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 Post subject: Pan Am Games
PostPosted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 5:21 pm 
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Joined: Thu Jun 15, 2006 5:13 pm
Posts: 280
Racing Starts on Sunday
After a week of team processing, traveling, measurement and practice things are starting to get going in Rio.
We had a practice race today in a nice fifteen knot seabreeze. The locals started on port along with PUR, GUA and VEN. Liza and I started on starbord with the rest but soon tacked. The Brazilians ripped out to the right (the shore side) and got a nice lead at the top mark followed by VEN and GUA. We were right behind with PUR and MEX behind us. The shore side paid again on the run but we wend down the middle. Brazil, Venesuela and Guatemala all went to the shore and were well ahead.
The Mexicans stayed to the shore side of us and got us on the run. PUR went the other way and remained behind. Not much changed on the next leg when teams started bailing out of the race.
The practice race is more of a speed check than anything and the Brazilians were fast today. We have an interesting mix of comptips and all aluminum masts.
The Brazilians have been sailing with an all aluminum mast all week and switched to a comptip just before measurement. VEN and GUA and MEX are all aluminum. USA and PUR have comp tips.
The real racing starts tomorrow.

http://www.rio2007.org.br

Bill´s Blog on the Lightning class
http://lightninginrio.blogspot.com/2007 ... ocess.html

Andrews Laser blog
http://www.campbellsailing.com/


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 3:37 pm 
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Posts: 280
Day 1
No wind.
No Racing.


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 Post subject: Day 2
PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 4:33 pm 
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Hello Race Fans!
We got to the sailing site this morning (it is over an hour each way by bus from the village), and the weather report called for 20+ knots of wind. That is BIG wind for the Hobie Cat. The wrong move will send us into a pitchpole (end over end). But when we got out to the race course it was only blowing about 18 knots. We are sailing against 7 other countries, and in the first race we came in 6th -- only beating Canada and the US Virgin Islands. Brazil, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Guatemala, and Mexico all beat us. These guys are really good, and by the end of the regatta we will have learned a lot sailing against them. US Sailing has also provided coaches for the US Team, but none of them are catamaran sailoris, but they can tell us what the good guys are doing in terms of where they are standing, etc.

The second race started in lighter air, and we made a few adjustments to our rig and we seemed to be faster. We came in 4th in that race.
It is a humbling, but really amazing experience being here.

Technical Report

Race 1: The course was three times around the windward mark with a downwind finish. At the start, the winds were about 18 knots out of the south; the sea was choppy, and the sun was shining. The starting line was really really long which makes for fairly easy starts. The right side of the course was favored, so almost the entire fleet started on port tack to sail towards the shore and out of the current. Starting on port would not have been possible in a bigger fleet, but our 8-boat fleet and the length of the starting line made it easy to start on port tack. On the first beat, our upwind speed was only fair, and we rounded the first mark right behind the top group. We held position on the run, but lost more distance on the second beat. The next lap was the same story which put us even further behind the top group. We finished 6th. We were just too slow and had to make some adjustments.

Race 2: The course was the same for the second race. The winds were lighter -- about 15 knots. Clouds had come in. Again we started on port tack to get to the right side of the course. We had a very good start, and our speed seemed better -- we were hanging with the top guys. We rounded the first mark in fourth, and we had a good run and kept our place. On the second lap we passed the Guatamalans on the run but then lost both them and the Mexicans on the next beat. On the final run, the wind was much lighter -- about 8 knots, and we passed the Mexicans at the end to finish fourth.

After that race, our coach boat towed us back to shore (We sail about two miles away from the place where we keep our boat). Tomorrow we need to tune differently and foot more so we go faster upwind. More excitement tomorrow!!!
Fair winds,
Liza


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 Post subject: Day 3
PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 4:39 pm 
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Day 3

We had lighter winds today, single trapezing to no trapezing.

After a long postponement on a clowdy day the seabreeze came in and we got going.

In both races we did a good job staying in the puffs and had great down wind speed.

We won both races today moving us into second.

It was a long day on the water. We got towed home in the dark.
Time for bed.

Results are at:
http://www.rio2007.org.br/data/pages/8C ... F13C69.htm

click on "report" and then "fleet overall"


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:30 am 
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Posts: 1464
Great Job Bob! Keep it going.....

USA, USA, USA!!!


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 4:20 pm 
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More on Day 3

Hello Race Fans!
Today the weather report called for little to no wind. We got to the sailing venue, and it was cloudy and drizzly. The first race is always scheduled for 1:00 pm, so we try and get off the ramp around noon because it is a two mile sail out to the race course. But today, there was so little wind that they postponed us on shore....for about 20 minutes. And then they changed their minds and sent us all out to the race course where they would postpone us again. The idea was that it would take too long to get out to the race course if the wind did come up. So luckily our coach boat towed us out there at around 12:45 pm. At 1:00 the race committee put up the postponement flag and there we all sat. And sat...and sat. The day continued to be grey without a breeze. At around 3:20, the wind started coming, and at 3:30, the race committee got the first race started. The wind was blowing about 6 knots, and Bob and I can sail fairly well in such light air. Anyway, the long and the short of it is that we won that race!!!!!

It was getting pretty late, but since we didn't sail at all on the first day, the race committee was determined to get a second race going. So they told us to sail a shorter course (twice around instead of three times around), and the wind had picked up to about 8 knots. We had a small problem at the start because almost the entire fleet was starting on port tack, and we were starting on starboard tack. Since starboard tackers have the right of way, we were OK, but the team from Puerto Rico didn't see us and we had a small collision with them. But since it wasn't our fault, we just sailed away and they had to do a penalty circle. We were neck and neck with the team from Guatemala, but at the end we kept them behind us, so we won that race too!

But there are a lot more races to go, so we're not getting excited about it. The wind speed was perfect for us, and if it gets windier, some of the other teams have those conditions as their strength. But it was amazing winning two races in a row! Every day the press has been waiting for the teams to come back to shore, but today we sailed so late that it was dark by the time we got back -- so the press had left. Too bad!

We are in second place now...but as I said, there is too much racing left to think about it for more than 5 seconds...!

Fair winds,
Liza


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 Post subject: Day 4
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 4:24 pm 
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Day 4

Only one race today. The seabreeze was fighting a Northerly but the sebrease from the South won out in the end and we had another 8 knot race.

We started on port with VEN to get right and out of an adverse current. There was also some convergence on the right hand shore (southern hemesphere). We rounded second and gained on VEN on the run but got cought up in Snipe traffic at the gate. This allowed BRA to round behind us in a good lane and they got past us on the beat. Nothing changed for the rest of the race and that´s how we finnished.

We are just about half way. Lots more racing to go.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:48 am 
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Location: San Diego
Good job Bob and Liza, a few more bullets and go for the Gold!!

_________________
Greg Thomas
Hobie Factory Team


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:46 pm 
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Day 5
We had three crapy races today. You had to sail to the right shore on the beats again to get a righty on the shore but we were a bit off the pace and came up just short every time. Down wind we were only even so we are back into fith place.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 6:20 am 
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Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2003 7:21 pm
Posts: 904
Location: Thunder Bay,On
DSQ for the Brazil team.What is the scoop?
Some nice perspective on the Hobie 16 from the U.S.A lightining team.

"Anyway, this racing is going to present some unique challenges because while there is is a very long starting line to provide room for the Hobie 16s which go warp 27. You really ought to see them. Most times I've seen a Hobie 16 it's been being piloted by a honeymoon couple at Sandals. Here the sails are all new. Both harnesses are installed and the crew is horizontal. The weather rudder is popped up and it's carbon. In short, these boats fly...silently. "
A refreshing change in that monohull sailors usually are bad mouthing cats


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