran out.

It is not easy to sail in a huge fleet in under 5 knots of wind so it was good for our training.

Since there isn’t much racing going on here, my mind drifted onto some other things. I was looking at the list of competitors and noticed that there were only 4 boats form the USA here. That must be a record low. Then I noticed that there were 8 teams from the old Russia.4 from Russia, 3 from

Ukraine, 1 from Latvia. So there are twice as many teams from Russia than the USA in the Star World Championship. That is a record high. What does this mean?

I figure that it means that the real winners from the ending of the cold war and the falling of the “wall” are the Russians; not the USA.

I then met an old friend of mine. His name is Alexander Musichecko and I first met him in Marstrand Sweden in 1979. Alexander came to Sweden for the Star Worlds back then in a blue van with his skipper Valentine Mankin. They had no money so they camped behind the van and cooked their meals inside it. I can remember them getting out of the van and then 2 guys in back leather jackets getting out of the back of the van. They were KGB who were there to make sure Alexander did not defect.

Here in Italy, 25 years later, Alexander is driving a brand new Land Rover and staying in a nice hotel. The moral of this story must be that the Mafia is better for Russian prosperity than the KGB.

Those are my sarcastic observations after a broken mast, a wasted day, and a light air training session. Hopefully we will get back to racing tomorrow! The schedule is for two races starting at 11:00. The forecast is for 15 knots of wind from the SE.

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