2015 USODA Midwinters Championship - New Orleans, LA

This year for Thanksgiving we were in New Orleans for the "Midwinters Championship" regatta, hosted by the Southern Yacht Club, along Lake Pontchartrain.

This 2-days regatta is a "US Team Trials Qualifier", which means that the top 25% of competitors get qualified for the "USA Team Trials", which we would call "Championnat de France" in France. There are several qualifying regattas like this along the year, such as the PCCs, WCCs etc. This was my 2nd attempt to qualify, since I joined the SFYC race team last September. At these regattas we sometime have international teams joining: in New Orleans there were many Mexican sailors.

The whole week the weather was pretty warm (20deg C), the water temperature was way warmer than in the SF Bay, the wind was high on practice day (15knots) then it got lighter and lighter down to 5knots on the last day. As it is a lake, waves depend on the wind: they were quite high on practice day (making downwinds sketchy) and then smaller.

For this regatta I had a different approach:
- I was going to focus on pleasure of being on the water and sailing
- I was not going to look at the score boards... and I succeeded doing so until the end!

I overall got ranked 32nd for qualification, knowing that out of the 87 boats some 18 kids had already qualified for the USA Team Trials. There were 21 qualifying slots, so all together it wasn't easy to make it. My best result was when I got 19th at one of the 10 races, and at one offset mark I was 3rd once as well.

For this regatta we chartered a Winner 3D Star Optimist, which is the best Optimist hull. My parents had also just before the regatta bought me a J sail, which is the best sail on the market. This was very cool.

At this regatta coming with me from SFYC was Garret Blosen, a good friend of mine that races with me over in SF Bay. One of my favorite moments was when the Race Committee was waiting for the wind to pick up, Garret and I were sailing along the line... and I tried to hike but didn't put my feet in the hiking straps, so I fell in the water: NEVER fall again in this lake water. It smells! I also gybed on a 17 knots gust while surfing at the same time... and capsized :-) Over all I had a great time at this regatta. The yacht club offered lots of awesome activities, and they had gear that you could win during a raffle (my brother got a awesome bag).

I would like to give special thanks to:
- my Dad for helping me go throw out all the big emotions,
- my Mom for being here and not saying anything when I got all mad and stressed,
- my god-mother Caroline: je voulais juste dire que sans toi j'aurais explosé de stress tout le temps et je n'aurais rien réussi: merci de tout mon coeur,
- my friend Philippe: merci pour tout tes conseils et la date de fabrication de ma voile :-),
- my sister Nolwenn: merci d'avoir accepté de fêter ton anni à New Orleans,
- my brother Yann: merci d'être venu et juste d'avoir été là, et bravo pour tes courses en Green Fleet,
- my sponsor Jérôme: thank you for coming on this long journey with me.

Overall I had a great time and hope to come back. I will not give up and continue trying to qualify!

Here are some picture of the regatta.

This is a picture of me going downwind, coming in the harbor.
                                      

This is me arriving at New Orleans airpot, the big tube is a fishing rod case, my sail was in it.

This is the 3rd place award trophy, if you look behind you will see the 1st place award.

This is Garret and I waiting to launch our boats.

 This is the boat I chartered for this regatta.

 This is my brother getting the "farthest traveled sailor" award.

This is my brother (8 years old) hiking in the breeze (sail #3 with the red dot).

     

Daddy and Son: Viper and Open 570

This week-end and last one my Dad and I sailed together once on the Open 5.70 and once on the Viper. On both session when we started the wind was really light and then it got up to 15 to 20 knots.

Today on the Viper, my Dad and I went up to 16 knots in Richardson Bay, the bay that we see from our house. Here is a video of my Dad and I sailing the Viper.

The week before I sailed the Open 5.70 with my Mom, my Brother, My Dad, and I. The wind was around 15 knots, we didn't send the spinnaker until it got calmer. Here is a video of my family and I sailing the Open 5.70.

Summer 2015 and PCC regatta back in SF

During the summer I went to France where my family spent most of our summer.

We keep a 420 in our house in Saint Malo. It isn't one of these fancy racing 420 that most yacht clubs have, it's an old lady from 1976. Sailing it is hard because you can feel it's old, and it was a challenge for my sister and I. At the end of summer, my Mom and my Dad did some fiber glass work on the hull, because it needed it. Thank you Mom !

We sailed the 420 in Saint Malo and in Lacanau. While we were in Lacanau we sailed on the lake, and also surfed on the Atlantic Ocean at Wally Glisse Wally Glisse Surf School.

We also sailed a First 27.7 S which is a Beneteau, it's a cruise ship but it's at the same time a kind of sports boat. Each year my family and I sail on it for 1 week without stopping. This year the wind was around 20 knots (gusts up to 32 knots) every day except one day were it was 10 to 12 knots and we could put the kite up. The waves were up to 1.50 meter. The conditions were really tough, but sunny all along the week, and we all had a good time.

During the 2015 summer I also raced. I competed in one Bays Regatta where I didn't do well in light wind. But I still got 5th overall for the Bays season, and 2nd in Blue Fleet (my age group), despite not racing 2 out of 5 events.

The most important regatta I did was the Pacific Coast Championship. For the second time I competed in this regatta, and this year I was trying to qualify for the US Team Trials. Sadly I finished 36th out of 120 boats, but the last qualified was 31st. I missed the US Team Trials qualification by 5 places but I'm not giving up, so I will go to New Orleans Midwinter Regatta at next regatta of that kind, to try to qualify again.

Over all I had a great sailing summer!

Heavy Weather Regatta June 2015

After weeks of training I finally raced in the Harken Opti Heavy Weather Regatta, which happens at the St Francis Yacht Club, just by the Golden Gate Bridge. This regatta was really special because of the fact that their were about 50 Optis!! They came from the SF Bay, Vancouver Canada, Seattle, and Long beach California. I didn't do really well ranking-wise, but I had a good time. I was happy to race in the practice day, because otherwise I would not have been prepared. To give you an idea of what happened on the practice day, basically I capzised 6 times!! In one race!! After that I didn't capzise until after the last race, and indeed I pitchpoled. Which means that the front of my boat went under water, until the top of my mast touched the water where then I flipped. Here is the video of a Weta trimaran pitchpole.

At the Heavy Weather Regatta, the wind was 15 to 20 knots 4 days in a row!! The current was also strong (3 to 4 knots), the whole time it was flooding, which means that the tide was coming into the Bay. So on the upwinds you would go at 3 knots against the current, but on the downwinds you would go around 6 to 9 knots. The worst of all were the waves: on each wave you would take 5 liters into the boat upwind. The great parts were the downwinds, and my top speed was up to 11knots. Here is a short video.

Overall I finished 12 in Blue fleet (my age group) on 25 boats.

Overall I had a great time! Next year I will be back.

Getting ready for Harken #3 a.k.a. "Heavy Weather Regatta"

On Saturday June 6th I went sailing on my Opti at home, in Sausalito. I am practicing very hard for the Heavy Weather Regatta because it is the toughest and hardest regatta in the whole season. It will happen on the 17th to the 21st of June. I'm sacrificing the last day of school for this regatta. :-)

The wind was over 15knts quite often 20knts, and the sea was not choppy. I was mainly practicing but I also toke my little brother for a ride. Overall it was really fun.

Here is a short video. If the link doesnt work go to http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k7B1cX4KU7DmQXbtLgy.

Here are some pictures:

Here are pictures of me and my little brother:

Bays #1 of the Summer series

This regatta was at PYSF, and this time the wind was strong, with more than 20 knots steady. I capsized, but sadly my Gopro stopped recording before that. I was happy because the first day I was 13th, and during the second day I gained 4 places. and ended up 9th.

Here is a video.

Here is a picture from the first day:

1st,1st,1st, and party !

At Richmond Yacht Club the coaches count the points after each race. At the end of the season, there is a banquet to present awards for the 29er, Laser, Opti, and El toro classes.

For the Opti class, during the year we competed for three trophies, which are the Midwinters, Brooks Island race, and the Overall results over the whole season. I was the winner of these 3 trophies this year :-).

When you win the Overall season results you have your name on a board that has all the names of the winners since they started. Here is a picture of the boards and my name on it. The Opti board is on the right, and if you look at the one on the left (Junior Laser) you can see the name of the ex-tactician of Oracle Team USA, John Kosteki, who sailed at the RYC when he was young.

Here are some other pictures from the banquet:

Bays 7&8 March

I went to my second Bays regatta in Redwood city, PYSF. I was happy to meet again some of the Bays top sailors, from EYC and SFYC. The wind was really light but we had a great time.
There were two important facts.
First, there was a guy from the Opti US national team. Second, I filed a protest against the race committee because they scored me 4th instead of 3rd at one race. My Mum told me that it was not worth but I didn't listen. I spoke to Molly, PYSF Director and I filed my protest. I was lucky enough to have to witnesses from EYC: those guys are awesome! It was really important to me because it was my best score so far. I won my protest and my score moved one spot up. Overall I got 10th. Here is a short video.

Bays Regatta at Encinal Yacht Club

The Bays are a serie of regattas in different yacht clubs of the Bay area. This particular one that I went to was at Encinal Yacht Club close to Alameda and Oakland on Feb 14&15th. The races were pretty challenging, because the channel where we were racing was quite small. Overall I got 8th on 23 and in my "Blue" fleet I got 5th.  Knowing that last year I was in "Green" fleet and I got 4th. Here is a short video.

Here are some pictures:

Winning the Midwinters regatta

Remember how I published a post on the Midwinters? If you don't, here is the link.
Well yesterday was the last day. And I won the Champion Fleet!!! The funny part was that everybody had the same results at each race. I got 2nd at every of the 3 races. I was so happy to win because last year I got 2nd in Green Fleet. Last year I got a trophy for the 2nd place but this year I got a really cool knife.

Here is a picture of my knife:

PS: did you notice the picture of me sailing ? If you feel scared, you have to know that this picture is an art piece by my friend Frank Roesner. Here is the address of his website.

Here is a bunch of pictures of the last regatta:

Differences between French and Americans buoys

In France we say "rouge sur rouge, rien ne bouge" which means that when you're going in the harbor you have to leave the red buoys on port, meaning on the left side of your boat, where your lights are red. In the US it is the opposite !

Dunes VIII

Do you remember how I tested an Open 5.70? Well our family welcomed one early January: she is called Dunes VIII.

The first time I went sailing on her, my whole family was with me. Here is a short video of us. When we went sailing, the wind was around 10-15 knots. But it was not a issue because we were 5 people on a boat for 3 people.

The second time, I went with a friend and my Dad. Sailing next to us was Fred, who got my Mom and myself testing the boat last December. He was faster although solo. We have a lot to learn! Here are some pictures of my friend and I

                     

Here is a short video of my friend and I with my Dad.

  

The third time, with the whole family the current was very strong: it was about 3knts for 10 knts of wind. So you can imagine going up the current. It took us 1h30min to get along Angel Island in San Francisco Bay.

The fourth time, we went sailing again, but this time my sister wasn't here, as she was racing for High School Sailing at Treasure Island. The wind was low when we rigged, and then it went high in about 1 or 2 min (around 15knts). I was at the helm during the whole session. Too bad that the GPS didn't work, as i'm sure we were faster than 11 knots, which my previous record. Then we decided to go back to the port and entered it sailing. Here is a short video.

The boat is in dry storage so to put it in the water you need to use a hoist. But to bring it to the hoist you need a little electric car. When the boat is not getting towed by the car I get to drive it. Here is a picture:

I think the boat is awesome. I'm looking forward to sailing again on her.

Storm Sailing

If you didn't hear about the storms that hit San Francisco on February 6th, 7th and 8th, you might want to look it up.

The wind came up to 40knts at the Golden Gate bridge. On Saturday my dad and I went to see if our catamaran was fine. When we went there we saw some boats with damage. Our F16 Viper was OK.

On Sunday the RYC cancelled the Opti training, so I went sailing in Sausalito on my own. I totally beat my speed record, as I went up to 8.2 knts (which is a lot for my Opti)... and almost capzised! Here is a short video :-)

January Improvement

In January it is the month of my birthday. So I decided to improve my roll-tacking and strategies. To improve my roll-tack, I try to practice twice a week sailing. Here is a short video of my roll-tack.

Testing different boats on the SF Bay: Open 5.70 and 29er

On Friday 26th, December I sailed an Open 5.70. This sports boat has the stability of a keel boat but the sensation of a sailing dinghy with the hiking. Which is pretty cool. It was just a test to see if I like the boat. I got to try it because one of my Dad's friends has one. My Dad had tried the boat in August and he had went over 16 knts. Here is the video.

My opinion is that the boat is fast, stable, and fun. The fun part of the day is that I got to do everything on the boat : I even got to steer. The Bay was beautiful but the wind was really low. On the boat were my Mom, the owner Frederic Bouju, and me. My Mom saw a sea lion eating a sting ray and a big piece of timber. We went around Alcatraz: it was beautiful.

On Saturday 27th, December I went to my yacht club even though  there was no opti class. I went there to try sailing a 29er. The 29er is a really hard boat to sail because if your weight is in the wrong  place you can capzise easily. I actually did capzise because during a tack I got stuck on the boom and my crew was not heavy enough to keep the boat flat. Therefore, we went over. The water was freezing. I was really lucky because my crew was really nice. He taught me the basics such as when you steer you have to be on your feet, sitting down, or standing. Here is a video of 29er sailing at RYC.


                                                       This is me on the open 5.70.

This is my Mom and I.

Big boat crash and roll-tacks

Saturday 13th, December I was set to participate to a regatta on big boats.
The boat was an Islander 36, just like this one :

We were racing in the Berkeley circle in  SF Bay, when we crashed into another boat.
This is what happened: 30 seconds before the start, we were on starboard and there was a boat coming in on port (we had the right of way). So usually, in this case the other boat is supposed to move out of our way but he didn't. Our skipper Bill decided to change his course. Unfortunately, the other boat did the same. So we moved the other way but so did he. At the end we ended up hitting each other so hard that his port lifeline broke. Our boat had a big scratch on the front and a crew member lost part of one of his big toe, but every thing is fine now.
I learned that it is always a bit tricky on the starting line, on big boats or on optis. I will be even more careful moving forward.

The crash:

Sunday 14th, December was the weirdest Sunday ever. I went to my yacht club (RYC), as usual.
The wind was very shifty. The afternoon was much better and we were lucky enough to race. I was so happy!

My results were 1st,2nd,1st, and 1st. I almost did a roll-tack, but at the end of my roll tack my Opti tipped over. I tried to dry capzise but I almost sunk my boat. What saved me from sinking,were my air bags.

If you don't remember what a roll tack is, you may look at this video (lucky Rayne, sailing in the BVIs :-)) Here is a video of a dry capzise.

I sail in SF Bay and I wish the water was as warm as in the Carribeean!