International Canoe World Championship at San Francisco - Day 4
by Steve Clarke 11 Sep 2014 08:20 BST
5-15 September 2014
Wednesday is a lay day here in San Francisco, a day to reflect on the performances so far and 'San Francisco Bay-ise' the boats. Main lessons learned is the ability to de-power the rig to handle the variation in wind strengths as it rises from below 10 knots on the trip down the course area to up to 20 knots as the course extends towards the west and the central area between Alcatraz and Angel Island. There is an interesting phenomena here where the central bay gets much stronger winds which stretch out as a tongue of pressure from the golden gate through the central channel.
The waves downwind on the ebb tide are exciting, if not a slightly terrifying ride, and to avoid nose diving a course of passage through the short wave patterns is essential and getting weight back quickly is also critical. British boats not used to these conditions need to get the sliding seat carriage back quickly at the top mark at the start of the first reach which can be difficult, so today has seen a fleet upgrade to seat puller systems to assist in this.
An essential ingredient of IC sailing is the socialising and the close knit community of the international competitors. This evening we were treated to a BBQ at local organisers Del and Gail Olsen at their wonderful house with stunning views over the Bay where there was a real buzz about the progress the fleet has made in recent years with the new developments in rig and boat design.
A formal challenge has now been made by the British team to the American Team, the current holders for the New York Challenge Cup which is a team race held at the end of the championship and is the oldest sailing challenge cup second only to the America's Cup.
With 5 races remaining it is still anyone's championship and several of the British Team are still well in contention for top places.
Summary so far from the event organisers
With four out of a possible nine races now completed, predicting a winner of the 2014 IC World Championships is still a bit of a crapshoot, with San Francisco Bay conditions rolling the dice. Class rules mandate a 9-leg course of 9-10 miles (triangle, sausage, triangle, finish), and thus far it's been a regatta of attrition with typical San Francisco Bay conditions challenging even the most experienced IC sailors.
Day one saw choppy seas and winds bouncing against the IC Class' upper limit. Two local sailors very much at home with San Francisco conditions came in first and second, Mikey Radziejowski (USA) and Steve Gay (USA). Current World Champion, Chris Maas (USA), had a blistering lead for four legs, but took a DNF after capsizing and then hooking his halyard onto the weather mark's rigging.
Day two saw even tougher conditions. With the sea state more problematic than the wind, 15 boats were back on shore before the race finish, several with equipment failure, others simply with skipper fatigue. Capsizes abounded throughout the race, a frequent event for these high performance boats. Radziejowski persevered, despite capsizing at the reach mark, and won again with Maas coming in second.
Much to almost everyone's delight, day three began with milder weather, and some new names appeared at the top of the list for race three: Past World Champion Robin Wood (GBR) took a first, followed by David Clark (USA) and then Del Olsen (USA). Olsen, the Chief Regatta Officer, led the race for five legs before capsizing at the reach mark. Weather conditions picked up again for race four, and fatigue took its toll on many racers. Radziejowski led most of the race, but Maas overlapped with Radziejowski as they approached the finish and won by half a boat length.
At the end of four races these are the standings: In first place, Mikey Radziejowski (1, 1, 8, 2); second place, David Clark (5, 12, 2, 5); third place, Alistair Warren (3, 6, 12, 4), fourth place, Steve Gay (2, 15, 9, 10); fifth place, Hayden Virtue (11, 3, 16, 6). In a regatta with several "older" past champions competing, it's exciting to see two young men, Mikey Radziejowski and David Clark at the top of the leader board. Both are 23 years old, but hardly new to IC sailing. Mikey competed in the Worlds in Australia at age 17, and this is David Clark's fourth Worlds.
With one throw-out allowed after race #5, Thursday's results will likely show a big shake up in the standings. Two throw-outs are allowed if all nine scheduled races can be held. Chris Maas and Mikey Radziejowski are looking very good. Maas seems to have the faster boat and is pleased that Radziejowski is also racing a Maas boat. Both David Clark and brother William Clark are contenders. David has the lighter boat says he's better in light air while Willy does better in the wind. A fellow sailor from Great Britain says Robin Wood has a chance if he can keep the boat upright and Alistair Warren is a strong, consistent finisher. Time will tell. For more information on IC Worlds Results, go to http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/8306#_newsroom.
Regatta racing concludes on Sunday, but is followed on Monday, September 15, with the New York Challenge Cup. This Cup, established in 1885, is the second oldest international sailing competition in the world still being raced, after the America's Cup. British Team Captain Alistair Warren has officially challenged the USA team, current holder of the New York Challenge Cup. Different in format from collegiate team racing, this challenge will be a competition between two teams of three boats each, and the Cup will be awarded to the first team with a boat crossing the finish line first in two out of a possible three races.
For more information and race results, go to www.richmondyc.org or www.regattanetwork.com/event/8306#_home. For more information on the International Canoe Class, go to www.intcanoe.org.
More photos can be found at ic-worlds.jimdo.com/fotos and www.rockskipper.com/Sailing-Galleries/2014-International-Canoe-Wrlds/Tuesday-September-9/44230442_JJxNrw#!i=3525770982&k=DL2wGr2.