U21 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

l'll be honest, it wasn't the easiest regatta I’ve competed in.  The hardest aspect to deal with was by far the strategical challenges and in particular the mental toll that these took. You start to question yourself a lot more when you make numerous wrong decisions, and it was really hard to keep the confidence up during the event and bounce back.  I've had some time at home to reflect back on the event, and this is what I thought...

It was a tough regatta, with the majority of competitors scoring highly throughout the week.  Unfortunately, through my own errors I picked up a black flag disqualification on day 2 which put me into silver fleet for the second half of the week.  I then picked up my second yellow flag of the regatta on a recalled start, the penalty of which is to retire from the race.  With the regatta only allowing 1 race to be discarded, I was forced to count my retirel (a wholesome 70 points!).

Despite all those bad points, there were some good points too. I had one day during the regatta where I smashed my strategy. I felt fast and my race plans were piecing together. However, despite my best efforts, one of those races was unfortunately the black flag disqualification that I picked up.  But black flags aside, there are big positives to take from that day alone.  It was a day where no plan was a good plan, in the pre-start of both races there was no obvious gain features.  Go with what you know, not what you think was the best plan of action.  I decided to start in the middle of the line to keep my options open and kept my eyes out of the boat to lock onto the first gain.  And lo and behold, in both races, the wind filled in towards the top right of the beat and I was able to use it to my advantage.  It was one of the more unpredictable days, so I was happy to be able to show some form, despite the letters on my score card…

With all that being said I have learned a great deal from the event, particularly how to effectively carry out weather analysis by taking it one step further and linking it to my race plan.  Onwards and upwards!

Thanks for reading,

Lewis

Under 21 Gold Results:

https://gdyniasailingdays.org/en/results/laseru21/men

Under 21 Silver Results:

https://gdyniasailingdays.org/en/results/laseru21/men-silver

YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

What an amazing week at my debut World Championships in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland.  A pretty wacky championships gave us a mix of conditions and a lot of waiting around, and I mean a lot!

The racing kicked off on Monday with two races in an offshore breeze of 10 knots and flat water.  The wind was incredibly unpredictable, just as it was all week.  I sailed two good races that day with a 10th and 13th, it’s always nice to get the pre race nerves out of the way on the 1st day and get stuck into racing mode.

Day two, I ended up being on the water for six hours to sail just one race!  The wind was extremely variable and doing multiple 180 degree shifts.  The one race that we sailed on day two was in fickle winds with the unpredictability still playing a big part.  Unfortunately I sailed my self into 48th position, fortunately I was able to discard that race.

On Wednesday and Day three of the championships we spent another seven hours on the water to sail two races.  The first race of the day I finished in a mediocre 23rd, I finished 3rd in the second race of the day which more than made up for my mishap on day two.

The third day of the regatta brought a brisk 15-20 knots of wind that come over Dublin city.  This kept the conditions shifty, gusty and similar to that of the previous races.  We were able to squeeze three races in which brought us back on schedule from the race missed at the beginning of the championship.  Although I sailed well enough to secure my position in gold fleet (on day 4 the fleet split into 4 separate fleets; the best quarter of boats being the gold fleet) I was disappointed with my performance in these races scoring a 16th, 15th and 10th,  I’m usually a lot stronger when it’s windier but some poor decisions put me on the back foot from the start and I was forced to fight my way through the fleet in all three races.

Day 5 was very tedious with a lot of waiting and no racing.  Im happy to say that some of my friends and I made the most of the time and had a great laugh on the water, we even stayed out longer than the entire fleet to nail this picture, but of course we did it first time!

Day 6 was the final day of racing and the only day of racing in gold fleet.  We sailed another 3 races where I scored an 8th, 16th, and my second discard of the regatta, a 45th.  I finished the regatta in 19th but unfortunately due to a protest, that was nothing to do with me, I dropped one place to finish 20th overall!

20th in the world at my first every world championships.  Super happy!  Next up is the European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.  But before I travel out to Tallinn I have a few days to relax in London with my parents, a bit of sight seeing is in order I think.  Check back for more updates soon!

Lewis

Full results here:

http://www.laserradialworlds2016.com/race-results/laser-boys-2016-gold.htm