Robert Davis – Miami Training Dec 2007

December 24, 2007
Today was my first day back on the water since the National Qualifying Regatta in Kingston in September. Greg Clunies is training with me before and after the Orange Bowl regatta. After getting our boats organized we headed out on the water. First on the to-do list was cleaning out the cobwebs. After a short sail around a collector, we began our first drill. It worked on boat handling and quick thinking. After that we did a couple of short races to get back in racing mode. To end the day we did two long downwinds followed by 40 minutes of upwind sailing back to the US Sailing Center.
Weather: 28 degrees, 6 knots increasing to 12, partly cloudy.
Session time: 4 hours
December 25, 2007
No sailing
December 26, 2007
Today we did not have a coach on the water so Greg and I speed tuned and worked on boat handling together. First we sailed upwind, tacking every minute to make sure our boat handling was good in the lighter conditions and to get the feel back. We found some other sailors and did a couple of starts and short races. To finish off the day we did another upwind and then a long downwind back to the harbour. Tomorrow is the first day of racing in the regatta.
Weather: 28 degrees, 6 knots, sunny.
Session time: 2.5 hours
December 27, 2007
Today was the first day of racing. After being postponed onshore until 12 the lasers were sent out. The wind did not increase and racing was abandoned for the day at 2:45.
Weather: 28 degrees, 3 knots, sunny.

December 28, 2007
When we first got out to the course the wind was around 12 knots, from 120 degrees. In the first race I had a poor start but was able to use my boat speed upwind to catch up on the first beat. I lost a couple of boats on the downwind, but passed more again on the upwind, before losing a couple of more on the final downwind to finish 9th. In the second race I had a great start and held my lane out to the left side. I rounded the windward in 4th, but lost a couple of boats downwind. I was able to pass boats back on the upwind and rounded the second windward in 3rd but lost one on the final downwind and finished 4th. By the time the third race started the wind had started to die down and it had gone 10 degrees right. In the third race I had another good start, and had a good lane, but was slow in the first half of the race and I finished 15th. I later learned I was called OCS. In the 4th race I had a poor start, but was able to tack out and find a clear lane. At the first windward I was 5th and I held that position on the downwind. I was once again quick upwind and passed another boat and put distance on the boats behind and finished 4th at the windward mark as the RC decided to shorten the course due to the dying wind.
Weather: 28 degrees, 12 knots at 10 am gradually reducing to 5 knots at 4pm, sunny going to partly cloudy.

December 29, 2007
Today’s conditions were very similar to yesterday’s. In the first race I had a poor start but was able to get a clear lane and catch up on the upwinds to finish 7th. In the second race I finished 13th. In the last race of the day I had bad start and missed a puff on the first downwind and was left too far behind the leaders to catch up and I finished 19th.
Weather: 28 degrees, 10 knots reducing throughout the day, sunny.

December 30, 2007
Today was the last day of racing. After a tough day yesterday I was looking forward to a chance to make some ground. Before today’s races I was sitting in 10th place. It was considerably windier than the last two days, and the waves were bigger. In the first race I had a great start and great upwind speed and finished 4th. In the second race I had an okay start, took one short tack right and hooked into a small shift. I extended on the first upwind with great boat speed and led the race from halfway up the first beat to the finish. It was great to finish off the regatta by winning the last day after a couple of disappointing days. I finished 7th overall in the regatta.
Weather: 28 degrees, 12-14 knots, partly cloudy.

Scores: 9,4,OCS(15),4,7,13,19,4,1

December 31, 2007
Day off

January 1, 2008
Today was the first day of a 5-day training camp. It was very light, but we were able to work on some starting and downwind speed that we had identified as things we wanted to work on after the regatta. We ran short course races which allowed us to work on our starts. It also let us work on downwind and it created a lot of boat handling situations.
Weather: 28 degrees, 3 knots, partly cloudy.

January 2, 2008
Overnight a big cold front came in, bringing lots of wind and colder temperatures. We started off with a long downwind sail which allowed us to work on boat handling in big air and kinetics downwind. Then we had an hour and a half upwind grind back to the course. To finish off the day we did another short downwind followed by another upwind back to the sailing center.
Weather: 14 degrees, 24 knots, partly cloudy.

January 3, 2008
Today was just as windy as yesterday so we once again worked on fitness in the breeze. Unfortunately Greg Clunies had to go back to school today so I didn’t have anyone to speed tune against. We started off with a downwind. Yesterday I had the vang on for control and went slower than Greg, but passed him when he capsized. Today I loosened up my vang a bit so that I could get a bit more top speed, and find my control limit. We went upwind back up to the course and I did 720s every 4 minutes to work on my boat handling and so that I would not get too far ahead of the radial sailors. We finished off the day with a series of short course races.
Weather: 14 degrees, 22 knots, partly cloudy.

January 4, 2008
Today it was a bit less windy than the two last days but it was still pretty breezy. Today we stayed on a short course and worked on boat handling. It was good to get more training in manoeuvres in big breeze. I decided to head in early to give my knee a bit of a rest. Tomorrow is the last day of the training camp before I head back to Kingston on the 6th.
Weather: 16 degrees, 16-20 knots, partly cloudy.

January 5, 2008
Today it was much warmer than the last few days, but also less windy. We started off with a long upwind sail for a final workout before we all head back tomorrow. After the upwind we headed back down, rounding leeward marks every 5 minutes. We finished the day off with a mini regatta. Tomorrow I head back to Kingston to finish up my first semester of grade 12. I will need to study hard for my exams but I will also need to keep up with going to the gym – I am back in Miami on the 25th of January for the Miami OCR, and ISAF Grade 1 event.