Canoe Worlds at RYC - NOW!

[The Flash]

No chatter?

nice day for a practice race. We had 28 starters. Lots of very cool looking boats with all sorts of neat kit.

12-14 knots, stable today. Weather mark is 1.1nm from the start, was 12 minutes for the leaders, 10 minutes to get back to leeward mark. Full course is a triangle, WL, triangle, finish to weather.

Maas looked pretty good but bailed out early, likely just saving up the energy. Never want to win the practice race, right?

[The Flash]

Race 1 is Sunday. I wonder if the Snapper will be around...

[Photoboy]

It's International Canoe Time!

Attempted to get to the fabled RYC on Friday for some preview material, but was cut short of the Brickyard Cove Tunnel with vehicle troubles. Witnessed many a RYC type comg and going. Many driving while staring at their electronic communications devices...tsk tsk...

Anyways, the good folks running the media portion of this event made good and present a bit of preview material on the 2014 International Canoe World Championships. Somewhere there is a file of stills in film format from last time they were in town. Quite a show with the sliding seat for leverage while balancing on an ultra narrow platform.

35 folks From Around The Globe are racing this week, including a fistful of Bay Area sailors: Del Olsen, Stephen Gay, Mikey Radziejowski, Chris Rutz, John Gilmour and John Gray jostling to see who is the best circus perfomer on the water!

This is the 19th international Canoe World Championship held every three years around the World. Competitors from Canada, England, Sweden, Germany, Australia and the US are invited. 2011 World Champion Chris Maas from Washington is expected to attend. This exciting fleet will sail 9 races on the Bay in as many days followed by the New York Cup, an international challenge race. Currently the USA holds this coveted cup.


One race is scheduled for Sunday, Monday, Thursday Saturday and Next Sunday with TWO races set for Tuesday and Friday

NOR

S.I.'s

************************************

Semi-Official Report via RYC Media:



The canoes are coming & rolling over & playing dead
Well not quite, not a one put their mast in that gray Olympic Circle mud.




Starting line fun and games
Navy Topgun aviator Steve Gay(#245) is seen through the jib of his IC.
Defending world champ Chris Maas(#254) is to climb over him.





The practice race sort of indicated who just might win and who needs a little bit more TIB (Time in the Boat)

Sailed in hardly wicked 8-12 the 28 racers saw only mildest of SF Chop
Defending World Champ Chris Maas probably could have won it, yet he went in after one lap.

Sailors have superstitions you know.

Don’t wear a regatta T-Shirt until after the event.

Don’t bring bananas on a Transpac

And above all else don’t ever win the practice race.

FYI Robin Wood sailing a canoe called “Wrigley’s Last Stand” defied all the fates and won the practice race.



What’s an INTernational Canoe, a sliding seat, jib, main, one hellacious tiller extender, tons of controls, (e.g. the seat slides fore and aft).Y
This skipper has grown an extra arm out of his chest to handle all those lines.



Somewhere’s around 35 boats have signed up.
Suspect once they pound into all the Olympic Circle can dish out some of them won’t make all the races.

The “we speak dinghy” Richmond Yacht Club is hosting 34 racers from six countries for a nine race series which concludes next Sunday.

[Photoboy]

Day One 2014 IC Worlds






Mikey Radziekowski leads the IC World after on day of racing, Today's course of triangle, sausage, triangle was sailed in 12-15 knots





Full Results


2014 IC Worlds First day

Images and report coutesy RYC Media

A few surprises




With a comfortable lead with only one more triangle to go defending champion Chris Maas got his main halyard fouled on a race mark ballast hook and broke the halyard
Another world champion Steve Clark had a couple capsizes

This left the door open for local Mikey Radziejowski (at top of page) With good sails, a good boat and lots of practice he pulled out a win.
Runner up was Steve Gay of Fernley Nevada



Wind not that bad, chop 1-2 feet at the worst.
When it hits 21 knots before the start the RC will cancel and it was nowhere near there.




10 of the 35 racers dropped out with one or another problem
In the post race dinghy yard racers executed repairs by slapping epoxy impregnated carbon fiber over the day’s damage.


Racing continues through next Monday.

[familysailor]

Wahoo!!!!!
Go Mikey!!! (aka The Polish)!!!!!

[The Flash]

I had the pleasure of setting the weather mark and standing by the last couple of days - too bad work interferes or I'd be back there this week. Great guys and great boats.

A bit about the racing. Chris Maas was hundreds of meters ahead of Mikey coming to the last weather mark. You'd have to ask him, but I think he let the main out a bit too soon on the bear away or didn't scoot in fast enough, and his hiking board hit the chop and in he went. What was cruel is that the ebb/wind kept him right at the weather mark, and his sail ended up under the mark. We use a small mushroom anchor as a sentinel (gets the rode down so it doesn't trip boats going by) and we use a small snaps hackle to connect the sentinel to the bottom of the mark. Somehow his rigging caught that snap shackle and got hooked. After quite a bit of work (and having the fleet round him as the new mark) he got the boat free. Unfortunately, somewhere in there his wire halyard broke (just wire for the top couple inches with a halyard lock). He tried to lash it up but couldn't get it up all the way. The chop was making his life somewhat difficult. With the main maybe a foot from the top of the rig, he retired.

IIRC we had 22 finishers of 33 starters. The hardest maneuver for the guys seemed to be tacking in the chop. It wasn't nuking, but it was choppy, the ebb was setting up pretty well towards lap 3. I'd say the sailors got what they wanted by choosing RYC - the bay delivered.

The final maneuver for the day was a tack or a jibe after the finish. I'd say 75% of the boats that tried to tack capsized. Those who "wore ship" mostly survived with a couple exceptions.

probably the most interesting thing to watch were the round down capsizes. They were violent enough, and the hiking boards buoyant enough, that the rig accelerated down, the boat literally jumps out of the water as it starts to float on the hiking board and the bow. I'd say the main hull comes 2 feet out of the water at the board, and the stern is maybe 4 feet off the water for a second before it all crashes back down.


edit: and one last thing - the boats were over standing the weather mark by quite a bit, maybe even a hundred yards. Story in the part after was that the chop was making it impossible to find a good place to tack, and since a bad tack would be a capsize, over standing was the lesser of 2 evils. They also had a different definition of a good tack. A capsize was acceptable as long as the boat was pointed the right way after recovery...

[IOR Geezer]

Those boats were not really mean to sail, just to torture the occupants!

[The Flash]

Maybe - but it sure looked like a gas!

[Buzz Light Beer]

http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/...wsroom+results

Mikey gets another bullet!

[The Flash]

23 finishers yesterday, 19 today. Was it windier? I walked down to the waterfront today, couldn't see across to Berkeley Circle but it was windy as hell south of market.

[Bitchin Bow Dude]

http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/...wsroom+results

mikey gets another bullet!

rad!

[bilge]

If anyone wants Mikey's first IC, US 163 Gonzo the Great, send me a message. Needs a bit of fixing up, but a good starter boat. It lives in Montara. Gonzo needs a new home.

[Photoboy]

Chris Hampe Videos

UK Sailor Chris Hampe provide som GoPro video from onboard his IC "Monkey"!

Day 3 of pre worlds training sees Monkey head to the Golen Gate Bridge. 02/09/14

Just when you think you are clearing the starboard tacker they accelerate...

2014 ic worlds practice race. Richmond Yacht Club San Francisco Bay.

[Tonapah Low]

http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/...wsroom+results

Mikey gets another bullet!

The next generation! Go Mikey!

[Photoboy]

Spoke with SF Bay IC Guru Del Olsen who been sailing the International Canoe for decades and is one of the primary instigators
in getting the Worlds to return to San Francisco for the 1st time since 1993. Del indicated conditions on the circle with a building flood,
yet lumpy with gusts up to 18. "A real challenge for guys not used to bumpy contions and certainly a challenge for th 62 and over crowd"

Del also pointed out the essence of sailing a clean race and staying upright "You can easily lose 1/2 a leg in a capsize and rerighting is critical"

"Chris Maas from the Seattle area was 300 yards ahead of the fleet going into the weather mark, capsized, and had to retire with a broken spreader"

Which leads us to the current leader, Mikey Radziekowski, who Del points out "has been sailing and training hard in Santa Cruz in breezy conditions
and has mastered the quick recovery mode, (no doubt aided by his skiff sailing) and has devoloped a very smooth sailing style. "He's also worked out
the pointing issues he had in the practice race and looks like he has what it takes to win this thing!"

Other contenders for the top podium spots are the aforementioned Chris Maas who won it all in 2011, Alistar Warren, Peter Ullman, Phil Robin, any one of the Clarks,
the IC Royalty of the New England area, sons William, David or Dad Steve who has been sailiing the Canoes since the 1970's!

Fuller report tomrrow!