Thank you for your support of our trip to Helsinki, Finland for the inaugural ISAF Match Race Youth World Championship. Without the support of SDYC and the competition fund, it would not be possible for us to attend such an event. It was truly an honor representing San Diego Yacht Club and the United States of America.
We arrived in Helsinki to hot weather and a beautiful setting. He first night we arrived our team met at the sailing venue to check it out and become more familiar with the set up. We were able to take a look at the boats we would be sailing, and learn more about the racing venue. We were hosted out of the NJK Yacht Club, which is a very old and popular yacht club. Luckily for us, the weigh in was open the night before it was scheduled, so instead of starving ourselves another night, we figured we would take a shot at the weigh in. The scale we used fluctuated a few tenths of a kilo each time we stepped on, and as a team we were 2.2 kilos over the weight limit at that given time. That equals about 4.8 lbs. We were so hungry, so instead of starving ourselves until morning in order to make weight, we decided to shed the pounds right then and there so we could eat right after making the weight limit. Nevin, John, and Jake headed to the club sauna and sweat profusely until the target was reached. The final weigh in for the team was 349.9 kilos and the maximum weight per team for the regatta was 350 kilos. We were very excited to have successfully weighed in that night, which enabled us to start hydrating, and to enjoy a full meal at the yacht club.
After dinner we were brought by boat to an island about a mile from the yacht club where our residences were for the entire event. We arrived to the Finnish Naval Academy, where we and the rest of the competitors were put up in vacant barracks. We all managed a decent night sleep with the rather large time change to get ready for the sailing ahead.
The practice day was very good for us. We had not been able to practice much as a full team, being from all different parts of the country, so we largely focused on solidifying our boat handling and communication as a team. After a few hours on the water we were satisfied with our improvement and were able to leave the practice area with more confidence going into day one of the regatta.
The format for racing was a single round robin of fifteen teams, followed by quarter finals, Semifinals, and finals. Day one was the start of the round robin where we won five races and had zero losses. Wind was very light, 0 – 7 knots with a short postponement in the middle of the day as the wind died and shifted to sea breeze. The racing was close, and we managed to sail well in tight situations to come out on top in all of our races. We were very happy with our result on day one, and were able to bring our increased level of confidence into day two.
Another light morning greeted us as we headed to the racecourse on day two. Our first race was against Sam Gilmour of Australia in very light (2-5 Knots) conditions. The start was even, and at the first cross we had a marginal lee bow as the wind clicked a few degrees right, which gave Sam just enough of an edge to control and lead for the remainder of the race. This was our first loss of the regatta. The rest of the day had its ups and downs, and we finished day two with three wins and three losses in very trying conditions. We were 8 – 3 at the conclusion of day two. We had some very close races where our competitors sailed good races and we were not able to come back. The level of competition was very high, giving us a fun challenge in each race.
We only had three races scheduled for day three, which would conclude the round robin of all fifteen teams. Our first race was once again in unstable winds under 5 knots. We made the mistake of splitting sides of the race course and ultimately lost the race to the Brits. We won our next two races to finish the round robin with ten wins and four losses. The results of the round robin were very close. We were seated in sixth place going into the quarter finals, yet had the same record as the third place team. Second place had one more win than us, and first place had two more than us.
In the quarter finals we competed against Chris Steele of New Zealand who is 19th in the open world match race rankings. The format of the quarters was best of 5 or first to three wins. We had good starts in the first two races to hold on for the win in both races. We were up 2-0 and needed one more win to advance. We earned a penalty against us in the prestart and still managed to come back and have an advantage at the start over Steele. However, the umpires decided we gained control through the penalty. They gave us a red flag after starting, meaning the penalty was to be taken immediately so that control could be restored to Chris Steele. After taking our penalty, we came back on Starboard and Steele was able to give us a strong lee bow. The umpires gave us another penalty because they didn’t think Steele was in enough of a controlling position. This basically ended the race for us since we were so far behind after another turn. The races were only about 13-15 minutes, so there were few chances to pass our talented competitor. We were at two wins and one loss. Still we only needed one more to win the series. The next start, we had control and lead the whole race to finish first and advance to the semifinals.
We began the semifinals against Australian Sam Gilmour. Sam had a slight advantage off the line in the first two races, and he and his team sailed well. They didn’t make any boat handling errors and protected the favored side, so it was difficult to get around them. They held on to win the first two races of the series. That was it for day four. We were bummed to end on a low note, losing our first two races in the semifinals, but we were excited for another chance to battle the next day.
Sunday had finally arrived, the final day of the inaugural ISAF Youth Match Race World Championships. We had all the buildup for another intense day full of racing, only to show up to a three hour postponement due to lack of wind. The team was in good spirits, but we were eager to hit the water and prove ourselves on the racecourse. Wind finally arrived at 1245 and the fleet headed out to finish the semifinals. The first race was the Danish team vs the French team in the other semifinal. The Danes went on to win 3-0 to advance to the finals. Our third race followed. We had a very intense prestart against Sam Gilmour with our team leaving the gates with a slight advantage. However, we didn’t have full control of the game plan we wanted to execute. Sam was able to escape slightly to the right. At the first cross we could almost cross Sam and protect the right, but we did not want to risk a port starboard foul so we decided to lee bow. Sam tacked away, we followed and the exchanged happened again where we gave Sam a strong lee bow. The right had slightly more wind and a better shift, so every time Sam was able to split right, he gained a few feet. The same exchange happened four or five times and at the top of the beat our lee bows were not enough to force Sam away. He was able to control us until the top of the beat and lead the race through some intense downwind battles all the way to the finish line. We had lost the semifinals. We were upset and bummed about not making it to the finals at this event, but the team did a fantastic job regrouping in preparation for the petit finals for the last spot on the podium.
It was us vs the French. This team had beaten us the one time we faced them in the round robin. The French also seemed to have the best tacks in the fleet and were not slow in a straight line by any means. We knew this going into the race. In race one, we had a great start and executed our upwind strategy. We led around mark one with them right behind us. The race was very close the entire time and we beat them out at the finish by about three feet to claim race one. Race two began and the start was very even, with no one really gaining significant control. The French were ahead on the downwind by less than a boat length, so the battle was on. They were so preoccupied with watching our boat in anticipation of us jumping them on the gybe, that they missed the lay line altogether to the leeward mark. We were able to gybe before them and sail a hot angle to the mark. We lead at the bottom mark by about one boat length. On the upwind we knew the French were fast, and they were able to make small gains on every tacking duel. The wind was very steady, so we allowed a small split so we could get to Starboard lay line in order to avoid losses through a tacking duel. We lead at the top mark with the French right on our tail. We knew the French wanted to gybe on us if we gybed. We did a fake gybe and the French took the bait. We extended a little bit and gybed with clear air behind them, they gybed as well. We had a half boat length lead when the French sailed behind us. We gybed on port lay line to the pin since it was favored, and the French came back over-stood on Starboard lay line to the pin. Both boats met in the 2 boat length zone at the pin, we were on port with the French on starboard. The French owed us mark room which they did not give enough of. There was contact between boats with much yelling and commotion, and the blue flag was raised by the umpires. The penalty was given to the French. We had won the race and earned the Bronze medal for the event.
Our team was very fortunate to have the support of many critical people in making this event possible. Our coach Dave Perry did a fantastic job, and provided the critical leadership and expertise that helped us make the podium. The SDYC and the Competition fund have played the most significant role in supporting our sailing careers, and we are extremely grateful for that. We are always proud to represent the Stars and Stripes and the prestigious San Diego Yacht Club.